[penname]

Hi everyone.

I recently got my blind dove Noddy another Senegal and they were doing great, eating together, sleeping together then one day out of the blue it seems, the other dove started pecking Noddy in a rather unfriendly way. We immediately separated them. The next day I decided to give it another try. All went well for a couple of days. I thought all was well and their new bigger cage arrived and I thought things should be great.

The next day in their new cage Noddy was eating and the other dove came and scrutinised him, I mean totally watched what he was eating, then tried to steal the seed from Noddy's mouth. I didn't think anything of it till the dove stood in Noddy's face, did a quick bow coo and then attacked Noddy. Poor Noddy tried to fly away but the other one followed him and continued attacking him

Separated them then emailed a dove expert in the US who told me the other dove was probably a male and was starting to bully Noddy. I gave the dove to a friend who has a big aviary. My question is this: will Noddy be picked on by another dove regardless of its sex because he is completely blind? This is the 3rd companion Noddy has had with no success. It's all so depressing, especially since we've had an outdoor aviary built for Noddy, the thought of him sitting there in it all alone is very sad The dove expert I correspond with feels he will always be bullied because of his blindness. I was curious about the opinions of others here who have blind birds. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[spirit wings]

Thats a shame, I tend to agree with the dove folks, what I would do is get a docile breed of finch and put them in the aviary with him and then you can be his companion also, now just putting this out there not sure if this is right, but I have heard that silky doves the ones with the funky feathers are very laid back, one may be hard to find, but if you found a hen perhaps you could give it a try....

 

[penname]

Hi Spirit! Thanks for your reply. I had a canary remember? I don't want to go through that again, they're far too fragile and as we don't have any avian vets it's horrible when they get sick and you don't know what to do

Anyway Noddy was very indifferent to Lucky. He was happy with the dove, he was even cleaning him/her. What a pity, I'm so sad it didn't work out. It's also very hard to relocate them, I gave him to a lady who has an aviary but he was picked on by one of her doves and he just stood there while the other one was pecking his head. It was horrible! I hope he doesn't get killed there. She moved him with some quails who seem peaceful enough. It's all so depressing. Sorry I sound so gloomy but it was a terrible day today when I took Sossees (the other dove) to the lady and he was bullied in that awful way.

We just had a huge indoor cage and an outdoor aviary made for Noddy and it really is sad to see him sitting there alone in all that space, it really breaks my heart, he looks so lonely . I wish with all my might he could have a mate as I always see them in pairs in the garden.

 

[penname]

On a brighter note, Hazel looks absolutely ADORABLE!

 

[Sunny]

Poor Noddy! I wonder if you could start out with a very young hen and then, if they still couldn't get along, put a divider in an aviary. If you put a perch on both sides close to the divider, Noddy could hear and feel another friend close by, but move out of the way if any bullying starts. And you could put another hen with the original one so she has extra company. Just an idea....

 

[penname]

Good idea Sunny. A problem I have is figuring out who's male and who's female but the divider sounds like a very good idea, at least he won't be alone. There are two chicks available, I hope one is a female and I hope I can tell which one is which and I'll give it a last try, if it goes wrong I will put a divider between them like you said.

Spirit I don't know these silky doves, we don't really have a dove hobby here in Egypt. The only doves I found at a pet shop were Barbary doves and they're big compared to Senegals, it didn't work. Please cross your fingers for poor Noddy, let's see if this time around things are better. He's such a sweetheart, he used to preen the other dove, he's such a gentle soul.