Baby Dove

Had a new arrival thought i would share how small they really are.

They hatch in only 18 days and have a little down the wild color ones have dark skin and the peach/white have pink skin. They are blind when born but open thier eyes a in about a week and begin too feather at about 2 weeks they grow very fast and they are feed by regurgitation from thier parents.

Doves are very easy to care for and are very entertaining The male will coo and he loves to give his mates neck nibbles. I give them a small wooden nest and put in a little straw but they will add feathers and any little thing they can find. The female lays 2 white eggs and both male and female sit on the eggs. Just 18 short days later 2 babys hatch and the parents feed {regurgitate}them within one hour of hatching a mixture of seeds and water crushed into whats called crop milk. After a couple days they will feed them seeds mixed with water as before only less crushed and eventualy they will pickup seeds get a little water and immediately regurgitate into thier mouths. All too soon they feather out and in no time they are feeding themselves.

Oh how cute is that!!! Not even a palm pilot! LOL

OMG how absolutely adorable! What a sweet little thing. I can't wait to see how it grows up. Keep us updated with pix Harmony! So tiny, so fragile, what a treat to hold it in your hand like that.

oh no! i want some!

I have doves that come visit my yard... and I've put up dove platforms for nests...no takers yet :( but that lil baby is just sooo precious!

How adorable. Thanks for sharing.

smedgekles!

are you in the storm path there? I'm worried cause no one has heard from Jojo lately! is she okay?

This message was edited Sep 12, 2008 1:08 PM

Titania, Oberon & Puck (the baby)

Another picture of Puck

Puck @ 9 weeks

WOW gorgeous birds are they both fantails I love the blue tail. I have Pure White Fantails and Mottled they are not pure though and I Have German Shield Owls. I really want a pair of Figuritas and a pair of Satinettes I know someone who has Chinese Owls but he won't sell them. Beautiful Birds Suze

Thanks :) Titania is a fantail. Oberon was a Fairy Swallow and Puck was 1/2 and 1/2. I lost both Oberon and Puck last year :( They were my favourites.
Suze

New pics

This message was edited Sep 16, 2008 9:44 AM

Here he is 1 week old and his eyes are open and hes got a little more fuzz.

Back view

OH WOW!!! So, so cute and neat to see how he's growing! That is just like a little miracle in your hand. It is neat to see how much bigger he is because you can see how long he is compared to your fingers and there is definitely a dfference, and all the feathers coming in on his little wings! They seem so dense compared to the chicken feathers. I have to admit, his beak is pretty funny. I mean, it's HUGE compared to the rest of him. I know he will "grow into it" but chicken beaks start out small and grow with them. It looks like dove beaks pretty much start out adult sized! Or maybe he is just trying to imitate Ellie and her trunk?!

Thanks so much for sharing those pictures Harmony - it's super to see him grow. I will look forward to the next installment! Yay!!

Hes recieveing more seed and water now and his parents both sit on the nest as you can see he still needs to be kept warm until he feathers out.
Dove parents take excellent care of thier young.

The detail on that photo is fabulous. Is he going to be white all over or when will he start to show the grey/black like his parents?

He will look like his parents here mom on the nest and he and bro/sis are under her.

wow, breathtaking.

Oh silly me, I was confused. I was looking at Suze's pictures of Oberon and Titania, and thinking those were the dove parents. I'm such a dimwit. The real mom is just beautiful. So delicately colored.

I didn't answer about the big beak.
Their beaks are that big to accommodate the parents inserting theirs in and regurgitating food and their mouths are quite large at this age.
I should try and get a picture of that.

The mom looks like my ring-necked dove, Bob.

Ohhhhhhh, I never even began to think about that with the beak. That is so neat! I'm always learning from you, Harmony!

To help here The term ring neck refers to the breed because they have rings around their necks.
They come in alot of different colors and we as breeders are always trying a new color I'm trying to breed for pink.

Just a note to remind tomarrow B.C. {baby claire} will be 3 weeks and there will be pics!

woo hoo! Can't wait!

Wow, Har, you just full of 'yummies' today. Any more cuteness to report?

No but my pigeons will be hatching any day now would you like to see one of those grow up?

yupyup!!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Please!!!!

So when they hatch i will start a new thread that okay?

How about baby rabbits i will be breeding my 2 does first of oct. and i could let you see them grow till i sell them? Most people have never seen a new born bunny all hairless and pink looks like big baby rats.

We may be inundated with baby threads, but I AM SO THERE!!

OMG, the baby rabbit thread will make me rush out and buy bunnies. BRING IT ON!!!

Okay it will be wednesday oct 1st for honey and thursday oct 2nd for mary anne Then we wait 30 to 31 days which will be oct 30 or 31 i will take pics of them building their nest and then show the birth pictures. They will 1 day old because i don't touch them on the day they birth. Hows that sound?

Sounds fabulous Harmony - I'm so glad you're here to share these little miracles with us!

Thanks claire glad i'm here too the births and hatchs are old news here and its nice to be able to share because none of it ever gets old with me.

I can't imagine that hatching eggs will ever get old with me either. It's just such excitement every time. And each little life is so special! It's amazing how I am so enthralled with baby animals, and yet human babies just make me run screaming in the other direction as fast as my legs will carry me. All my maternal instincts are only directed to animals!!