Questions about diet

[Eliz Aisling]

My new dove Calliope is a seed junkie. It's all she eats, ever - she won't touch fruit or veggies, whether fresh, dry, chopped, or whole. She is also very picky about which seeds she eats; she picks out her favourites and leaves the majority of her food behind. I understand that doves are seed and grain eaters primarily, but I also want to make sure she is getting a balanced diet.

I am about to gradually switch her to Harrison's pellets. I've heard they're good and of a higher quality than most brands. That being said, I want to have seed on hand to give her as a treat every now and again after I've finished switching her to pellets. Right now I'm giving her an Ecotrition finch seed mix. I don't think it's very good, but it was the best looking one I could find at the pet store. Does anyone have an opinion on Goldenfeast's Australian Blend or Tropic Fruit Pudding IV, as an occasional addition to her future pellet diet?

[FlyingCircus808]

Hi Elizabeth, and welcome! I have 4 doves. The Diamond Doves will eat finely chopped corn, and the tiny heads off broccoli (I cut the heads off for them). My Ringneck will eat corn kernels that I cut off the cob for him. I've had him for 12+ years, and he's doing great. The Mourning Dove will not eat anything but seed, and she is also doing well. Doves are seed eaters, and I am not sure switching one to pellets is such a great idea. For one, they might not recognize a pellet as food. Perhaps I'm wrong, but that's my opinion. Doves are messy eaters, tossing seed left and right to get to the ones they want. All of mine do that. Congratulations on getting Calliope! She is a beauty!

[Skittles]

I only have lovebirds, so their diet requirements are the opposite of the Doves.

Doves are seed eaters, so if she's only eating seed, what you can try doing is sprinkle supplements: like calcium, minerals etc, that she may NOT be getting from her seeds and she can obtain them that way.

[dojidog]

Not sure about doves specifically but I have given my cockatiels and parakeets Australian Blend and they loved it. Again, I know next to nothing about what doves are supposed to eat, but I would suggest mixing whatever food you want her to eat with the food she is already eating.

To get my birds started on fresh foods I mixed organic frozen (but defrosted of course!) mixed vegetables in with their seeds and pellets. I mashed everything up a bit so the veggie juice got all over the seeds and pellets.

[Eliz Aisling]

Thanks for the suggestions!

From my understanding, pellets have different kinds of seeds in them all ground up, so she would still be getting the same thing in a sense. The difference is that she can't pick which type of seed she gets, so it's more balanced. I've tried spreading out the pellets on the floor and letting her pick at them. At first she was just dropping them, but eventually she ate some. I hope this means she will get used to the idea that they are food. Her breeder originally had her on a diet that was half pellets half seeds. The pellets I'm switching her to now are very small, about the size of millet seeds. I think this will make it more likely that she'll eat them.

The new food came in the mail on Monday - right now I'm giving her mostly seed with some of the pellets mixed in. I'll increase the pellets and decrease the seed gradually over the course of 20 days or so.

At first I shared your hesitation about switching to pellets. After doing a lot of research, though, I've come to the conclusion that it might be better for Calliope to be eating pellets than only millet. Millet is pretty much all she's eating right now, from what I've observed. Obviously she needs millet, but only millet seems a little weird to me. Imagine giving your birds only millet sprays as their food. It couldn't be very healthy, could it?

My concern isn't so much that she's eating only seeds (although that was my main concern at first, before I realized that doves don't necessarily need anything other than seeds). My concern is more that she isn't eating enough different kinds of seeds.

This is just a theory. I don't have nearly as much experience with doves as someone like you, Linda, so I do take your advice seriously. I'm definitely open to the idea of switching her back to a mainly seed diet if the pellets don't work out, but I want to give them a try since I've heard only good things about Harrison's and because of Calliope's picky eating behaviour (I do realize that tossing the food around is normal). I'll be weighing her regularly as I switch her food to make sure she's eating enough to maintain her weight. And, as I said, I'll be giving her seed every now and again in addition to the pellets. The trick now is deciding which brand/variety of seed!

And Dojidog - I tried doing a similar thing with a puree of fruits and veggies, mixing it in so the seeds got covered with juice. She would hardly touch it! :P Maybe I'll try again at some point.

Thanks again for the suggestions. I'll keep them all in mind as I continue to modify her diet

[Justus]

My perfect diet chart.
Eat 2 piece of bread with 1 glass milk in breakfast.
Eat fresh salad only in lunch.
Take green tea at 5:00 pm.
Eat some boiled rice in dinner.

[BlueMoon]

Justus- is this for you or for your birds?? As bread with a glass of milk and green tea aren't great for your birds....