"I feel a great deal of thought and preparation should take place long before actually selecting your Diamond Doves. The more thought and planning devoted at the beginning, will reduce future mistakes and discomfort for both you and your doves will be reduced. You should try to understand everything involved in keeping Diamond Doves and properly prepare for them ahead of time."

I will attempt to touch on the areas to be considered in preparing for and selecting your Diamond Doves, but this will also require more time, reading and research on your part. Some of the topics touched on will be discussed in greater detail as future article topics.

First of all you need to understand Diamond Doves. I have yet to see a book just on them. Some books include them as a subtopic. I would recommend purchasing and reading: "Doves - A Complete Pet Owner's Manual," by Matthew Vriends and "Doves," by Michael Gos. There is more information becoming available on the Internet all the time. And, I would highly recommend finding someone in your area that already keeps Diamond Doves. If they are willing to share, their experience will be invaluable to you. Try to spend some time observing someone else's Diamond Doves before getting your own. At a minimum, find a pet shop that offers them and visit a few times during different times of the day so you may see them active and at rest, eating and interacting. (Just try to avoid the "rescue-impulse" buy at pet shops. This often leads to disappointment, and there is much more you need to know and do before you are ready for your birds.)

You also need to look at your environment and routines. You will be adding birds and their keeping to your lifestyle, as well as thrusting your lifestyle onto them. Do you want your birds in your active daily life and sharing your living space or would you want them separated a little more? Realize that you will be interacting with them each and every day. But you can decide to what degree they will share in your life. As example: I have a converted cage in the main hall of our house. We (my wife and I, our dog and our cat) interact with these birds 10-20 times a day. I also have birds in a building separate from our house. I see these birds twice a day on average. The birds in these situations act differently because their routines and environments are quite different.

Your goal is to be fully prepared for your doves before they arrive. Your planning should involve where to locate your doves, how many doves to keep, type and size of cage, lighting, ventilation, cleaning and maintenance, feeding, watering and daily care. Both sexes of Diamond Doves sing songs from a mournful cooing to a raspy laughing. When it is light they will sing. Consider this and how the sound will travel from the cage location. Do you want your birds indoors or out? If indoors, are they to be in your home or a separate building? If in the home, in what room will they be kept? If outdoors, at what location and will they be incorporated into your outdoor living space or separated off somehow? (Remember in planning to check local codes on structures and the keeping of animals to avoid expensive mistakes.)

Considering that your doves must be kept in something, the options for type of cage are endless. Using a minimum size per pair of 2'x2'x2', your cage should be functional as to daily care (and breeding if desired), easy to clean and maintain, safe to the birds, and fit well into the location you have selected. Diamond Doves can be a flighty bird when startled. Sudden noises and movements can disturb them possibly causing flight and injury. Place cages across the room away from doorways or corners so the birds can see you coming. I also set light timers to shut down most of the lights at night, leaving a dim one on for the birds to find their roosts safely. They quickly learn they have a short time until all the lights go out. Diamond Doves shed their feathers readily and throw their seed as they eat. Design and planning will help in keeping a tidy cage and area. Sunlight is important to your birds weather indoors or out. If many hours of natural light cannot be provided, the cage must have supplemental, full spectrum, plant or aquarium lights. Placing these on timers will help with maintaining routine. Fresh air is needed as well, but remember that cool drafts can be very harmful to your birds and must be avoided. If droppings are kept dry there will be minimal odors and no bugs. Cages in the house should be cleaned weekly, where outdoor flights are often cleaned well only twice a year, other times as needed. Fresh water must be provided daily. Feeding will depend on the types of food and food containers used. Take care that food doesn't spoil or get soiled.

Before you get your birds, have your cage in place and fully outfitted. Have your feed, grit, cuttlefish bone, fresh water and supplements on hand. (If you are going to feed food different from what they are used to, be sure to get some from the seller and wean them to yours gradually.) Also have some form of hand-feeding formula on hand, antibiotics, bleeding medication, and a warm hospital box set up. It is better to be prepared. The first two weeks at home are the most critical.

You should now be ready to select your Diamond Doves. The three main sources are Pet Shops, The Private Breeder and Someone with birds they have raised from their pet Diamond Doves. I am not going to debate the pros and cons here. Instead I will suggest what to look for in a source of any type. You will want to know of the source's experience and level of expertise. Record keeping of the birds health and breeding are very important. (And very lacking in much of Diamond Dove keeping.) You want to get unrelated birds that are as unmixed in breeding as possible. What kind of support can you expect after the purchase. Look at the operation, facilities used, cleanliness and organization. If you are seeking a "Pair," are they a proven pair and do records show them to be unrelated? Younger birds can be difficult to sex and even I get this wrong from time to time. Know your mutations and what is best bred together, what traits are dominant and recessive as related to the birds you seek. The underlying factor in Diamond Dove keeping should always be for better and healthier examples of the particular mutations.

You should try to select your birds or receive them earlier in the day so they may have the afternoon and evening to get used to their new home. Most importantly look closely at the birds and around the cage they are kept in. Always try to select the best birds available. If there are any questions at all, wait until you can be completely satisfied. The cage should be fairly neat and clean, food, water dishes and perches free of droppings and contamination. Fresh water, seed, grit and cuttlefish bone available. The doves should be active and moving about as you look them over. Their eyes bright, their bodies full, compact but upright and alert, feathers tight and sleek. A bird not feeling well will be dull and listless, feathers are often open and fluffed and the head pulled down into the neck and shoulders. Dropping in the cage should be dry and tight, and look the bird over; the vent area should me clean of droppings. Handle the bird you are interested in; it should feel tight and dense in muscle with clean feathers.

The most stressful time for your new birds will be the first few weeks. This is also the most exciting time for the new owners. This is in conflict; try to leave them alone as much as possible during this time, checking them closely at feeding times only. They need to get over the stress of being relocated as well as getting used to their new surroundings and environment. They will have plenty of time to get used to you and your family after they are settled and are at full strength. If they are looking sick, get them into the warm hospital box and check with a professional. I also recommend a 30 day quarantine period before your new birds are introduced to others you have. I find one of the biggest problems with new Diamond Dove owners is not understanding their behavior and interfering with the doves too quickly. Patience is a difficult but much needed trait during the beginning of your dove keeping. Keep a close eye on them and get involved if you spot sickness or injury. Otherwise, allow them to work things out. Mother Nature really did a good job and it's amazing how things usually work out for the best. You'll be surprised what you can learn from them. Next issue I will go into further detail on housing for Diamond Doves.

Jeff Downing