# diamond dove problem



## kalel (Oct 14, 2008)

hi
i've got 5 doves. two adults who are the parents of the other two (male and female) and a young male brought as a mate for the daughter. the thing i've noticed recently is the daughter seems to want to mate with her father!
shes tried to mate with him by jumping on him which she did a while ago. Is this normal? the father chases her off and pecks her once taking some feathers off.
I've tried putting the new male in a cage with her and he is interested as hes been courting her but she seems to like her dad too much.
I dont want to keep them locked up in a cage as I feel thats cruel. normally my birds have the run of the living room being out all day and sleeping on my cd rack at night.
anyone have any thoughts? I will check the various diamond dove sites out as well.
thanks


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

I don't have diamond doves, just pigeons, but if my birds did that I'd suspect that the daughter and the potential new mate hadn't had enough time for her to bond with him. Is there a way you can give them 10-14 days away from the dad?


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## plamenh (Aug 11, 2006)

Separate them and give some time to pair with new male.


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## kalel (Oct 14, 2008)

yes I thought that was what they might need but is it normal for offspring to try to mate with their parents? I thought that apart from humans(who fall in love with a sibling)or animals that have no other choice this kind of thing never happens.
I will just keep separating the two each day for a little while and keep an eye on the situation.
thanks for the replies


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

once they are mature they do not remember each other as parent/hatchling, they are just another bird in the flock to each other then. agree with putting her with the chosen male away from the others. just wondering how do you deal with all the poop in the house and on your CD stand? it must very small poop though.


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## plamenh (Aug 11, 2006)

We do not talk love here, we are talking instinct for reproduction. In the wild, birds either cahse away youngsters once weaned, or there are enough membrs in the flock to pick a partner. When choices are limited, instinct to preserve kind prevails.


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## kalel (Oct 14, 2008)

hmm never thought of it like that. Puts it in a new perspective.
their poops are really small and as they eat seeds the poops dry up quickly. I've tied two thick branches on the side of the cd rack so they roost on them. I clean up a lot as well but normally they spend the day sunning on the windowsills or fooling around in the plant pots.
I've got a lot of plants in that room. its like an indoor greenhouse when its sunny outside so the birds just move from one pot to another or they'll be fooling around on the carpet.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

kalel said:


> hmm never thought of it like that. Puts it in a new perspective.
> their poops are really small and as they eat seeds the poops dry up quickly. I've tied two thick branches on the side of the cd rack so they roost on them. I clean up a lot as well but normally they spend the day sunning on the windowsills or fooling around in the plant pots.
> I've got a lot of plants in that room. its like an indoor greenhouse when its sunny outside so the birds just move from one pot to another or they'll be fooling around on the carpet.


sounds lovely...


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