dove question

[chimp 299]

when i was a kid many moons ago an old fella round here used to keep white doves and he used to colour the underside of there wings with food colouring and when the birds flew they looked amazing.

 

now my question is would that be frowned on these days as i would of thought food colouring would not harm the birds.

 

 

either way im still toying with the idea of keeping a couple of doves in a dovecote in the garden , anyone got any advice on keeping them , do they need to kept secure for a while until they are used to there surroundings so they just dont fly off once introduced to the dovecote?

 

cheers

[Malt 379]

It's not frowned upon, if it's the same thing they do the same thing with red factor canaries. They don't put the colour onto the birds with them, they give it to them in their water and it comes out as a colour when the feathers grow.

 

Not sure about what you have to do with them to get them to stay in the garden though, I'd have thought it would have been the same thing that you do with pigeons, maybe one of the pigeon lads will know.

Edited September 20, 2010 by maltenby

[4x4dartmoor 2]

when i was a kid many moons ago an old fella round here used to keep white doves and he used to color the underside of there wings with food coloring and when the birds flew they looked amazing.

 

now my question is would that be frowned on these days as i would of thought food coloring would not harm the birds.

 

 

either way I'm still toying with the idea of keeping a couple of doves in a dovecote in the garden , anyone got any advice on keeping them , do they need to kept secure for a while until they are used to there surroundings so they just don't fly off once introduced to the dovecote?

 

cheers

I have a few racer and roller pigeon and to stop the birds of prey we spray them in bright color's to put the off our pigeons.. They do the same for white doves or homing pigeon at weddings.

 

Hope that helps.

[chimp 299]

spot on !! thanks

 

how do you get the doves to stay around?

[scothunter 12,609]

My mate has them,he kept them in the hut thing lol (dont now what you call it)for a few weeks,feeding them and getting them used to the surroundings.then let them out.where they flew onto a neoghbours roof for a cpl hours,then they hardly go far nowadays.

[DUCKWING 302]

HI CHIMP ,,

 

KEEP THEM IN A FEW WEEKS ..... AND GET THEM USED TO FEEDING FROM A TRAY OR BOWL

ONLY A LITTLE ,

KEEP THEM HUNGRY , WHISTLE WHILE YOU ARE FEEDING THEM , AFTER A FEW DAYS OF THIS THEY WILL BE CLIMBING THE WIRE TO BE FED AS SOON AS THEY HEAR YOU WHISTLE .......

 

MAKE SURE THEY CAN SEE THE SURROUNDING AREA , SO THEY KNOW WHERE THEY ARE .......

 

DONT FEED THEM FOR A FEW DAYS PRIOR TO THE FIRST DAY OF FREE FLYING , LET THEM OUT AND WHISTLE THEM ON TO THE FEED DISH .... JUST A LITTLE FEED

THEN MOVE THE DISH BACK TO THE DOVECOT ,..... WITH A LITTLE MORE FEED .......

LOCK THEM AWAY

REPEAT FOR A FEW DAYS ....... THEN YOU CAN UP THE FEED , THEY WILL KNOW WHERE HOME IS ...

 

YOU CAN CONTROL THEM WITH HUNGER .....

 

COLOURING BIRDS IS DONE ALL OVER THE WORLD ..... IN SPAIN ESPECIALLY

 

THEY HAVE A COMPETITION WHERE THERES A FEMALE AND A LOAD OF MALES , EACH MALE IS COLOURED WITH THE OWNERS MARKINGS ,....... THE MORE HE FIGHTS HIS WAY TO THE FEMALE THE MORE POINTS HE SCORES ...

 

 

 

 

 

ALL THE BEST

 

 

DUCKWING

[chimp 299]

cheers duckwing

[fireman 11,463]

I'll just add most folks i have known to keep doves in the usual white dove coops have had their doves fly away for a less drafty home,whilst those who have kept them in a shed or bigger coop have had no problems with wayward birds.Those coops look nice but are impratical really as when the wind blows they all try to grab the less drafty nesting holes and the strongest birds just put out the others and who wants to live in a draft,just going on what i've seen myself and it might not be allways the case with the white dove coops we all see empty in peoples gardens.

[DUCKWING 302]

FIREMAN ,

 

I AGREE .... THEY ARENT THE BEST THING FOR KEEPING PIGEONS IN .....

 

HOWEVER ,..... I KNOW A LOT WHO KEEP A FEW BIRDS VERY HEALTHY IN THEM ..... FOOD IS THE ANSWER AS WITH MOST THINGS .... THEY WILL STOP WHERE THERES A GOOD SOURCE OF BOTH FOOD AND WATER AND THRIVE !!

ONE OF THE BEST DOVECOTS IVE SEEN WAS MADE BY MY OLD DA ... IT WAS IN THE EAVES OF HIS BRICK BUILT SHED , AND THEY ENTERD BY A SLIT IN THE GABLE , WITH SOME THOUGHT AND A GOOD PAIR OF HANDS A DECENT COT CAN BE MADE ....

 

PIGEONS DONT ASK FOR MUCH .... AND CAN BE KEPT COMFORTABLY IN THE SMALLISH CREES

 

 

 

ALL THE BEST

 

 

DUCKWING

[tb25 4,627]

as a hobby whats the least birds you could keep,say 10?

[DUCKWING 302]

WELL FELLA ,

 

ITS LIKE ANYTHING ...... YOU KEEP WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD , HAVE SPACE AND TIME FOR

 

PERSONALLY IF I WAS TO KEEP ONLY A FEW ... I WOULD GO FOR ONE OF THE PERFORMING BREEDS LIKE THE DIVERS ,,,,, SPECTACULAR TO WATCH IN THE AIR ONCE YOU GET A GOOD ONE

PLUS THE ASIAN COUNTRYS LIKE TURKEY AND ALBANIA ETC HAVE SOME FAMILYS WHICH ARE BEAUTIFUL TO LOOK AT .... NOT JUST A WHITE DOVE FLITTING AROUND THE GARDEN ....

 

 

WATCH THIS BABY COME IN .........

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrXLNjOI_00&feature=related

 

 

NEVER MIND THE MUSIC . LOOK AT THE BIRDS

A LOT OF THESE LADS HAVENT A POT TO PISS IN BUT A GREAT DEAL OF PRIDE IN THEIR FAMILIES OF PIGEONS

 

 

A GOOD SITE ........

 

 

http://www.turkishtumblers.com/index.php?sid=20b3b11dfa21cc4e27013f952dad6c6c

 

ALL THE BEST

 

 

DUCKWING

[tb25 4,627]

cheers mate good watch that i may look in to gettin myself some next year time not to many 10 should do me