• Fruit Doves - I feed canned veggies, diced fruit & dog food to my fruit doves -- this did not just pop into my mind after I got the birds. I asked many zoos & private breeders who kept & imported these species, the question of what they fed. Even Lynn Hall feeds veggies & rice and he is probably the most knowledgeable on the subject of these species. My birds are quite healthy on the diet I give them & reproduce -- so something is correct. My point in feeding this diet is to promote & prove to fanciers that other diets can be used for the fruit doves/pigeons (past printed information always states how much harder it is to keep these species then the seed eaters). I can get away for a weekend just as I did when I kept only seed eaters. The dry dog food allows them food while I am away. I do feed the soft mix the day I leave. [John]
• I feed my doves a fortified wild bird seed, some game bird starter that I get at the feed store....and they love
  cornbread, cooked corn on the cob (but like it better if I cut it off the cob for them!!!) and green English peas. They also prefer their peas if I "smush" them so they don't have to peck thru the hull!Helen I give my doves a mix of chicken scratch, comercial pigeon feed and parakeet seed. I also give them oyster shell grit. I also give them fruits, veges, and different grain breads. [Keith]
• Doves are seed eaters , any good wild bird seed mix will do , along with oyster shell grit, and as a treat hard boiled eggs, shells and all, doves are easy to care . [RON]
• Canary & parakeet seed usually doesn't have the small sunflower seeds and the red millet. The mix is different between the seed mixes. Wild bird seed is a much more varied mix than parakeet or canaries which are basically only 2-3 different seeds/grains. [Helen]
• I maintain 3 containers -- food, water & grit. I usually put the grit in a shallow flower pot saucer since my doves love to "play" in it. I mix my seed and game bird starter in dthe same container.
• My doves eat a fortified wild bird seed, corn bread, occasionally some cooked beans, rice and pasta I feed my parrots. Your finch, canary, parakeet will be just fine. I'm afraid much of the 'tiel & conure maybe a little large. My doves like sunflower seeds, but they need the very small one (doves do not crack & hull seeds like the hookbills) They do love cooked corn. I also feed them a game bird starter that I get from the feed store. I leave the game bird starter, the wild bird seed and grit (essential) in with them for "free feed" all the time. Don't mix the grit with the food, put it in separate bowls. If you have sand or grit for your canaries, that will do. I usually use what is called "parakeet" grit or crushed oyster shells. Most of the oyster shells are a little large, but they will pick around and find the ones they want.Your doves will be much messier about their food than your other birds. Doves seem to "fling" their food while looking for the choicest seeds! I find deep bowls much better than shallow flat bowls.Good luck and keep us posted. [Helen]
• I use the half gallon & attach to the corner of the breeder cages. The gallon jug (with large cutout) is used mostly for a nest which is hung in the corner of the breeder cages. The gallon jug with the two holes (holes are big enough for the bird to go thru) in it is the feed jugs I use most -- these are set on either the ground or a 12" square stepping stone. I prefer the two holes to the single hole as the bird can possibly tip these over & if only one hole & it falls to the ground side the bird is trapped. The two holes offer an escape if the container tips over (It has only happened a couple of times & have lost birds from only having one hole -- so I always cut two holes.) The holes for the containers (I use only half gallon jugs in the breeder cages for feed) in the breeder cages is only big enough for the bird to get it's head inside -- thus they cannot get caught in one & they can reach the entire inside of the half
  gallon container. [John]
• I have about 22 RN doves. I use a plastic 1 gallon poultry waterer that self-feeds into a rectangular basin about 1" deep. I drain the basin daily as the water gets some dust in in and occasionally other debris. The doves perch on the edge of the rectangular part and drink. I add 8 drops Chlorox bleach to each gallon of water. This kills any bacteria or virus that may have gotten into the exposed water. A gallon of water lasts about a week. [Ron]
• My water container may not be the most efficient but the doves love it. I have a small concrete bird bath in my aviary. Yes, it gets dirty but the doves cool off in it when it is hot and they drink from it. I clean it frequently by the water hose. It would not be feasible for someone who had a huge amount of birds, but it looks nice in my aviary and if works for me. My nephew had a little stream system falling over some rocks and being recycled through a filter. Elaborate but he didn't have to worry about water for them. His aviary was about 8X8. My friend has a huge aviary raising all kinds of birds. She uses water bottles but I'm not sure if that would work for doves since they drink differently. She also uses poultry waterers. Hope these ideas help. [Sharon]
• For the DOVE & QUAIL MIX from Kaytee that I get out here, it contains safflower seed, a couple different varieties of millet, milo, wheat and some small pieces of cracked corn. The Pennington brand fortified WILD
  BIRD MIX contains black sunflower seeds, one type of millet, milo and a few kernals of wheat plus whatever the vitamins that they fortify it with. For most of my exotic doves I use 6 parts Dove & Quail, 2 parts Wild Bird feed,
  one part chicken scratch, (cracked corn, milo and wheat), and 1 part gamebird breeder layena 20% protein. That is for the larger doves like ringneck size and larger, For the smaller doves I feed the Dove and Quail Mix with a little gamebird chow added as they can't eat the larger grains as in the first mix.Monte.PS. I know that the chicken scratch is some of the same ingredients as the others but I add it to give more wheat and corn for the larger doves than the other brands offer. I think that the milo is mostly just used as a filler.
• (www.ext.usu.edu) is the website for Utah State University. They did a study for the U.S. Government on drinking water and published a very good report. You can get the report at this site. The report says to use a 4%-6% sodium hypochlorite solution of chlorine. You add 1/4 teaspoon or 16 drops to each gallon of water to disinfect it. Keep in mind that this formula is for human consumption. I have always used half that amount (8 drops) and it keeps the algae from growing in my dove's drinking water. [Ron]