|
|
Kingry Elite user Virginia 464 Posts |
Why do my birds refuse to feed their young? Just lost another chirp today. Any suggestions?
|
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Kingry, how old are the adult birds? Young doves very often have to go through several hatching phases before they realize what they should do.
Where the magic begins
|
Kingry Elite user Virginia 464 Posts |
My oldest are at least 10 years old. I only have 1 or 2 per year survive.
|
1906Alpha1906 Special user North Cacky Lack 516 Posts |
Hi Kingry - since your doves are so old, the most likely cause of them not feeding the young is because they know that something is wrong with them and they will not survive anyhow. Nature is cruel sometimes, but most likely they wouldn't have survived anyways. The adult doves know this and that is why they ignored them. There is really nothing you can do about that situation. I have been in that situation before, and tried to hand feed the young, but they passed anyhow. Hope that helps.
-Alpha |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Alpha is right. You can never tell. I had a baby born to a pair 2 months ago and it survive just fine. They laid another a few weeks later and it didn't survive. They didn't take care of it. They seem to know if there is something wrong. Put yourself in their place. If you new the baby wasn't going to survive, would you want to regurgitate all day to feed it?
Seriously, nature takes care of it's own and rearing little ones comes pretty natural to them.
Where the magic begins
|
Kingry Elite user Virginia 464 Posts |
It's just brutal to watch. Had one recently get all the way to first flight, but too dumb to eat. I guess that's why they have 7 sets of young per year.
|
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Only 7? you must be lucky. My birds lay eggs several times a month for 9 - 10 months a year.
Where the magic begins
|
Kingry Elite user Virginia 464 Posts |
My 16 year old showed me how she gets the young to eat for her. She basicly puts the seed in her clinched fist, and inserts the baby's head. She then got it to drink using a water bottle. The gullet was full, and this one made it through the night. Just finished feeding it again. This is the second of the 2, the first died as I had not learned her technique. Here is a link that may help. http://www.diamonddove.com/q&a/feedingbabydoves.html
|
Kingry Elite user Virginia 464 Posts |
New problem. Now I have chirps coming out my ears. On the good side, they all fly to me when I open the cage. Blows my buddies away. Anyone witin a drive of Norfolk Va looking for hand raised doves? Mailed them out once, was not happy. The guaranteed overnight delivery took 3 days.
|
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
I had a shipment delayed once for 3 days as well. The post office sent the box to the wrong state. I will say they were very cooperative when I called and explained we were talking about live animals. They worked extra hours searching for the shipment, found it and sent it by courier to it's destination. It still took 3 days but the doves were fine.
When I ship, I put extra seed in the box and several cups of water with sponges in them. The birds can't drink normally but they can get enough water to keep them alive. In all other cases, overnight was met as promised.
Where the magic begins
|
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Polly wants a cracker... » » Mortality in baby doves (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.01 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |