BIRD PEOPLE: Know anything about mourning doves? UPDATE: BABY FELL

[gypsydoodlebug]

I have a pair of mourning doves who have nested in a display case on the side of my porch. They've been a lot of fun to watch since we discovered it a week ago. Only one of the eggs hatched -- the other one looks like a dud, although they haven't pushed it out of the nest yet (good, really. I don't want to have to clean that up from the porch!)

So today I went outside to check on them and found the baby squirming around in front of the dad and it is chilly outside:

A couple of hours later, I took the dog outside and glanced around the side of the house to see this:

Crikey! My doves have Britney Spears' parenting skills!! I've put a basket with old blankets beneath the baby in case it falls... I'm not sure what else to do but I sure don't want to have to deal with a dead bird!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

I don't think there is anything you can do about nature.

I watched robins lay eggs and hatch them and feed them only to get up one morning and find that a cat (not mine) had destroyed the nest. And another time a snake went in and got the baby bluebirds from their nesting box. I don't think there is anyghing you can do.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

Well, I have doves as pets and I have no clue what to tell you. I have heard of people taking the babies and laying them on heating pads to keep them warm and trying to feed them. I have no clue what the mixture is that you would feed them though.
Hold on, I'll do a search and see if I come up with anything...

 

[momof3disneyholics]

Gotta love Google...

Ok, this is what I have come up with... Hope it helps!

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/advice4.htm


http://www.webbedworks.com/messingerwoods/babybirds.htm

http://aviary.owls.com/baby_bird.html


http://www.lafeber.com/products/nutri-start.aspx

 

[BratTink]

I have a set of cockatiels who breed. When they ignore a baby it means that something is wrong with the baby and they are letting it go. Sorry

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

Gotta love Google...

Ok, this is what I have come up with... Hope it helps!

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/advice4.htm


http://www.webbedworks.com/messingerwoods/babybirds.htm

http://aviary.owls.com/baby_bird.html


http://www.lafeber.com/products/nutri-start.aspx

These help a bunch ... thanks!

I have a set of cockatiels who breed. When they ignore a baby it means that something is wrong with the baby and they are letting it go. Sorry

I kinda think this, too. I wonder if its because the second egg didn't hatch. As of yesterday, they were nestling the baby, but today they seem to be ignoring it. The dad was perched beside it and its head was underneath him this morning in its current place. They even did "shift change" at 11:30 as usual...

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

Well, I just checked again, and the poor baby's foot is now hanging off the shelf, but the mother was next to it and its head was under the mom... I don't know if she's trying to push it out or keep it warm...

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

They grow incredibly fast! What I love most about them, is that they're monogamous and will come back to the same nest year after year.

When Hurricane Rita was aiming at Galveston, we had to cut back some branches on trees that were close to my house. One of those branches had a dove nest in it. I HATED cutting that branch down. The hurricane ended up being a non-event. I think we lost a few leaves.

See the little brown dog in my signature? Yep... she's being trained to be a gun dog, for doves of all things. I hate that too.

ETA: I guess I should have read your whole post before I responded! The poor little guy! I bet the OP is right though; something might be wrong with him/her.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

I'm a worrier. I got a long stick and pushed the mama back a bit so I could put the baby's foot back on the shelf. When the stick touched the baby, she pecked it twice, so I'm assuming she's still caring for it. I'm just going to leave it alone.

I'm driving DH nuts. He wanted to get rid of the nest early on. Meanie.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I'm a worrier. I got a long stick and pushed the mama back a bit so I could put the baby's foot back on the shelf. When the stick touched the baby, she pecked it twice, so I'm assuming she's still caring for it. I'm just going to leave it alone.

I'm driving DH nuts. He wanted to get rid of the nest early on. Meanie.

I would have done the same thing. The mother and the father will switch off sitting on the nest. Maybe the evil parent will go away and the good one will take over soon.

If both of them do it, then yeah, something must be wrong with the baby.

I swear though, in a couple of days that baby will have tripled in size.

 

[Turtle]

Crikey! My doves have Britney Spears' parenting skills!!

That made me laugh. Doves are such horrible nest builders. I work at a pet store and no less than 3 people called yesterday asking how to care for baby doves that fell out of their nests.

 

[CF'er]

WOo HOo Dove Watch 2008!!!!

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

WOo HOo Dove Watch 2008!!!!

Man, I would hope this one has a happy ending, like the owl one.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

Well, the baby fell and luckily landed in the basket of old blankets I'd put beneath it. I used an old sock and picked it up and put it back in the nest and the mama just sat there the whole time.

If they did indeed push it out, and they do it again, I'll know I've done all I can.

 

[veraletta]

I have raised cockatiels when the parents decide they didn’t want to do.
When they were just about ready to hatch the father would throw out the eggs, so I started taking them as soon as he would start throwing one egg out., as he would also start throw the babies out if they hatched, he even ate toes off one of his babies.

I tried to get them not to mate by removing the nesting box, only reason we had a nesting box is because the girl cockatiel was laying eggs and we didn’t have a male bird, she was going too died if I didn’t get her a mate. She was laying egg all the time. So I was told buy her a male let her have her babies and then remove the box, she would stop mating and all will be right in the world. LOL

I removed all babies and eggs, put the eggs in an incubator and babies in a wooden box with a light for heat, so they would have a chance to live.

Once the babies hatch you have to hand feed the babies. You can buy bird food mixture for babies to be handfed. If you decide to do this you would have to feed them every two hours around the clock. You can look on line on how to do this, but it takes someone that is willing to do this around the clock. You can buy every thing you need at a pet store or on line.

I will tell you I enjoyed helping the babies live and they were the nicest bird ever, I didnt have any trouble giving the birds away as they were so tame and so loving.

 

[DawnCt1]

I have raised cockatiels when the parents decide they didn’t want to do.
When they were just about ready to hatch the father would throw out the eggs, so I started taking them as soon as he would start throwing one egg out., as he would also start throw the babies out if they hatched, he even ate toes off one of his babies.

I tried to get them not to mate by removing the nesting box, only reason we had a nesting box is because the girl cockatiel was laying eggs and we didn’t have a male bird, she was going too died if I didn’t get her a mate. She was laying egg all the time. So I was told buy her a male let her have her babies and then remove the box, she would stop mating and all will be right in the world. LOL

I removed all babies and eggs, put the eggs in an incubator and babies in a wooden box with a light for heat, so they would have a chance to live.

Once the babies hatch you have to hand feed the babies. You can buy bird food mixture for babies to be handfed. If you decide to do this you would have to feed them every two hours around the clock. You can look on line on how to do this, but it takes someone that is willing to do this around the clock. You can buy every thing you need at a pet store or on line.

I will tell you I enjoyed helping the babies live and they were the nicest bird ever, I didnt have any trouble giving the birds away as they were so tame and so loving.

I am impressed with your ability to do that. They must have been tiny! Good for you! What happen to the birds with no toes?