# Advice Please!



## Hiriki (Oct 17, 2013)

I have a bonded pair of rescue doves. I've had them for less than a year and they're my first birds since I was a tiiiiny child, but I haven't had too many problems (there have been health issues here and there but they were mostly problems from the rescue center, which was packed overfull... and things have calmed down).

These two went from a tiny cramped cage to a fairly large cage, plenty of room for them to fly and as much time out of the cage as they ask for--huge difference, obviously, and almost immediately after they settled in they started trying to hatch babies! I've been swapping out their eggs with fake ones, which has been relatively successful... they usually keep trying to lay a new clutch two or three times after I give them the wooden eggs, but eventually accept them and sit on them for about three weeks before giving up.

It's worked well enough thus far... it hasn't caused any health problems, although I've had to be careful about calcium... the only thing I'm concerned about is how much they WANT babies. I know that's basically what pigeons and doves live for: bonding and breeding.

So I'm posing the question to the group, haha. Which is preferable, letting them raise a clutch and adopting out the babies or preventing it? I rescued instead of bred for a reason and I would rather others do the same, but I also think my birds deserve a chance to be parents. Of course, I don't have much experience with tiny baby birds which is also something to consider... my father has significant experience hatching and raising chickens, so he might be a helpful resource. If I were to hatch doves I'd probably aim to eventually hand feed them.

Anyway, what do you think? To hatch or not to hatch? And if I do decide to hatch, what kinds of things should I be concerned about or watch out for?

Thanks in advance...


----------



## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

Your doves would certainly LIKE to breed, if you let them. The problem might be stopping them. Also, you'd have to find homes for the babies. Maybe you should research that part first - find a place you could sell or give them to beforehand, so you'll feel OK about it when the time comes.

I let mine breed for a while but I found it difficult to sell the babies - both logistically and emotionally. I ended up selling them for almost nothing to a bird dealer. It was hard to do, because I had handled the babies a lot and they became very tame. Some would even fly to me, if I called them (and I'm talking about babies just a week out of the nest!). So my advice is think about all that before you breed!

As for hand-feeding them, if you mean taking them from the parents and feeding them yourself (like people do to tame baby parrots), I would not bother. It's a lot of trouble to do - and risk for the babies if you screw up - for no real benefit. Your dove parents will allow you to handle the babies as much as you want and they will become so tame that hand-feeding is completely unnecessary.

Here are some of my pair's babies - mine nested in an old Easter basket and I gave them clean straw (sold for pet rabbits) for nesting material:




These are the 2 that became so tame they flew to me when I called them. It was hard on me (emotionally) to sell them to a bird dealer. But I could only keep so many!


Here is Lefty - I banded him on the left foot by accident - he also became super-tame but I kept him. He was born in 2007 - hence my ID: Lefty07 !!


One last thing to consider - are you sure your "pair" is not actually brother and sister? Doves normally have 2 babies so you frequently see "pairs" of doves for sale or adoption - but many of them are actually brother/sister and, as with people and other animals, you should never breed a brother and sister together because of inbreeding. If you want to breed birds, you should always try to get a male and female that are from different sources so they are not at all related.


----------



## Hiriki (Oct 17, 2013)

I really appreciate the quick response!

Do you think after raising one clutch they would want to continue indefinitely? I was advised by someone else at one point that after their first time raising babies they may be less desperate to do it again... that would be my main motivation for doing it, aside from just wanting to let them do what they want. That way it might be easier to get them to just sit on wooden eggs or not breed at all in the future?

The problem is that I'm in college, so space is an issue, and I also have plans to study abroad which will make finding temporary baby sitters for my pets into somewhat of a dilemma, especially if I keep expanding... if it's a one time thing I'd be delighted to do it, not just for my birds but for my own experience as well.

Your babies are adorable! It sounds like a really wonderful experience.

Edit: I didn't see your question at the bottom, oops. To answer your question, I'm fairly certain they aren't related. One is bonded and the other isn't, for one thing, and I got them from a rescuer who gets birds from various places and houses them together... there is room for a lot of mixing. I can't be fully positive, though.


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Your doves are breeding out of instinct. I can promise you will all certainty that once they raise some babies, they will lay more eggs and do so over and over and over...until the hen runs out of eggs to lay. 
If you allow eggs to hatch, they will feed them out of instinct and once weaned, they may start to fight with their babies.
There are so many pigeons, doves and other birds in desperate need of homes. Why add to the problem?


----------



## Hiriki (Oct 17, 2013)

Thank you--that's always been my main concern, and it's why I've up until now not let them hatch babies. (And it's also worth noting that I've talked it out with friends and family today and decided not to let them again at this point, I've swapped out their newest clutch with wooden eggs).

I'd been advised at one point that raising a clutch might help them calm down, so ESPECIALLY if that isn't the case, letting them hatch babies is definitely not what I wanted to do. Thanks for clearing that up because that confusion is really the source of my uncertainty (along with admittedly wanting to raise baby birds, but that much I can resist...)

Thanks again for the responses.


----------

