Pet dove - very annoying behaviour....

[Pirus]

I have had this pet dove for about 4/5 years now - I wont get into why I have her because its such a long story and its 2:13am at the moment and I am ready for bed

The problem I have had for a while now is she seems to go through stages of laying eggs. This isnt the problem its what leads up to it. At the moment she lives in my room (will get onto another question after this one) and has done since we done our best to heal her. Shes happy, sunbathes at the window, sits on my head when I am about, I have a little area on top of the wardrobe for her with a towel and a mirror that she lies on and plays in the mirror and also a bath that she loves going in quite often.

Now when she goes through this stage of laying eggs, for about a week or so before she lays it she wont leave me alone, constantly flying on me and when she does she then starts making that hooting sound and shaking her wings, I think its a mating call (but obviously I am not her mate). She starts doing this also at about 7am and wont stop which is a night mare because its like an alarm clock and I work late so dont get much sleep now. I dont mind it when she does her long calls but when she does teh short mating calls and starts shaking her wings its like she is in a trance, and does it no stop for ages and its very annoying.

Is there anything I can do to help her stop laying eggs? Will the mirror be causing any problems because I have budgees and I know the males get over excited when they start playing in the mirror. Or anything I can do to stop her behaving like this?

Also is there anything for her diet that I could get her to make it a bit more enjoyable? She loves flying over when I have a sandwhich and eating the bread, I give her peas and corn now and again but mainly she just has trill. Does anyone have any suggestions on anything else she can have?

Finally onto the last question, she cant fly that well, she manages to get from 1 end of the room to the other, but if she ever gets a fright and flies to one end then tries to fly back she quickly ends up on the floor as she doesnt have the muscle strength to fly properly. At the moment she lives in my room, but are there alternatives? I hate the idea of putting her outside in some sort of aviary because of the cold weather... But would she enjoy it? She has lived in doors for years it would also be lonely for her and unless I found another injured dove that couldnt recover properly she would be in there on her own for a long time.

If anyone can help me answer any of these questions it would be greatly appreciated.

[Charis]

You may not think you are her mate but she thinks you are.
In the US there is a shot the vets can give birds to keep them from laying and it lasts about 4-6 months. If you have an avian vet, you might ask to see if they have it.

You can give her leafy greens, whole grain bread, minced broccoli, and minced carrots.

[jbangelfish]

It may be annoying (her behavior) but you chose to take care of this bird and it is natural for her to have a mate and to lay eggs.

I would never suggest anything to make her stop laying them.

I would suggest getting her a mate so that she can have a somewhat normal life.

Bill

[Charis]

Littlebird just questioned the length of time the shot lasts and recalls that it only lasts 4-5 weeks.

[Pirus]

Originally Posted by jbangelfish

It may be annoying (her behavior) but you chose to take care of this bird and it is natural for her to have a mate and to lay eggs.

I would never suggest anything to make her stop laying them.

I would suggest getting her a mate so that she can have a somewhat normal life.

Bill

I would have no problem getting her a mate. She cant have a normal life outside as she was an injured bird and never fully recovered. But what happens if I get her a mate, I would have to get some sort of accomodation for them outside wouldnt I? Then if these mate what happens to the babies? Are they stuck in an aviary or can they go outside? I dont want to risk her escaping as she is not capable of lying properly and would be an easy target for the many cats and hawks around here.

[jbangelfish]

That would be up to you. They will raise young, if you allow them to and you will need to find somewhere to sell them or give them away.

If it is a native species, you can let the young go into the wild.

You can also destroy the eggs which would not be alot different than what you are doing now. It may be alittle frustrating to the birds to never have young but they will be OK.

I consider it best to let them raise young and just deal with the consequences. These consequences can even put money in your pocket and at least pay the feed bill.

