3 ground dove eggs incubator, Help

[JaeG]

Let the chicks recover from hatching then try giving them a feed. Don't leave them too long as they may weaken. As long as they are healthy they should feed. I've never fed a dove chick but I've done plenty of Java finch chicks and a few Bourkes parakeet chicks, one from hatching.

Be careful to feed until the crop is full but doesn't look bulging as overfilling it repeatedly will lead to the muscles stretching and not being able to push the food through, creating a pocket where the food will spoil. You'll have to see how fast their crops empty, feeding them when they are almost empty and allowing the crop to empty completely once a day (overnight).

With my finches it's hourly feeds with a 5 hour break overnight initially, slowly working up to 3 hours at the most between feeds when they are 3 weeks plus. With my parakeets its 2 hourly feeds for the first week with a 5 hour break overnight, working up to 3 hourly at 2 weeks with a 5 hour break overnight, then no more night feeds and moving from 3 1/2 hours, to four hourly as the weeks go by.

Your chicks will need to be kept warm or they won't be able to digest their food. The food should be 36-38 degrees Celsius. At 45 degrees you will burn the crop so you must use a thermometer. Only mix up enough formula for the one feed as it quickly goes bad. I put my tiny babies on a warm hot water bottle to keep them warm while I feed them. The finches I have to leave in the incubator for the first week and feed them in there - they are fussy and will stop begging if I take them out even if I try my hot water bottle trick!

 

[Hokum Coco]

Their beaks, mouths, and throats are too small to fit in that

You may have to abandon your attempt in rearing doves. I personally raise homing pigeons and with the aid of shelled unsalted peanuts fed as a treat my birds (who are know to be aloof) are as tame as any hand reared dove. It all depends on how much time you are willing to invest into each bird.

Some of my birds will fly to me when I enter the loft.

What more would you want?

Hand rearing a dove from a hatchling is a chore all fanciers try to avoid. It is a job that most times ends badly even with experienced fanciers such as myself even if the squab manages to survive to adult hood.

You would be wise by approaching your goal from another angle in my estimation and experienced fanciers would agree.

If you have enough patience to raise a squab from a hatchling you have enough to tame a squeaker. Trust me it is a lot less time to invest.

"With healthier birds and better results."

 

[jak2002003]

Everyone please note.

The OP is stealing wild bird eggs and squabs to try to make a pet out of them... despite many failed attempts and the deaths of the wild caught birds. Read his past posts... and despite my insistence to him not to do this he continues.. keeping changing his story... like 'finding a baby dove' and 'rescuing' abandoned squabs.

OP... stop taking baby birds form the wild. Get yourself a tame pet ringneck dove and stop killing wild birds for your experiments.

PS.. a young parent reared dove or pigeon will be just as tame as a hand reared one.... and again.. as you don't seem to understand this fact.... pigeons and doves need PIGEON MILK from the parents crop to grow and thrive.... hand rearing them from hatching from an egg is doomed to fail.. with 90 percent of the bird slowly dying... and if is survives it will be stunted and have weak immune system... leading to a likely early death.

 

[biophiliac]

Agree with @jak2002003 - here's a post that received no replies. I believe it's time to reply here.

I am Tired of Ringneck doves and Domestic/racing Pigeons... Its time for a new species which I will be soon getting whether I have to go to extreme measures to get the species or just Order them from Away.... Here isn't the place for a Lecture... Everyone signed up on Backyardchickens to help each other with Feeding, Sickness and building etc. I'm not being an Idiot for wanting something even if I take a bird or an egg from a wild bird's Nest... This is what people did back in the days and this is how we got Pigeons and Doves domesticated.

So you think we should help you accomplish your plan of stealing nestlings and failing to raise them properly? Not gonna happen. At least i'm not going to help you. All because you are quote: tired of doves and homers? Really...

 

[Hokum Coco]

The OP is stealing wild bird eggs

Even though our disdain for his actions is obvious there is nothing we can do to stop him. I figure he must be a teenager going through that stage in life where parents learn

"Why some animals EAT their young."

A good business opportunity for our ambitious friend would be to cross a carrier pigeon with a Pileated Woodpecker. That way the off spring would be able to knock on the door of all his customers to make them aware of their message. He may be able to get government funding knowing some of our "WISE" leaders.

 

[biophiliac]

Even though our disdain for his actions is obvious there is nothing we can do to stop him. I figure he must be a teenager going through that stage in life where parents learn "Why some animals EAT their young."

 

[FrostyWind]

Even if all this is true... This is basically what our Ancestors did to get tame doves and pigeons we have today in the 21st century... I'm not the only one trying these experiments, those people back then who had Pigeons back in world wars and even just keeping as a pet<<<They killed lots of them as well to...<<<with different methods each one will work and each will fail and death will be their shadow...They knew they would be killing lots of squabs and adults and other wild birds by doing these methods but they still did and managed to work it out...so Why am I different... Though it is true that I'm only a Teen, just became 18<<My learning stage, ofc I knew I would be causing many birds to die(hopefully the admins don't ban me from this website) but I'm still gonna keep trying till everything turns out perfect...But I am speaking the truth when I say that I already have ringneck doves of my own, 6 doves now, Still building my huge Avairy for all sorts of Columbidae to be inside, ofc ho[efully hybrids happen.... But anyways, I just need info on how to take care of them well and healthy... I'm not trying that Egg yolk trick... I'm buying Kaytee exact formula from away and special types of syringes and a Dropper... I asked if 0-7 day old chicks *(mostly 0-5 days old Chicks)* can eat the Kaytee Exact Formula and be healthy like on those videos... I love all sorts of birds especially Medium sized birds like Owls that my family owns and other gigiantic fowls like Peacocks, Chickens Guans, Pigeons and Doves... Before I reach an adult, I want to enjoy animals as a young adult first.