Doves, my new found love!

[gypsy2621]

you can give them grit and a little calcium but normally the shells are much thinner than chicken eggs.

I wouldnt worry about the calcium to be honest, i t might make it hard for chicks to hatch from a tougher shell.

 

[Bettacreek]

I'm honestly thinking that it's a problem with the roost. They laid the egg in the seed cup, which is a darn big seed cup, but, I don't believe that it is big enough for her to actually roost in. Now, since this egg is obviously not going to hatch, but was fertile, how do I encourage them to lay again once I get the breeder cage? I'll probably have to suck it up and see if I can go get that cage today before hubby goes to work, though I doubt I'll want to get out of the car. I called off work myself because I could hardly move about, now I've gotta get off my arse and pick up a cage.

Anyways, how do I encourage them to lay again? They were sold to DucknCover as a proven pair, so I'm assuming (now) that they really had hatched chicks out. At first, I assumed that they had laid eggs and the petstore was unreliable (I've heard stories of it before, lol).

 

[citalk2much]

Dumb question do they have something to nest in other then the food dish?

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
Ok for some reason when given the choice of a roost, nest tray, or bowls or seed dishes they always tend to lay in the seed dish

I get around this by having 2 dishes with seeds , if you notice where the 2 babys are , lol they are in a 20 ounce seed dish even though they are provided a huge bowl normally used for watering a dog lol.
I would put in bowls dishes etc and let them decide where to lay them golden eggies.
after they decide where/which bowl they will use remove excess and give them a fresh seed bowl. just cause you know darned well they are going to use the normal seed dish.

grr forgot to add you can also use one of those ferret corner litter boxes, drill a hole in the side and mount high up in the cage as possible. give them a little bit of hay or straw to nest with it might encourage them to rebreed sooner.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
I have diamonds nesting in hte seed cup, and its tiny, almost too tiny but they manage, they have 3 different size bowls to choose from as do my silkies.
doesnt matter what you have in there for them to nest in if they chose the seed dish there is little you can do about it.

 

[Bettacreek]

Nope, not a dumb question at all. As of right now, they only had the option of the seed cup, so it was a given that they would lay there (though, lol, they'd probably lay there again). So, with other "roosts", should I put them on the cage bottom or where? Should I try to remove this seed cup and give them a much smaller one to eat out of (one that they won't be able to roost in) or a much, much larger one that wouldn't prevent incubation if they laid in it?
The current seed cup is 2 1/4" deep, and 4" x 3.5". Is that too small to incubate eggs and chickies?

 

[gypsy2621]

LOL nope sounds like my 20 ounce seed cup, look at the pictures the babys are in in this thread and if it looks about the same size then its plenty of room.
there were 4 eggs at one point in that same dish, one fell out and broke, the other hatched but was behind the 2 larger ones so the tiny one was a loss.

preference is to nest as high off the floor as possible but they will breed on the cage bottom if its the only thing available. I have a hen on a nest on the floor right now as the 2 higher nests are occupied.

do your self a favor and just get another seed dish lol. resistance is futile

 

[ButtonQuailHeaven]

Ok, first of all both male and female Doves coos. However only the male bow coos. What I mean by that is he will actually bow over and over while he is cooing to the hen. I always tell people that is the way most men should be to their women, right, bowing down and worshipping, LOL?!?! My hen coos all the time. Her coo and most hens coos are not as loud as a males but they do both do it. The best way I have found to sex them is if they lay no eggs, they are both males, if they lay 4 eggs they are both hens and if they lay two eggs they are a pair. I had two males once that bred constantly, LOL!!

Don't worry about getting them to lay again. They are very prolific like rabbits. Good thing they only lay two at a time or you would get overtaken right away. They will go back to lay while still feeding the babies even. I use a large plastic dog dish for a nest and put it on the bottom of their cage. They are major ground dwellers and do great with this type of nest. I line it with some pine chips and then give them a handful or two of hay so they can finish out the nest. I used to use a wire dog kennel for their cage. It worked great and was nice and big for them and their babies. Good luck with them!!

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
LOL prolific like rabbits, that statement cracks me up.
Rabbits are only prolific if the mood suits them, or when you dont want kits. just try getting the booger butts to breed and have babys ready for a show

The Doves are much better at breeding and raising a clutch than rabbits kindling and raising a viable litter.

 

[Bettacreek]

If the bow coo is where he poofs up and sticks his butt in the air while cooing, then mine was definately doing a bow coo.