Bill

[philodice]

It sounds like true love for her.
I have 7 doves right now and they are loud. You can't stop that really. I'm building an aviary outside for them to play in. I had 8 doves but I just gave the loudest, loneliest, biggest cock away to a friend who has a girl dove. Her girl has not bonded with her so she is open to having an affair. Your girl has bonded so I'm not sure she wants a regular dove mate.
Morning = coo time. Evening = coo time. Music playing? Time to coo! I love them.
They came from an aviary where they lived outside year round in what I would call a batting cage with a roof. No shelter other than nest boxes placed chest high where wind could cut right through the wire. When I became worried about asthma and wheeled the cage into the arizona room, the babies looked uncomfortable for a few days and now they seem happy. If you decide to make an outdoor pen for her, look at all the advice in the aviary section. You MUST follow it or risk losing your bird to predators.
I'm looking forward to having an egg from the happy couple so I can broaden the diversity of my flock's gene pool. She is a wild type.

[little bird]

You know, Pirus....a mate doesn't have to be a MALE....she would likely bond with a female just as quickly and then there would be NO babies. You could get a very large flight cage for keeping them indoors and give them supervised out-time so you don't have so much poop mess. I don't advise taking a handicapped bird out side unless it is in a SECURE carrier so predators cannot harm her. She could easily live 10+ more years.....I would give her a companion of her own kind....you would both be happier.

[jbangelfish]

They may even fight.

Over time, they may adjust to their situation but I would always recommend the opposite sex.

How would you like it if someone told you that you could have a mate as long as it was the same sex as yourself?

Birds intend to raise young and the only way that they can do this is by having a mate of the opposite sex.

Birds are known to "imprint" with a person but if you introduce them to a bird of their own kind, it does not usually take them long to forget about you as their mate and realize that they are in fact a bird.

Bill

[philodice]

I disagree. I have a gay boy couple, and we see girl couples in doves and pigeons all the time. They don't seem to notice. I think that is a great idea, and they will make FAR less noise than a boy/girl couple.

[jbangelfish]

And see what happens.

I have raised birds for over 50 years and have NEVER seen gay birds when given a choice.

I have nothing against gays, I have several gay friends.

Bill

[little bird]

There have been many posts on this forum about paired same-sex birds that are quite content with their lives. In this instance we are talking about a handicapped bird and I certainly don't recommend breeding such a hen. There are TOO MANY HOMELESS birds already in the world....we don't need to breed more unnecessarily. My advice still stands....get the hen another hen for a companion, I'm sure any creature on earth would rather share life with one of their own kind...even a same sex.....than to go through life either alone or bonded to something so totally different, like a human being. At least both hens will sit the eggs and give each other a break.....no human will do that. As for giving them a choice and they will go with opposite sex every time.....that's true.....that's nature!! But two hens will be much happier than a hen with a human mate.

[Charis]

Originally Posted by jbangelfish

And see what happens.

I have raised birds for over 50 years and have NEVER seen gay birds when given a choice.

I have nothing against gays, I have several gay friends.

Bill

Bill, Many of us have seen gay birds even when given a choice. My first two pigeons,25 years ago, were Ester and Miss Pidge. They remained a couple even after two cock birds joined our little coop. They remained together until Ester died 7 years later.

[Pirus]

I actually had an injured dove of the same breed here last year, it was a female, she was not happy, fluffed herself up and wanted to attack, as did the young one.

My really tame budgee was actually happy with her and used to sit with her, sometimes even pecked her feet lol but she ignored the budgee really didnt ever harm him or anything. He has since passed away of old age

This is a collard dove, they are quite new to the area we live in as it used to be mainly wood pigeons but over the last few years there have been loads of these collard doves appearing and are now very common here.



I would have no problem releasing the young into this area as our garden is always full of them as we put a lot of seed out in our garden, its a safe haven for blackbirds, robins, sparrows, doves, wood pigeon and them greedy starlings. There are plenty of trees about and bushes for them to nest in, I just hate living so close to the woods sometimes because them horrible hawks sometimes come into the residential area and kill the birds. I have had some horrible experiences with them in the past.

Would the bird be ok going out into the normal weather after living indoors for so many years? And are they happy being in an avary and not being able to move as much? This bird is never in any cage, my room is her room, I have had to donate my laptop to her as she decided it was hers and she loves sleeping on it at night now (the screen).

Are avairys expensive for a nice large one?

[Charis]

I think she would be ok if she had a mate she was happy with...one other than yourself.
I really don't know how much it would be to build an aviary in England. Perhaps Cynthia could answer that question.