# Delayed feather growth



## birdiesbefree (Nov 18, 2013)

Hello out there! I've had several ringneck doves for a little over 10 months now that I adopted from a humane society, and I've got some concerns that I think someone here may be able to help me with.
There are 6 doves I adopted in varying conditions back in January. They had been at the shelter for over 2 months before that, and since my family has plenty of coop space on our farm I decided to adopt the lot of them. I was told they came from an apartment and that they must have pulled each others' feathers out or that one "bully" in particular could have done it. From this I presumed that they were in too small of cages together, but I wasn't given any more specifics. Out of what turned out to be 3 males and 3 females, every single one was missing all of their tail feathers and all of their flight feathers.
Here comes my dilemma. I've done a little research, and a lot of places say that it takes about 6 weeks for flight feathers to grow back in (or they'll come in after a molt if there's still the end of a broken feather shaft stuck in the hole). Initially I had them kept in heated brooder boxes as they were quite bare for doves and it was winter, so I wasn't expecting major feather growth while they were in a little bit of tight quarters. Once it warmed up, they were moved into a wired-over horse stall with plenty of room. The most feather growth I've seen beyond body feathers and face molts is one male growing two solitary flight feathers on one side.
I expected some growth by now, and it has me concerned that my poor babies may never fly! Does anyone have any advice/opinions on what may be going on or what I can at least do to help? I've included an older picture where they look very similar to their current condition. Thank you for reading through my whole story!


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

It could be these doves were under-nourished and did not get the appropriate vitamins and minerals. I posted this suggestion for someone else who rescued some doves:

Your young doves might like a supplement food to help build up their bodies. I occasionally give my doves finely *mashed hard-boiled eggs*. I boil up some eggs - after they cool, I mash them (to pea sized nuggets) and mix in a little corn meal which dries up some of the moisture. You can also slip in some *powdered bird vitamins* - but not too much - I think they taste bad. You can also sprinkle a few seeds on top to get them interested. Store the extra in the fridge. Give them some egg food and you may see a difference in their physical health and ability to fly, etc.

Egg food is rich food so I limit it to a couple times a month, unless they are breeding, in which case they get it a lot more often. But your babies could probably use egg food a few times a week right now for a month or more. Too much egg food when they are full grown can also encourage breeding, especially if you have a male/female pair, so don't over-do. But right now, your babies could probably use it a few times a week, for a month or more (and then gradually less often).

Some people recommend mashing the shells up with the eggs, to give the birds more calcium. I think this is OK for adult breeding birds before their eggs hatch but I normally prefer to leave it out - especially for baby doves - because egg shells can be sharp when they swallow them. But *your doves should have bird grit (or better yet "high calcium" bird grit and / or crushed oyster shells) available all the time in a separate bowl.* They need grit for digestion and minerals (calcium). The grit sold for parakeets and small cage birds is fine for doves.

Another good treat food for doves is *hemp seeds*. They absolutely love them. I reserve them as a food I feed them from my hands. I give it to them a couple times a week. It is also a rich food so you wouldn't want to give it to them every day. You can find people selling hemp seed on eBay if you don't have it available locally. Hemp is technically marijuana but it legal as a bird food - I think they zap it so it won't germinate. If you throw some hemp on top of some egg food, they are in heaven. 

Lastly, your doves might like (frozen and then thawed) *"baby" green peas* as an occasional treat. But make sure you get "baby" peas as regular green peas are usually too large.

NOTE: There could also be genetic problems affecting your dove's feathers but I suggest upping their nutrition as above to see if there is any improvement.


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