What should I do to for my new doves to make them comfortable? They should be arriving any day now. Do you give them nesting material? If so what is best sisle rope fibers or hay or rags? They will be kept inside of course. any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Magic Tad

Tad, at first the new doves will be traumatized because of their new environment. The best way to get them comfortable is to leave them alone for a week or so until they get used to their new home.

They don't need a nest unless you are sure they are male and female. If you do set up a nest, shredded paper, works and so does hay. Many pet shops carry nesting material manufactured by Abba. It comes in 1 oz bags and is just enough to make a good nest. I use what they call a coop cup for my nests. The either fasten to the cage or hang from the bars and the 1 oz bag just fills them nicely.

Hi, it is better to have a male and female pair?

You can't have a male pair. They will fight. You can have a female pair. If you get a male and female, you need to decide if you want to raise babies or not.

Thanks Guys I am not sure what sex they (two normal white doves) are yet the breeder said it’s hard to be sure when there young. I will leave them alone for the first week. I will be getting two more in when the breeder gets more silky’s. He has offered to fill in what ever sex I need to make pairs with the silky’s. About the coop cup I have not seen one in my visits to the pet store. Can you describe the size? Is it like a shallow bowl that hangs up high in the cage? What diameter is appropriate for doves? I would also like a recommendation of a decent book on dove care and handling. My stores have nothing and I usually like to peek inside to be sure it’s not just a fluff book, you know all pictures and very little information. Thanks Tad

Coop cups come in different sizes. Mine are 6" in diameter and about 3" deep. That seems to be a good size for them. In my pet shop, they are with the bird supplies but you might find them in the dog section. They are aluminum, look like soup bowls and hang from the bars of the cage. Some of them have clamps so they can be hung most anywhere on the wall of the cage.

If you're just looking for a care and handling book, this is a good one

doves

I am sure my pet stores do not carry any thing like this. I will be doing some on line shopping soon. Thanks for the book recomendation. Tad

Here's some links that should help. Either the hanging ones or the clamp ons will work.

coopcup
bolton
valleyvet
kennelvet

Dave I bought the book you recomended and two more. Amazon has alreadry shipped them.
"Doves (Complete Pet Owner's Manual)"
"Hand-Feeding and Raising Baby Birds: Breeding, Hand-Feeding,Care,and Management"
"How to Build Everything You Need For Your Birds: From Aviaries To Nestboxes"

I will be looking at the coop cups soon. Thanks so much it is nice to learn these things the easy way. Thanks Tad

You're welcome. Those are all good books to have. The coop cups last a lifetime and are easy to clean. I just dump the nest material, put the cups in the dishwasher and then replace the nesting.

Breeding doves is hard work!

Yep...it sure is - a few weeks ago my breeding pair laid two eggs and I thought I would finally have some babies. Unfortunately, the next day there were four eggs in the nest - which means my breeding pair are actually two females! I took the eggs out today (after about five weeks in case they were fertilised by the other pair I have before I separated them) and now I feel really mean because the female that was sitting on the eggs to look after them is now searching in the nesting material for them!

I may be getting a male soon so hopefully will start breeding!

All the best,

~Eddy

Edward, I know the look you are talking about. I'm not raising doves at the moment but I let them lay their eggs. Each time I remove the eggs, I get the stangest look from whichever dove happens to be on the nest at the time.

I joke that when the male is on the nest and I remove the egg, he looks at me and says "so what am I supposed to tell momma? Honey I lost the egg?"

They get over it quickly and go on with life.

That's good to hear Dave!

The worst part is that I don't think she realised they were unfertilised, as last time she laid eggs that were unfertilised, she left them after a week.

If they were still in there, she would still be sitting on all four eggs - which didn't look very comfortable, since the start of December!