Dove Question

[Big T]

My sister has a dove she has had for about a year. Someone found it in their yard and she took it in and has cared for it. She wants me to get it a mate and I have found someone that has doves but how do I tell if it is male of female? Will females lay eggs without a mate?

[plamenh]

Doves are like pigeons, they will lay egg if she thinks you are a mate. Get female dove and you cannot make mistake. Two hens will live together, hen and cock too. Two cocks will usually fight.

[spirit wings]

plamenh is right, get a hen and you can't go wrong, males can be pretty loud in the house anyway. I have three hens together, they all get along and all three do lay eggs, not sure if they are mated to each other or what, but they all lay eggs. I had a pair at one time and had to give them away as the male was so loud and repetitve in his call, I could not hear the other person on the phone or watch tv, sometime he would go off at 4 in the morning..I counted up to 20 loud coos then stop for a second and start again...I just could not take in any longer..lol.. now they live in a huge cage on this nice guys sunporch where he can coo all he wants and not bother anyone. my hens will coo a bit, just two or three times and then done maybe a few times a week. they are lovely to have in the house and also make good display birds for weddings(white ones) and Christmas events and such.

[plamenh]

Originally Posted by spirit wings

plamenh is right, get a hen and you can't go wrong, males can be pretty loud in the house anyway. I have three hens together, they all get along and all three do lay eggs, not sure if they are mated to each other or what, but they all lay eggs. I had a pair at one time and had to give them away as the male was so loud and repetitve in his call, I could not hear the other person on the phone or watch tv, sometime he would go off at 4 in the morning..I counted up to 20 loud coos then stop for a second and start again...I just could not take in any longer..lol.. now they live in a huge cage on this nice guys sunporch where he can coo all he wants and not bother anyone. my hens will coo a bit, just two or three times and then done maybe a few times a week. they are lovely to have in the house and also make good display birds for weddings(white ones) and Christmas events and such.

I can absolutely relate to this. My garden is full of hormone crazy Senegals and from 4:30 in the morning till 20:00 they are cooing and cooing madly.

[frankie1159]

I disagree about males not getting along....we have 2 indoor doves, aged 16 & both are males, loving eachother.

[Big T]

Well, I took ya'll advice and got a female. The two of them act like long lost lovers. Time will tell if we got a pair or two females.

Thanks for the help,
Tony

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by Big T

Well, I took ya'll advice and got a female. The two of them act like long lost lovers. Time will tell if we got a pair or two females.

Thanks for the help,
Tony

Thats great!!!

[MaryOfExeter]

My two males fought a little at first, but then they ended up building a nest and sitting in it, looking at me like "Hey, tell the stork to bring us our eggs!"
I split them up once I finally got a hen for one. Now Bowie is mated up to yet another male (well, I THOUGHT it'd be a hen at first...). So now I need two more hens I've never had this happen so many times before. I've had a couple trios with my pigeons, and one case where two females mated up, but I still think my doves beat all I've ever seen I just have bad luck when it comes to getting ringneck hens. Still, the pair of boys act as if nothing is any different.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by MaryOfExeter

My two males fought a little at first, but then they ended up building a nest and sitting in it, looking at me like "Hey, tell the stork to bring us our eggs!"
I split them up once I finally got a hen for one. Now Bowie is mated up to yet another male (well, I THOUGHT it'd be a hen at first...). So now I need two more hens I've never had this happen so many times before. I've had a couple trios with my pigeons, and one case where two females mated up, but I still think my doves beat all I've ever seen I just have bad luck when it comes to getting ringneck hens. Still, the pair of boys act as if nothing is any different.

RN's seem to "love the one your with", but if you put a hen in with the two males I can almost bet there would eventually be scraping going on over her. Im happy with all the same sex so I do not have to worry about it...lol...

[MaryOfExeter]

Yep, they all fight then. Boy's smacking each other, then ganging up on the hen, and before you know it, everyone's going crazy. RN's can get pretty aggressive towards newcomers. Even males towards new females, especially when the male has been used to having his cage to himself. But then they turn into little lovey dovies I think they are bipolar sometimes.

[Big T]

Originally Posted by MaryOfExeter

Yep, they all fight then. Boy's smacking each other, then ganging up on the hen, and before you know it, everyone's going crazy. RN's can get pretty aggressive towards newcomers. Even males towards new females, especially when the male has been used to having his cage to himself. But then they turn into little lovey dovies I think they are bipolar sometimes.

Boys always act that way around girls. You should see me around the wife, (she is the love of my life you know).

LOL Tony