Hi,

My doves have been pooing in their water quite a lot recently (it's a large coop cup so think I will change to an 'upright' feeder) and I noticed these narrow white things in it. Are these worms? If so what are the ways of treating it and which is the best?

One other thing, I have a new baby in the aviary and this morning, I found him in the corner on the floor instead of in the nest. He is only 2 weeks old so can't fly so I thought I'd put him back in the nest. Was this the correct thing to do?

Thanks in advance,

All the best,

~Ed

Even if they don't have worms it is good to worm them regularly. Certainly faecal matter in the drinking water will promote worms. If you go to your local pet shop and ask for worming treatment for your birds they should be able to help. Normally you have to add it to their water - the amount you put will depend on the number of birds, so read the label carefully. Then you have to make sure they finish all of this water before giving them any other water.

Hi,

The only problem with that is my birds never finish all the water as I give them too much rather than too little! Is there a treatment that can be put on the food?

Thanks for helping,

~Ed

Ed, yes you can get the wormer medication to mix or put on top of their food. Be sure to give them wheat germ once a week. This too can be either for water or food. Mine prefer the seed method. ONe other thing. Clean your cage thoroughly to remove any worm eggs that may have been left. A good cleaner for this is a mixture of malt Vinegar and hot water. It won't hurt the doves but will kill any worm residue.

Thanks Dave. I have a bleach/cleaning formula that is safe for the doves so I will use that. Should the baby be kept in the nest until he can fly?

Normally a baby dove will not leave the nest. Since you found it on the floor, I would take a guess that it either fell out of the nest (you're nest might be too small) or the parents pushed it out by accident. It's rare but does happen. Again, this might mean the nest is too small. If you put it back in the nest and it is surviving OK, then you are fine. The parents should be sitting on it and feeding it for about 4 or 5 weeks. Gradually they will leave the nest for longer periods of time and will begin to ignore it's requests for food. It's part of the learning process to get it to live on it's own. This should take about 6 or 7 weeks.

Ok. The nest is quite high up. Should I move it nearer the floor? It is quite large - a 10" coop cup.

Edward, the height of the nest is not important. I keep mine near the top of the cage leaving enough room for the doves to flap their wings without hitting the roof of the cage. I also make sure there is a perch at about the same level so the doves can get in and out of the nest easily.

Ok thanks again Dave!