# Two month old dove still won't wean; much smaller than should be



## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

Hey guys, I posted about a month back regarding my diamond dove, Pidgey. Pidgey just turned two months old on Monday, and she (tentatively switching genders though the eye ring hasn't turned red yet) STILL isn't self-sustaining. She is 100% entirely on seeds now, and I feed her by guiding her beak to the seeds and letting her gobble from there. But the second my fingers stop touching her, she's done, and we have to repeat. I'd spaced her feedings out dramatically after reading this is often what parent birds do to teach their babies to eat on their own (why feed myself if momma feeds me?) but, correct me if I'm wrong, she should be adult size by now.. and she's just.. not. The pictures I'm including were taken on Monday, on her 2-month birthday.

I have since bought an adult, Julius, and put him in the cage with her, hoping she would watch him and learn from there. He's been in there almost a week now and I'm not entirely sure if it's doing a lot of good; they seem to ignore each other largely though I have seen her in the seed dish more often now. She's only in there briefly and really throws seeds more than tries to eat them.


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On the plus side, I did hear what was I believe her first "coo", as little as it was, and I think he might have influenced that, as previously she was just squealing. 

Included a picture of Julius, and a picture of them side by side for size comparison... Also... WHY isn't the back of her head fully feathered? Driving me crazy.

Thank you for your time again! 

Possibly irrelevant information:
I raised her from 24 hours old, using Kaytee Exact formula and kept her warm with a ceramic heat emitter until she reached about five weeks of age or so. She largely seems uninterested in flying, and when I have her out, if I toss her she'll flutter downward to the nearest head, and if she gets to the floor and walk and flutter up on to stuff rather than flying directly to where she wants to go. I HAD seen her fly straight up before, a few times, but then she seemed to lose interest.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Wow she is small and the feathers look bad, what was the protein % of her diet when you were feeding her?
Dave


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## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

I believe on the Kaytee it said protein was 22%. Had several diamond-specific sites say it was an okay formula to raise squabs on even though it isn't marketed for doves. Every now and then I would enrich her diet with some egg yolk too when I started to thicken up the formula / transition her to seeds. Now I feed her a seed mix specifically targeted for wild doves / quail. I offer spray millet and cuttlebone; she ignores both. I offer have hi-cal grit, which I make sure I feed her a tiny bit once a week just because I know they should have it but wasn't sure what the protocol was for weaning and grit.


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## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

Should I give her anything for her feathers? She preens as normal. Just keep feeding her seeds, more often? Add calorie bulkers to the diet? Or should I be helping to feed her at all, given the weaning issue? So many questions.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Sounds like you have done every thing you should do, we'll just hope some one reads this with more knowledge on about doves than I do, witch isn't much.
Dave


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## ThePigeonGene (May 30, 2014)

Does she get sunlight? Or a vit D supplement?

I don't know about diamond doves much but I have ring neck doves, I find any problems with the fledglings first thing I do it get them mineral supplements in them and some fresh greens (not a lot and not often).

Does she always sit like in the first pic? She looks like she's in pain


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## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

No sunlight / vit D, I didn't know that was necessary. Should I get her a UVB bulb? Or just take her outside regularly? Can I use calcium powder with D3 in it on her food like I do with my reptiles? Also as far as greens go, I heard they like rosemary and chives; anything else in particular? I have freeze-dried veggies that I give to some of my rodents but I can get her fresh greens. Would she like wheat grass? 

No she doesn't always sit like that, she was a little off balance there. I kept rotating her trying to get a decent picture. She always flaps or quivers her wings unless she's roosting or sleeping.


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## DestinyLynette (May 6, 2014)

Okay, so I'm going to put my game plan on here and any feed back will be appreciated.

>switch from the regular "Hi-Cal Grit" sold at the local pet store and order ABBA mineralized grit. In the mean time, I am going to use a mineral wheel intended for small animals and crush it a bit to put in her food.. good?

>put her outside in good weather; I am ordering a Vit D3 supplement online; until then I am going to put Vita-Sol in her water every couple of days (it's a general multi-vitamin for birds, though I'm not sure if it's a good brand or not?) Also considering getting a UVB light for her cage.

>Offer veggies 3x weekly (spinach, carrot, sweet potato), boiled egg as a calorie booster 2x weekly (or is that too much?)

>Apple cider vinegar in her water once a week or a tiny bit of garlic in her water once a week

Sound good? Too much? Suggestions?


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

Sounds like you are doing everything you can. Just give her some time - and getting the other dove was probably a good idea - she may be OK in the end, just a little late in developing. The "pigeon milk" that parent doves might have some nutrient that is hard to duplicate with an artificial formula - but you are offering this bird everything so it should correct itself, if that is the case.

Remember, you can offer finely crushed hard-boiled egg as a treat sometime (once a week). The extra protein may help this baby. Too much though might make the male start pestering her to breed so, if he gets aggressive, cut out the eggfood or find a way so only she eats it.

I'd go ahead and get the UVB light too. It's safer for the doves to be inside with the light than outside - not that they shouldn't get a little fresh air and real sunshine too sometime - but little doves might attract some predatory animals, so it would be better to have them outside only when you are right there to watch them.


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## loftkeeper (Sep 21, 2010)

raiseing anything by hand will put it alittle behind on growth a good sound feed and grit don't try to get fancy a adult dove with a young dove I believe you will have problems mixing ages is never good this dove will be ok just mature slower


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