Hi. New to doves with one about to hatch

[caesargirl]

When this new one was 12 grams it was eating 3ml, which is 25% of it's weight. I have no idea if this is enough, but I know it's not too much.

-Kathy

That's gotta be pretty darn close. Mine were eating 4 to 5. Sounds like each bird is just a bit different. Would breed make a difference in eating and growth amount?

 

[casportpony]

So I just weighed the little one at 18.96 grams, then fed it to the point where it was so full that there was food visible in the esophagus. That amount was ~4.75 ml. So based on that, I would guess that a safe amount to feed is 25% of their weight.

Important note: This 25% number does not apply to chicks, ducklings, peafowl, goslings, keets, etc. For those you would start with 2.5%.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Got a pair sitting on eggs now, so when they hatch, I'll monitor their weights and the amount their parents feed them. Should be interesting...

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Bad news... I just went to check on the nest with the next eggs to hatch and saw two older squabs in another nest without their parents. Both seem a little thin, and their crops are empty, so looks like I might have to bring thos in and start feeding them.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Oh, nest with eggs is fine... Those parents are there.

-Kathy

 

[appps]

Thanks! I came across a weight monitor sheet last night and had planned to weigh him this morning. Still a little early here, I'm up before the birds lol but will be interesting what he weighs. I'm happy to let them brood it. Poor mum has been trying to hatch eggs for about three years at least, really hope to not have to take it off her.

I found a video last night of a fantail feeding it's 4 day old baby and it was nothing like what even the dad who is trying his darnedest to feed it is doing. The mother in the video gave quite a long pumping of food into it. Our dad has a couple little pumps but that's it. I also was reading how sometimes one parent will teach the other by pecking at their beak etc and it was exactly what he was doing with the mum.

 

[appps]

So I went out and mum was feeding him and not doing too bad a job this time. She held his beak in her mouth and pumped for a little while. Proud dad was sitting next to her and giving her a little preen of encouragement now and then . I went and mixed up some breakfast and got everything ready and when I got back they had swapped sides and dad was feeding it. Then he tucked it back under him so I took it out for its weighing.

So this is day 4 or 5. Its the 23rd here now. I saw the egg unhatched on the 17th and the baby for the first time on the 19th but it could have hatched the 18th and I didn't see. It's eyes were just starting to open yesterday and did open a little bit today when I was feeding him and he peeped for the first time today when I started feeding it.

His weight after a feed by both parents was 18g

I didn't think the crop looked as full as the photos I've been looking at online so I decided to top him up.

its final fully fed weight was 21g. Hope I didn't give too much?

No idea what he weighed before the parents fed him to work out what percent he ended up getting?

Going to go down and get a syringe to make a better feeder when the shops open because it's a bit too messy what I'm doing at the moment.

 

[caesargirl]

Bad news... I just went to check on the nest with the next eggs to hatch and saw two older squabs in another nest without their parents. Both seem a little thin, and their crops are empty, so looks like I might have to bring thos in and start feeding them.

-Kathy

Good luck...

 

[caesargirl]

So I went out and mum was feeding him and not doing too bad a job this time. She held his beak in her mouth and pumped for a little while. Proud dad was sitting next to her and giving her a little preen of encouragement now and then . I went and mixed up some breakfast and got everything ready and when I got back they had swapped sides and dad was feeding it. Then he tucked it back under him so I took it out for its weighing.

So this is day 4 or 5. Its the 23rd here now. I saw the egg unhatched on the 17th and the baby for the first time on the 19th but it could have hatched the 18th and I didn't see. It's eyes were just starting to open yesterday and did open a little bit today when I was feeding him.

His weight after a feed by both parents was 18g

I didn't think the crop looked as full as the photos I've been looking at online so I decided to top him up.

its final fully fed weight was 21g. Hope I didn't give too much?

No idea what he weighed before the parents fed him to work out what percent he ended up getting?

Going to go down and get a syringe to make a better feeder when the shops open because it's a bit too messy what I'm doing at the moment.

Let us know

 

[casportpony]

Quote: False alarm... went back out and both had full crops.

-Kathy