Dove 101 (Questions)

[0wen]

Hello,

Hoping to add some dove this year and have some questions. Zero experience with them - I've raised chickens, ducks, & coturnix - but nothing any closer to a dove. Hoping to keep them outoors full time (zone 6a/6b border):
6a −23.3 °C (−10 °F) −20.6 °C (−5 °F) 6b −20.6 °C (−5 °F) −17.8 °C (0 °F)

I also prefer to raise things as natural as possible - I kept my coturnix in an hoop coop style setting on the ground and such, and hoping that doves can be raised in a similar setting - pros and cons of a set-up like this?

General questions -

Can Silkie/Frizzle feathered doves fly at all? I'd like 1 or 2 (I know not to breed them to each other) in a flock of half dozen or so.

Do I need to separate them by pairs or can a flock live communally?

Anything other than draft protection needed? Assuming they're like most birds and can survive the cold as long as they aren't exposed to drafts and weather. If you have photos of outdoor housing - flights, aviaries, etc - that would be great.

 

[Kessel23]

I do not have much experience with doves but I do have a single silkie dove and I can tell you that is does not fly at all. Even when it is up high and tries to take off it will fall to the floor faster than a chicken. I think some of them are better at flying than others but all of them are pretty bad from what I understand.

 

[Fishkeeper]

If you're getting a dove species that can't really fly, I'd treat them about like your quail. Heck, you can keep doves with quail.
I don't know about the temperatures, but Virginia has wild doves, so I'd imagine there's a way to keep your domesticated doves happy with some sort of protection.

 

[jak2002003]

Hello,

Hoping to add some dove this year and have some questions. Zero experience with them - I've raised chickens, ducks, & coturnix - but nothing any closer to a dove. Hoping to keep them outoors full time (zone 6a/6b border):
6a −23.3 °C (−10 °F) −20.6 °C (−5 °F) 6b −20.6 °C (−5 °F) −17.8 °C (0 °F)

Provided they have a draught / rain and damp proof shelter they will be fine with these temps.

I also prefer to raise things as natural as possible - I kept my coturnix in an hoop coop style setting on the ground and such, and hoping that doves can be raised in a similar setting - pros and cons of a set-up like this?

That will be fine. Make sure there are plenty of perches and areas for shelter from sun and rain.

General questions -

Can Silkie/Frizzle feathered doves fly at all? I'd like 1 or 2 (I know not to breed them to each other) in a flock of half dozen or so.

Yes most can fly. Some can not. So place perches and branches where they can easily hop up onto them. They will also appreciate a flat perch or platform to rest on so their feet don't get tired of gripping. You can make a platform out of wire mesh so droppings fall through and it stays clean.

Do I need to separate them by pairs or can a flock live communally?

To do best in mated pairs, unless the enclosure is massive. If you try to breed multiple pairs together they will fight and peck at each other heads / eyes and breeding results will be poor from disturbance from them bickering. You can keep young none breeding birds together.

Anything other than draft protection needed? Assuming they're like most birds and can survive the cold as long as they aren't exposed to drafts and weather. If you have photos of outdoor housing - flights, aviaries, etc - that would be great.

If they can fly well you can house a pair with most quail species OK usually. Keep an eye on them at first. If they can't fly then its better to house them on their own as sometimes the quails will pick on them and they won't be able to fly up to escape.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

@007Sean

 

[0wen]

Thanks for the replies. Not interested in keeping them with other livestock, really just wondering about same species housing. I have a 10W x 16L x 6H aviary that housed my quail before they went to my freezer and wondering how to house the doves. Can they only be kept in pairs despite ample room? What of all females or (x) amount of females to (x) amount of males?

Looking to house 6-8 doves, but if they can't get along I'll just build them something smaller and utilize the aviary for something else.

Thanks again...

 

[Serin]

Thanks for the replies. Not interested in keeping them with other livestock, really just wondering about same species housing. I have a 10W x 16L x 6H aviary that housed my quail before they went to my freezer and wondering how to house the doves. Can they only be kept in pairs despite ample room? What of all females or (x) amount of females to (x) amount of males?

Looking to house 6-8 doves, but if they can't get along I'll just build them something smaller and utilize the aviary for something else.

Thanks again...

Hi Owen, I am regret to say that ringneck doves shouldn't really be housed in a flock at all. The males are aggressive and will fight frequently, and they even attack their own young as soon as they are weaned around four weeks of age and can scalp them.

They should be kept in pairs.

In an aviary setting, you are better off keeping fancy pigeons, which do well in a flock.

Just don't mix the two. Pigeons, moreso the males, will kill ringneck doves.

 

[0wen]

Just recently, I've acquired nearly 2 dozen ringneck doves from a local rescue group. Most of the birds are the result of "white dove" releases with a few stragglers thrown in (a few orange pied, wild coloring, and a pair of ash/blues). They've been in an outdoor aviary for several months and are currently residing in one of my empty aviaries. I'd like to pair them up sooner than later and have gotten many of them sexed, but many of them being identical (or close) it's a repeat job...

They're obviously well past seamless bands, so just looking for recommendations of wrap around or clasping legbands (even for temporary banding) while I get them sexed and paired. I'd prefer not to use zip-ties or such. I guess I mainly need the proper size of leg band to your average ringneck dove..

Thanks

 

[Fishkeeper]

"I'm thinking about getting some doves."
[time passes]
"so I got like 20 doves"
That's an escalation! Any pics?

Dumb question, but could you use those twisty bread ties? Twist one around the leg and trim the loose ends off?

 

[0wen]

I'll get some decent photos tomorrow. Literally just went into the Aviary yesterday afternoon (4 eggs today! quicker than I had hoped as I'm still tweaking the aviary).

Aviary is currently earth (about 6-10" over a buried wire) but considering either sand or a mix of sand (under the tarp) and growing grass (under the open wire portion, I'll winterize it with clear plastic when we reach that time of year again) - thoughts and/or suggestions?

21 birds total, so there's an obvious odd-man-out. Hoping to have them all sexed (as best guesses anyway) soon to figure it out so I can ad or remove as needed to balance them out and remove stress and such.

Also note, that there are nesting and housing in the aviary now. The roosts/perches were a quick fix. Literally working on this as it goes - while I'd been considering doves, the appearance of these guys was unexpected. I actually went down to adopt 10. Once there, they asked if I could handle 18 in the aviary and somehow that became 21 when I counted them at home. It frees up place at a rescue operation though that needed the space though, so it's all good. These guys have been taking up real estate there for quite a while. I'll give them a week or so to adjust, and start working on handling and some light training.

We'll see how this all goes....