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Doves can make an excellent pet. But many people have not discovered this breed of bird yet. Why? Doves are supposed to fly around outside and poop on cars. Why would you want to keep them as pets? Well, lots of reasons.

Size – They are medium sized bird from 4-8 inches long. Smaller doves can easily be kept in cages in the home. Larger doves are commonly kept in flight cages, or many times in outside aviaries. Don’t confuse these with pigeons! That is a totally different class of birds!

Maintenance – Not much different then larger birds. Their diet is a good finch seed/pellet mix, supplemented with dark greens and chopped up fruit and vegetables. The doves we raised didn’t seem to care for those, forcing us to supplement their diet with vitamins. Doves are on of the few birds that require grit in their diet. Look for some high calcium forms of grit that are made of digestible ingredients like cuttlebone, oyster shell. Our birds were fed a special dove seed mix that was largely millet and chip peas. We supplement it with greens and vitamins.

Our “special” white doves were fed a special diet because when we took them to “events” we didn’t want them pooping all over the place! More on that later.

Noisy? Not at all. Doves have a wonderful “cooing” sound that adds a great atmosphere to the home, opposed to the loud screeching sound of parrots.

Cost? Most common doves are very inexpensive. There are some special breeds of “show” doves that can be very pricy. But the average ringneck or white dove sells for around $20. They are very easy to breed, and very hardy.

Doves love human contact. They are easy to finger train, and they do not bite. This makes them a great starter bird for small kids. After handling these birds, they will easily move on to larger birds, and have a good understand on how to care for them.

The most common doves are Ringneck and Diamond Doves. Ringneck Doves come in over 40 color variations.

Diamond doves have become a very popular pet. They are one of the smallest of the dove species, have a gray body with off-white chest and stomach. Many have a few blue and chestnut colored wing feathers. They are hardy, and rarely get sick unless they are poorly cared for. They can be caged with other birds, such as finches. Many people keep a pair of these birds, as they mate for life. They are known to live for at least 15 year in captivity.

We raised a lot of white doves. We had a side business with our aviary. We rented our doves and decorated cages to be used at weddings, funerals, and other special events. It was quite an experience to see a church full of wedding guests listening to the cooing of a dozen doves while the wedding ceremonies were in progress. At funerals, the cooing helped to sooth the sadness, and the doves significance in religious ceremonies is an important factors to many groups.

The problem is that many people want to perform “dove releases”. Unfortunately, the birds used in those ceremonies are not doves, but white racing pigeons. If you release a normal dove, it does not fly back to its coup the way pigeons do, as they do not have the homing instincts. By releasing white doves you are only sending them off to their death, unless they can manage to adjust to living in the wild, and can avoid predators.

If I have you interested in keeping a few doves, just keep in mind that they will require a cage big enough to flap their wings and exercise. Doves must be able to fly, so you normally do not clip their wings. Doves can not climb the way other birds and parrots do, and can not get away from danger unless they fly away. Losing that ability can have some psychological effects on the bird.

They do produce a fair amount of dander. You can mist them off, but some people will just take them into the sink and spray them there. I’ve talked to a few dove owners that would literally bathe their birds in a mild dish soap. This was the only decent way to completely clean a White Dove.

Do not leave doves in a drafty area. While they can tolerate cool weather, they can’t handle the drafts. They are also very sensitive to smoke and odors, so it’s best to keep them away from kitchen areas.