# Suggestion to people buying / selling pet Pigeons and Doves



## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

I have a suggestion to people buying Pigeons and Doves as pets. It's sort of a pet peeve... Experienced people already know this but maybe some newbies don't always think of this:

When you buy a "pair" of Pigeons or Doves and there's *any* possibility they will breed someday, make sure they are *unrelated*. I see posts on this and other web sites where people come back "all happy" from bird shows and say "I just bought a pair of" (birds) but they forgot to find out if they were related (and they'll never see that breeder again). 

Inbreeding is bad for all animals and breeding a brother/sister pair should always be avoided. Just about everyone knows this BUT it is common, especially for Dove "pairs" sold in pet stores, to be siblings (brother / sister) *because Doves and Pigeons typically have 2 babies* and they get sold in "twos" all the time!

On the same vein, sellers should always specify that "pairs" of birds are either unrelated or related. But the problem is also that once say, a pair of Diamond Doves, goes from the breeder to dealer to another seller or pet shop, nobody knows the relationship. The final seller may be an honest person but may not know any more. 

For that reason, I NEVER buy pairs of any birds that I intend to breed, unless I am talking with the breeder. Normally, I buy one bird from one breeder and the other from another and *I ask *if they have any relation to so-and-so's birds. It may not seem like a big deal but I wonder how many brother and sister birds end up getting bred by inexperienced bird keepers, unknowingly? Sorry for my RANT !!


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