Buying a Dove

[Savannah Hayley]

I want to buy a female dove so my dove can have a mate but I don't want the female dove to be separated from her mate if she has one.
So, does anyone know if dove breeders raise male and female separately or all together or what? Is it cruel to separate a pair? Where is the best place to buy a ring neck dove? I've looked at places online but there's also a farmers market where I live that could possibly have ring neck doves.

 

[jak2002003]

breeds will sell the doves when they are weaned and young... too young to breed and they will not have formed pair bonds or found mates.. so you don't have to worry about them.

When you first get the new dove you HAVE to keep in in a different cage to your first dove.. otherwise your dove will attack and hurt the new one. They have to have time to get to know each other.. Then they can go together after a few weeks.. after you have let them see and get used to each other first.

 

[Savannah Hayley]

Okay, thank you!

 

[loftkeeper]

DOVES ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO SEX AT WEANING. YOU WILL HAVE TO WAT TILL THEY ARE SEXUALLY MATURE AND SHOW THERE SEX. UNLESS YOU BUY PROVEN HENS YOU REALLY DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING. LIKE I SAD FIND A REPUTABLE BREEDER ONE THAT WILL SELL YOU PROVEN THE SEX YOU ARE BUYING.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I want to buy a female dove .

The best way to determine the sex of a pigeon is to ask another pigeon.
In a perfect world the ♂ pigeon on the right is usually more iridescent and larger than the ♀ pigeon on the left.



That being said no matter which method you choose to sex a pigeon mistakes are sometimes made. I usually can tell the gender of a pigeon just by looking at it (but I have been know to make mistakes too.)

On that note:
If you place your pigeon in the company of a know gender pigeon one can usually tell the gender of the pigeon in question by the reaction taken by the know gender.

(Too many references to gender in that sentence but I think you can follow).

Check out the link the pigeon bowing and circling is ♂ the bird walking is ♀:

Loftkeeper gave you excellent advise.

There may be some fanciers that can sex pigeons at an early age. I have 65 trips around the sun I have yet to meet one (it would have to be some sort of vent sexing my best guess). I can give you an educated guess after about 6 months 90% sure.
I have made mistakes as well. The only thing that works 100% for me is if it

Lays an EGG IT IS FEMALE

 

[fadedracer]

I agree, if the dove or pigeon lays an egg, it is a female. I do know of several large dove aviaries where they keep 50 to 100 doves together with no problem of doves fighting etc. If you put put two pigeons or two doves ( males ) in a really small area one will usually dominate the other and bully it. But if you get the sexes right and they are ready to mate, no problem, just babies soon to come. In a larger avery, say a 4 foot by 6 foot, you should never have a problem with fighting,etc., and you can keep a whole lot more doves. Just remember to hang a small basket or nests, here and there, and throw in a handful of pine needles for nesting material. They will do the rest.

 

[jak2002003]

Most breeders can sex the young doves.. but not 100 percent. They use vent sexing method.. where the space between the females pelvic bones is wider than that of the males. As they have many birds they can compare on to another to get a good idea of the birds sex.

If you buy a young dove.. it does not matter what sex it is.. 2 of the same sex will pair up fine. But 2 adult males will fight and most likely never get on.

Sometimes its better to have 2 doves the same sex.. as then there will not be the problem of a population explosion and over population. There are so many doves and pigeons needing homes that breeding extra ones is not really a good idea, unless you will be able keep them and house them all yourself.

 

[fadedracer]

You know how you can tell if you have two females mated up, instead of 1 male and 1 female, four ( 4 ) eggs. 2 females = 4 eggs. But like jak2002003 said above no squabs will hatch, unless one of the females was having fun on the side. Nature has a way of filling in gaps!!!!!

 

[jak2002003]

Yes animals always come up with surprises... I had a pigeon hatch out a squab and a bantam chicken, because one of my hens sneaked an egg into the pigeon nest.. must have thought she was a cuckoo.

 

[fadedracer]

How funny, she must of been a small bantam. I hope for the bantam chick sake, it was summer or she didn`t do so good. I don`t believe a bantam chick could learn to eat like a squab. Unless of course the mother/father pigeon spilled their milk, the bantam chick pecked at the curds, and the bantam chick did not fall out of the nest.