# Fattening a ringneck dove?



## Libis (Oct 8, 2010)

Hi guys, 

My ringneck doves are caring for their first clutch of 2.5 week old babies and I'm noticing my hen getting a bit thin. Her feathers are still glossy and her eyes still look bright, but I'm seeing her keel bone just a bit more than I'd like. She's not horribly ill, but she just looks lighter than I'd like to see her. (Though if she gets skinnier I'm going to start freaking out with worry...)

She's the orange pearled in this pic from this morning:









I'll try to get a better picture and maybe a weight tomorrow. (She's really high strung, it might be hard. 

I'm guessing that she is giving the babies more than she's getting and Edmund is getting the rest (he looks fatter than I've ever seen him). They are both feeding the babies, but she seems to feed them more. '

The poops all look normal, if not much improved since they aren't holding it in while sitting on the nest anymore.

Anyway, is there something I can add to the food to give her more nutrition and fatten her up?


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## Libis (Oct 8, 2010)

I just realized, I didn't tell you guys what they eat. 
I feed them Kaytee supreme daily blend for doves. It has always worked really well for them. They get supplemented with Kaytee prohealth for finches (what I feed my diamond doves) because they really like it as a treat and it has probiotics in it. They don't like raw Spanish peanuts. 
They also get Kaytee hi-cal grit. ...Millet sprays as a treat. 

Should I get some of the special food for breeding birds that they've got at the petstore and mix it with their food?

Umm, no new animals have been added to the house since March. These birds have no access to outside or even to a screened window where they might contact wild birds or anything.


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## Libis (Oct 8, 2010)

She looks better today, somehow. Mom agrees with me that she looks heavier today. Do you guys think I need to add anything to the diet?


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Unshelled, raw, sunflower hearts (you can get them whole or in smaller pieces/chips) work pretty well for adding weigh onto pigeons, I don't see why they would not work in adding some weight back on your hen.

Karyn


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## Libis (Oct 8, 2010)

I might try that. I know they really like the tiny sunflowers in the finch mix I give to the diamond doves--the only problem there is that Edmund pushes in front and eats all of them. 
This hen is my most skittish bird, so it might be hard to hand feed her b/c when I catch her eating is the last thing on her mind. When I'm not handling the birds and just have my hand in the cage, Edmund rushes up like the little pig he is. 

Anyway, I'll look into the sunflower hearts. Is there anything else I might add? I thought I heard once that millet is basically fat, but I might be confusing that with something else.


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