I'm doing the finishing touches on my cage, and I'm going to pick up birds from the local bird farm here very soon. My question is, Can someone give me some very good IN DETAIL, step by step, with time frames of what to do with the doves when I first get them, the books and videos don't really go into that much detail.

I'm looking for something along the lines of.

1-10 days, leave in cage, just let them adjust
11-20 days, let them perch on your finger
30-40 start training by throwing them out and catching them.

lol don't take the example literally... Im just looking for some fool proof guidance on how to exactly handle, train and the right times to do such things. I like to know EXACTLY what to do when dealing with new animals.


Thanks guys.
-Derek

Derek,

What I like about what see here is that is a plan at all. Fool proof scheduling is not something I have mastered. (And I'm the guy who started and wrote Dove Hotline long, long ago!)

A concrete suggestion I will give you is that you need a dowel or yardstick and a room (I used the smallest bathroom in the house) where you can work with them. The room should be a safe place for the doves to fly but one in which, with your stick, you can keep them flying until they land (at first anywhere) on you. That is to become their "safe place". They get to stay there as long as they will. Later (usually in two weeks or less) the available "safe places" can be limited to what is acceptable to you. (Hand or shoulder are what I'll ultimately accept.)

Perching on your finger can start on the first day. When moving them from hand to hand, make them step up rather than down. Progress here comes very quickly.

Good Luck!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

If you don't know Bob. He is the man that can tell you everything about doves.

Awesome! Do they really taste like chicken?

I used to work with doves and the most important lesson I learned was to send your wife to the pet shop if you like birds. Two doves quickly became four doves, then a sun conure followed by a goldcap, two more doves, a few more conures, three African Greys and one day we had 22 birds and three rabbits. Don't get me started on the rabbits.

One trick that worked for me was keeping a tape player near their cage (yeah, it was that long ago). Every time I put them in their cage, I played the last 16 bars of the dove act. It got to the point where they would return to their roost as soon as they heard the music. This even worked in a few clubs where they decided to go exploring a bit. You also need to get them used to balloon pops or other noises in your act. Hope that helps a little.