Lethal Chaos
In the Brooder
Meet my doves from left to right Frost, Vanilla, Cinnamon, and Peach.
(Peach was going through a molt during this pic. ^^') I got into doves when I saved a two day old abandoned Eurasian collared dove. He was my first ever and I'd named him Sora. A year later followed Peach from a different situation and both I raised from a couple days old. 
Sora unfortunately passed away in 2024 on Christmas eve due to a horrible accident. In his memory I rescued more doves and am in the Palomacy group on Facebook where I first received help caring for my first dove in hopes to rescue and help other people take care of doves and pigeons.I want to not just share some of my story and doves but some simple important things I've learned along the way.
- If you ever find a mourning or white wing dove you will need to turn it over to a rehabilitator as soon as possible. Certain birds are protected by the migratory bird act and it's important to abide by it.
- It's important to feed your pet doves and pigeons a proper food meant for pets. Such as Hagens or even Kaytees. And follow it with vitamins like lafebers avian vitamins and morning bird calcium for laying females when needed. I also personally ad vitakraft egg food to my doves feed.
This is important because wild bird seed doesn't contain as proper setup of nutrition as wild bird seed is not meant to makeup a whole wild birds diet. They are allowed to forage the wild. So it's important we take care of our beloved companions nutrition needs.
-Eurasian collared doves are legal to keep. They aren't considered native to America and if anything invasive. But I promise they are the sweetest creatures ever.
Pigeons are obviously also legal to keep. But if you live in an HOA or rent be careful as some will not allow you to keep them. I've seen too many heartbreaking stories of people having to get rid of long term pets because of that.
-Ive thankfully never experienced this but I've always been told..never syringe water to baby birds and possibly birds in general! I believe baby birds especially can aspirate from that.
- Pigeons and doves feed their babies something called crop milk. If you come across a little squab that needs help and you're able to foster Kaytee exact formula can be used! It's a good and safe choice. I raised my own two doves with it.
It's generally readily available at most pet stores.Be sure to follow directions and use a thermometer to check the formula temp before serving. Do not syringe in a babys mouth. In a pinch if it's all you have a measuring spoon (tbl spoon) works but is messy. I've fancier setups now but when I didn't I found that gently raising a tablespoon since it was semi deep to the lil ones beaks was enough to let them taste it and willingly choose to dive in. Oh my the messes though.
-and of course if the babs are featherless find a way to keep them warm.
-if you have the honor of watching nest near your house as baby doves at least grow and feather more the parents take more and more time away from the nest. Dont mistake them for abandoned and just wait to see if the parents ever come back.
-If you find a healthy looking fully feather young dove on the ground it's likely left the nest. Fledglings I think they're called. They're usually not in imminent danger and are still able to call their parents I believe. So if possible let them be and simply observe from a distance of worried.
-if you find an injured animal..try and get to a rehabber! It may be all you can do sometimes.
My brain is fried writing this and I'm tired aha..but some of this should be enough to possibly foster any healthy little ones you find and get an idea of basic nutrition for them.
Pigeons and doves make amazing companions and there's a lot..so so many that need adopting right now. Organizations like Palomacy, avian underdogs, and lots more have pigeons and doves that need homes. If you've the room in your heart and home a pigeon or dove companion may be right for you.
Glad to see someone else that has a heart like me for animals!
