# Help handraising a ringneck dove!



## PeachesthePigeonDove (Apr 11, 2016)

Well, the dove has just hatched 1 hour ago. The parents are two moderately tame (tame enough to sit and eat on my hand) ringnecks/eurasian collared doves. I want to try and tame this baby dove, as babies are easier to tame, but I don't know when I should start feeding it by hand, to get it used to me. Do I use a syringe, or a plastic bag with a corner cut in it (that's the way my grandfather advises)? I don't have very much time, so maybe it would be best if I started feeding it seeds when it was about 25 days old? I've tried to find information, but there is very little about handraising a dove. Thanks so much!
 I don't want this dove to die because of misknowledge on my part!)


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## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

I'm not a bird expert so I cannot advise, sorry! but I've seen the experienced users share this link, so I hope it can help you too! good luck!

http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/caringforababypigeon.htm


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Let the parents feed the baby for the first week to ten days, they need the cropmilk for the first day or two and are just so fragile that first week.

Google on youtube how to feed baby pigeon. It's basically the same for feeding a ringneck baby.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If the parents are hand friendly to you, then there is no reason why you cannot let them raise the baby. Just feed them by hand in front of the baby while he is growing up, and handle him gently daily, after a week old. He will grow up knowing that you are friend and not foe. While you are feeding them, he will eventually come over and join them. He will get to know you that way at an early age. At least this is what I do with my pigeons.


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## PeachesthePigeonDove (Apr 11, 2016)

Thank you! The parents are being very protective of him right now. One tried to bite me.  I think I should wait..........


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Yes, let them raise him. It's very important to them, and the baby is much better off. If you want what is best for him, you will let them raise him, and just handle and hand feed as he grows, and he will be friends with you.


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## RamseyRingnecks (Jun 18, 2013)

PeachesthePigeonDove said:


> Well, the dove has just hatched 1 hour ago. The parents are two moderately tame (tame enough to sit and eat on my hand) ringnecks/eurasian collared doves. I want to try and tame this baby dove, as babies are easier to tame, but I don't know when I should start feeding it by hand, to get it used to me. Do I use a syringe, or a plastic bag with a corner cut in it (that's the way my grandfather advises)? I don't have very much time, so maybe it would be best if I started feeding it seeds when it was about 25 days old? I've tried to find information, but there is very little about handraising a dove. Thanks so much!
> I don't want this dove to die because of misknowledge on my part!)



You don't need to hand feed it to get it used to you any more than you have to steal a puppy from under its dam and bottle feed it to make it tame, and speaking from experience, you cannot replace cropmilk. A hand reared peep will never have as good a devlopmental start as a parent raised peeper, so hand rearing is usually a last resort. 

Just like with the puppy, all you have to do with these domestic birds to tame them is handle the peeps frequently and gently.

For the first week, you want to keep check ins very brief, if you are comfortable doing them at all. The peep is small and featherless and chilling is a very real danger.

After the first week, the peeps can be held for 3-5 minute intervals.

Ringnecks are mostly feathered and exploring outside the nest at two weeks, so that's when cuddle time can begin in earnest. 
Wait until after they've been fed, and return them when their little crops get low.

It's best for skittish parents if you leave one of the peeps in the box while holding the other.

Good luck!


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## c.hert (Jan 15, 2010)

Leave the parents take care of the feeding of these Doves with their "Pigeon Milk", for this is very very important for a healthy development. This is a nutritious food and only two species make Pigeon Milk --Pigeons and Doves. This is not "milk" so do not try milk on the babies. Pigeons cannot digest milk so do not think it is the same. Leave the babies and the parents do there thing and "leave them alone"..Be patient for about two weeks when the parents begin to offer them small seed. When they are eating on their own this is the time to get to know them and tame them and not before. They need all the pigeon milk they can get from the parents and you handling them will interrupt this process and cause sickness or abandonment and then you will have "real problems". Without this special pigeon parent food they sometimes will not have a good immune system and later when they get to a older age they will not be able to assimilate calcium nor digest protein properly in their system and will wind up with a bone disease where they will have trouble walking. Infant formula saves millions of baby birds life in a emergency but it should not be a replacement for the "real stuff" when it is available as "Pigeon Milk". This is from personal experience and this is my take on this whole subject. Be a good Dove Ma Ma and let them have "Their pigeon milk" with you not poking your nose into the parents and babies business. Leave them alone until they maturate and eat and drink on their own then do your taming and getting to know them.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

RamseyRingnecks said:


> You don't need to hand feed it to get it used to you any more than you have to steal a puppy from under its dam and bottle feed it to make it tame, and speaking from experience, you cannot replace cropmilk. A hand reared peep will never have as good a devlopmental start as a parent raised peeper, so hand rearing is usually a last resort.
> 
> Just like with the puppy, all you have to do with these domestic birds to tame them is handle the peeps frequently and gently.
> 
> ...


Very good post ^


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## Dee_Ann (Jan 4, 2016)

*Excellent advice!*

All of the posts below are correct. Do not ever attempt to handfeed a baby bird using a plastic bag. Even if you were going to or needed to hand feed it, you would not do it without the correct food, equipment and knowledge of how to do this. All birds, including doves, have an opening to their lungs at the base of their throat. If food is placed into the mouth or the bird is incorrectly entubated, it will die from not being able to breathe. This could happen immediately if the lungs or filled or kind of slowly and painfully. Why take the risk when the parents are right there and want nothing more than to do this without your interference. Rule of thumb: do not ever place food, seed or water into the mouth of any bird. Also, as stated below, birds can be imprinted at a young age. So they can be easily tamed using the suggestions of others below. Good luck with your new birds!


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## c.hert (Jan 15, 2010)

Wonderful advice Dee Ann and thank you..


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## PeachesthePigeonDove (Apr 11, 2016)

Thanks for all the advice.


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