A few months ago I got 6 ringneck doves from a rescue in Dekalb, IL. There were 3 males and 3 females. I was under the impression that they had been housed separately, females in one cage and the males each in their own cage. The woman said the males fought when put together. I had not planned on having so many doves, so I only had enough pens for 6 individual pairs. At the time I got these, I had 1 'pair' that turned out to be 2 males, another pair that has yet to be determined definitely on sexes, and 4 youngsters. Another of my dove pens had some young pheasants in it, so that left me with 2 pens. The doves were 2 blond males, a blond pied male, a white female, a blond female, and a wild female. So I put one pair of blonds in a cage by themselves and put the rest in the other cage. All birds got along fine through the winter, a few even tried setting eggs, though none hatched. I have since rehomed the young pheasants, so I was able to move the 4 birds from their cage I had hanging inside the barn to one of the pens on my dove hutch. Since then, I've seen my blond male (paired with the blond female) bowing to the white female from the other group, and I've also seen the other blond male (in the group of 4) bowing to the blond female in the 'pair'. Did I mix up my pairs? I was under the impression, by the way the rescue had them housed, that they were not mated, though they appear to have interest in different birds from their group.
As for the eggs, so far I've had one egg laid in the group of 4 pen, not long after I got the birds. Mostly, the pied male would sit the egg, even at night. I think the 'mom' was the wild female though she was almost never on the nest. The pair of blondes have tried hatching an egg twice, though both times I believe it was only the female that set on the eggs.
Sooooo.....do I rearrange my pairs and put them with the ones they keep flirting with, or just leave them the way they are?
As for the eggs, so far I've had one egg laid in the group of 4 pen, not long after I got the birds. Mostly, the pied male would sit the egg, even at night. I think the 'mom' was the wild female though she was almost never on the nest. The pair of blondes have tried hatching an egg twice, though both times I believe it was only the female that set on the eggs.
Sooooo.....do I rearrange my pairs and put them with the ones they keep flirting with, or just leave them the way they are?
