How hard is it to raise . . .

[Chinchilla2]

a baby dove or pigeon from egg to adulthood? My only true experience with either of these birds is the "Hey, look! It's a dove / pigeon" when seeing them in the yard or such. I know I am not looking at a baby that comes out covered in fuzz and ready to dig into the chick starter but I do have experience in raising little ones and have successfully reared assorted wild birds (countless cardinals, a few wrens, and one uncooperative snot I almost gave up on that grew into a very cranky Blue Jay). I've done some research on the Internet and come up with conflicting advise so decided I would head here. I am debating on getting a pair of dove (not sure yet what breed) and want to be prepared in case I wind up having to take care of any future babies. Or perhaps start out with eggs and see what happens, I'm still undecided on that.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I tried and tried and tried to find someone who would ship pigeon/dove eggs, but the closest I found were homer eggs for pick up in NV. I ended up getting an Oriental frill squeaker. He is pretty darn tame (he was shipped between 3-4 weeks of age), but not nearly as tame as completely hand-raised pigeons seem to be. He showers with us, is happy to sit on you, and still will flap his wing tips at me as an adult and eat seeds from my hand when I sing him the special coo I used when feeding him as a baby (yes, yes, I know. It is rediculous). We have a ringneck dove female who recently started laying. Eventually, when he is old enough, we will be breeding them. Their babies will be perfect for us to have as pets, because ringneck/pigeon hybrids are sterile.

No need to worry about them breeding up a storm. Both Oriental frills and ringnecks are very tame, so I can only imagine their kids will be. Oriental frills are *terrible* flyers, and hopefully their kids will be too. We've never had to clip his wings. We also have the luxury of letting mom and dad incubate and feed the babies crop milk for the first few days after hatching (Only pigeons, flamingos, and maybe a few other species feed crop milk. It is high energy stuff that helps bulk up pigeon babies). Then, we can take over with hand feeding. I find pigeons to be one of the easiest species to hand feed, and they don't even require feeding needles. This is due to their feeding methods, the fact that they don't need to eat as often as many other birds, and their easy to provide diet. It will be much easier to find breeding birds rather than eggs for sale! It's also easier to find people who ship adults rather than squeakers.

I can send more information your way, and some very thourough links on how to hand-feed when I get home. It all is a matter of perspective though. What is fun to me may be a nightmare to someone else!

 

[KWAK]

I raised 2 mourning doves from 2 days old, I thought it was easy... they are now outside on their own... once in a while they will show up on our pourch.
I also have raised wrens, finches, and other wild birds... it wasnt any harder then them...

 

[BAMABIRDS]

It is extremely hard to raise a chick that has just hatched out to adulthood. Let the parents raise the chick for its sake.

 

[NewHopePoultry]

Its pretty hard.
Doves & pigeons are pretty good about raising their own young though...

 

[deerman]

The first week of age is the hardess. I have raised many(Pigeon) after two weeks old if raised as single, they still imprint and make great pets.not that hard, i used pigeon pellets. FEED it about 3 times a day, just keep the crop full.

 

[Chinchilla2]

Thanks for the info everyone. I've had experience in handfeeding before but figured I would get some practical advice before I even get a pair just in case I wind up having to be the momma. If at all possible, I was hoping to get a pair and have them raise any offspring but being a researcher of sorts, wanted to make sure I had a contingency plan in place, just in case. Now to figure out how to convince the hubby I need to get 'em

hmmmm, Christmas is coming after all