[DoraDove]

Hi all,
I have a question... I have been hand feeding my diamond dove since she was kicked out of her nest by her parents in our aviary since she was 11 days old.
Tomorrow she will be 1 month.

I was hoping someone can give me awesome advice on how to convince her seeds are food??

At the moment I feed her formula and seed mixed together in the morning and then for the last 4 days I've skipped her lunch feed (which is 4 hours after breakfast) and then feed her the same mix at dinner (4 hours after lunch) and then again before bed. she is feeding through a cut-off finger from a glove.

She refuses to eat from a spoon or dish. She does peck at the seeds but she likes to flick them not eat them...?

Any ideas?

 

[Lefty07]

Hand fed birds...

Hand-fed birds are sometimes slow to pick up self-feeding but they will over time. Just make sure there is plenty of loose seed available on the bottom of the cage (Doves feed naturally on the ground). Diamond Doves like small seed so an enriched Finch mix with some pellets would be good. Also cut back on your hand feeding frequency a little and he will start eating more on his own.

You might also try tempting him with some fresh mashed hard-boiled egg. Most doves finds this irresistable. It's a rich high protein food that is best reserved as a treat food - or a food for young or breeding doves. But you could give it to your baby dove daily or every other day for a few weeks, at this stage. You can also sneak in some powdered bird vitamins (mix it in with the hard boiled egg).

Put some hard-boiled egg on a low or flat dish on the bottom of your cage - sprinkle a few seeds on it to encourage him to peck at it - store the extra in the refrigerator. He will probably eat it right up. Fresh egg food can go bad so remove and disgard it after a few hours, if uneaten. But of course, even when feeding egg food, make sure loose seed is also available on the floor of the cage at all times - and small bird grit should always be available in a small bowl on the bottom of the cage, for all doves.

 

[DoraDove]

Oh thank you for your advice! I shall try that.

However I had seed in a glove finger and last night she actually put her beak through and eat the seeds, every other time I've tried this she just smelt the seeds and refused. She ate until her crop was full though. That was last night, by this morning she had digested that, but still won't peck seeds herself.

I fed her the seeds again this morning at about 8am and then at 11am she vomited some back up! Do i need to be worried about her vomiting?

 

[Lefty07]

Vomiting

I wouldn't worry too much about the vomiting - but are you still giving him hand feeding formula as well? He may still need that in addition to seed, at this point. Also try the mashed egg food that I suggested.

And remember small bird grit needs to be available, as soon as a dove starts eating seed so it can digest it.

 

[Jay3]

If you skip the morning feeding when she is hungriest, that may give her the incentive to try the seeds. If she is never hungry because you feed her, then she doesn't really have any incentive to try the seeds. Then feed her as usual for lunch. Put the seeds in front of her, and use your index finger to "peck" at the seeds as she would with her beak. Keep trying this, and withhold the first feeding of the day. She will learn eventually. Is she drinking on her own?

Does her mouth and throat look clear? If she keeps vomiting there is a problem.

 

[DoraDove]

Formula: In terms of formula, I stopped feeding the forumla all together 2 days ago. She seems fine. She is still very active. She is eating seed from the finger glove when she wants to. I gave her the egg today and she loved the egg so much she got some in her nose which I had to clean out haha.

Grit: In terms of grit, I have a dish already in her cage which she plays in but doesn't peck it. I mixed some in with the seed that she pecks in hopes she will eat it.

Water: In terms of water, no she will not drink unless I put her nose into it. Or when it comes out of my drink bottle (not used by me currently) haha

 

[Jay3]

If she is eating seed, she needs to drink. While getting formula, she got her water from that. I would mix the grit with the seed though. She will learn to eat it in time. Very cute.

 

[DoraDove]

Okay awesome thanks!