I rescued a pair of baby Mourning Doves - General

I awoke this morning in my usual zombie-like fashion, making my way to the refrigerator to fetch my morning Dr Pepper while my computer booted up. After my first sip of the Dr Pepper I notice a note on the counter apparently the cat had brought in two baby Mourning Doves earlier that morning and they were now out in the garage. I made my way out there and sure enough, there they were sitting in an old lizard tank with a heat lamp to keep them warm. Closer inspection of the birds showed they were healthy but dehydrated, one bird seemed to be missing several flight feathers on it's wing with a small cut or puncture wound. I returned inside to search for what to feed them, finding that a high protein baby cereal can be used in emergencies, so I call to ask that some be brought home, only to find out that my mother will not be home until late at night, far too late for the birds to survive. Mourning Doves eat mainly seeds and grain, the mother produces a substance called "Crop Milk", a secretion inside the crop, which is mixed with predigested seeds and grain, then regurgitated for the young. It's pouring rain outside and I lack a car to drive, but I throw on my Zeltbahn* and my M1 Helmet, hop on my bike and start my 10 mile journey into town to buy a box of baby food to keep the birds alive. An hour later I return, the baby food is not ideal, only 10% protein instead of 20-30%, but it will keep them hydrated and fed until tomorrow when we can get some baby bird formula from the Pet store. *A Zeltbahn is a multipurpose camouflage shelter used by the German military in WWII, it can be folded into a waterproof poncho in several different ways and has a different camouflage pattern on each side. I fill a small bowl with some warm water and add a bit of the baby cereal, leaving the mixture somewhat runny to help rehydrate the birds better than a thicker mix and fetch an eyedropper to feed them with. The first bird I pick up is very weak but still puts up a fight, but I managed to calm it down and pry it's beak open with little trouble, dropping little bits of baby food in it's mouth. It is the larger of the two and has more developed feathers. The smaller bird is more reluctant to be fed, but I was able to get a few drops in it's mouth. 3 hours later I come back to find them in much better shape, they are more alert and immediately start chirping to eachother when they see me coming with more food. I try the eyedropper again and find that neither bird will take food now, they just do not like having the eyedropper put into their mouths and wriggle away at every attempt. But I had read that some people had better luck feeding baby Pigeons with a straw, letting the bird put it's beak into the straw to eat. Not having a straw large enough, I pry the rubber top off of the eyedropper and suck some of the baby food up inside it and put the tip of the bird's beak inside, after a few seconds it got the hint and started eating the baby food from the rubber top on it's own, as does the second bird. Another three hours later I return to feed them again, and this time I took pictures: [img]http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq291/RR_Raptor65/000_1537.jpg[/img] [img]http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq291/RR_Raptor65/000_1538.jpg[/img] [img]http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq291/RR_Raptor65/000_1539.jpg[/img] [img]http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq291/RR_Raptor65/000_1540.jpg[/img] [img]http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq291/RR_Raptor65/000_1541.jpg[/img] [img]http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq291/RR_Raptor65/000_1542.jpg[/img] [img]http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq291/RR_Raptor65/000_1543.jpg[/img] tl;dr Our cat caught some doves, my mom saved them but didn't know what to do for them, then left while I was still asleep and wasn't going to be home until late at night, so rode my bike into town to get baby food and fed it to them by hand to keep them alive.

Aaaaaw, they're so cute. :swoon: What do you plan on doing with them later on?

why oatmeal though?

What a gentlemen. :unsmith:

eat them

[QUOTE=Doomish;24003400]Aaaaaw, they're so cute. :swoon: What do you plan on doing with them later on?[/QUOTE] Ideally they'll be released once they're old enough. [QUOTE=technicsix;24003415]why oatmeal though?[/QUOTE] Of the four different kinds of baby food they had there, that kind had the highest protein content. The doves will grow to almost full size in about 2-3 weeks and they need LOTS of food to do so. [QUOTE=Stupideye;24003440]eat them[/QUOTE] I actually have hunted Mourning Doves and eaten them, they taste exactly like turkey, but aren't nearly as dry.

D'awwww... :3

Birdies :3

first quality thread in GD i have seen in a long time your a good man OP, i would of tried to help them too

They are birds.

[QUOTE=Murkat;24003537]They are birds.[/QUOTE] no good sir, they are Mourning Doves

You sir deserve a medal. Seeing things like this makes me glad that there are people out there with hearts.

[QUOTE=Murkat;24003537]They are birds.[/QUOTE] Yes, yes they are. And you're a forum user!

[highlight]d'awwwwwwwwwww[/highlight] :buddy: Looks like they have sperm on their faces. :downs:

D'aaaaaaw [editline]06:52AM[/editline] Now man up and eat them.

[QUOTE=ZuXer;24003995]D'aaaaaaw [editline]06:52AM[/editline] Now man up and eat them.[/QUOTE] Nonononono, you aren't using your bwain. He should release them into the wild so they have sex and make more Mourning Doves. If he continues doing this he'll end up farming a massive populace of Doves, then he can just catch a swarm of them and have a feast.

*This message has been deleted,if you would like to see the posters post.Send him a PM and he shall reply with something you can't unhear.*

i always thought they were called morning doves :/

leave them alone! Let nature take its course.

Raise them like your children until they're old enough to be taught to deliver messages and airstrike people with their shit.

[QUOTE=goel;24004482]leave them alone! Let nature take its course.[/QUOTE] Nature's course was interrupted when the cat brought them into the house.

It probably wouldn't be a good idea to raise them as pets considering they will not be conditioned for a dove's world. Instead, refer to previous post [editline]01:42AM[/editline] [QUOTE=BulletofHell;24005174]Raise them like your children until they're old enough to be taught to deliver messages and airstrike people with their shit.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Sputn!k;24005341]It probably wouldn't be a good idea to raise them as pets considering they will not be conditioned for a dove's world. Instead, refer to previous post [editline]01:42AM[/editline][/QUOTE] They aren't pets, nor am I treating them as such. They'll be fine as long as they make it through the first week, once they're old enough to eat seed they'll be allowed to come and go. Apparently Mourning Doves aren't born instinctively knowing what to eat though, they need to be taught what kinds of seed/gain to find.

Raptor, you always do the coolest shit man

Be careful of the diseases they may carry. Make sure to follow standard safety procedures. (Wash your hands, don't touch your eyes, mouth, or face, etc)

Those are cute. :buddy: The world needs more caring people like you. I would have tried the same in your position. I'm surprised your cat didn't kill or eat them.

What adorable little birds. It looks like they need a bath though

Yeah, problem is when I try to clean them off after feeding them they want to be fed again and won't hold still. I'm going to try q-tips and cotton balls later though, should make it easier.

D'awww You deserve this :love:

OP is a hero. I admire you sir.