This is a serious question that I am pondering, and I will tell you why -

This morning was like any other morning with watering and feeding the doves. I go away for most of the day, and come back and one dove in particular that I have had for years is sitting in the bottom. I figured it was just a resting place for her for the evening. I went back out to check on her and she was still in the bottom. It is unusual that she does this unless she is about to lay, which right now, is not possible seeing as how she just had two hatch only 13 days ago. I reached in to pick her up, an her balance is way off and she cannot walk. I carried her into the house and set her down onto a table and she just let me pet her as she looked as if she were going to sleep. I got up to leave her on the table and she attempted to follow me but was unable to get up on her feet and sort of rolled over. I immediatley set her back up into sitting position and pondered what to do. I moved her to a vacant cage and let her sit on her own for about 15 minutes,and noticed that she was more vibrant and looking around, and made the attempt to fly up to a perch, but now only one leg is functioning properly, and the other is still lazy-like. I am going to take her to the vet tommorrow morning for a check-up, but not sure if she had a mild stroke from the heat, or dehydration.....not sure (They are not in direct sunlight). She is trying to feed the young ones, as they are getting more aggressive in approaching her since they are a lot larger being at nearly 2 weeks, so I am not sure if she was just worn out from the sun, and the feeding of the little ones. Her symptoms, though, seemed like a stroke of some sort, but I am not sure if birds can have a stroke.

If anyone has had an issue like this happen, I would greatly appreciate your input on this one.

Thanks!

(She's my Silk Fountain Dove)

Alpha, I try not to give too much medical advise but I have heard of doves having strokes. They are also very susceptible to respiratory infections which is actually what this sounded like at first. While she's rearing young ones, you have to increase the water and food intake to compensate for her feeding.

You are doing the correct thing by taking her to the vet immediately. Be sure the vet is an avian doctor as most general vets don't have sufficient knowledge of birds. It's a specialized field for them.

Thanks Dave!

Unfortunately, she didn't make it through the night. She had already passed by the time I got up this morning. It's a sad thing too, seeing as how she has been in my shows for so many years! She was an awesome dove too. Loved people, and would follow me around. I am going to miss her. Hopefully her offspring will have the same temperment as she did. All The kids shows I did, the kids knew her as Buster Brown because she was a Brown Ringneck. Everytime I would see a group that I had performed for, the kids would ask about Buster Brown because she and I had a little routine that we used to do together. She'll be missed.

So, now, here is my question - seeing as how the father (Hoss is his name) is by himself now with the young ones, should I help with the feeding process for the next week or two with an eye dropper since he has two to care for or should I just leave him alone to get over the loss, and he'll pick up where he needs to? I am just worried about the young ones being healthy and strong, along with him (Hoss), so that he is not drained or exhausted, and the young ones still getting the nutrition they need. They are trying to eat a little on their own, BUT always run to the parents when they are in the area.

Thanks!

Sorry for your loss. It's always a hard thing to go through no matter how many times it has happened. It's a good sign if the babies are trying to eat on their own. That means the parent feeding process is coming to an end soon. It wouldn't hurt to keep some hand feeding formula around but for now, just keep an eye on things. Make sure the male has plenty of food and water and you might want to give him some extra vitamins.

Sorry for your loss, I once loss a parakeet who was very friendly with me,(dont use parakeets they are too loud and most are hard to tame, but not too long ago I came home to find out that my doves cage water door was left open and one out of my four doves(the one that was trained to fly back, had flew out and left) .I looked around the cage a couple of days after, hoping that it will return, but unlike pigeons, Doves don't fly back. Now there is only three left, but this weekend and gonna going to get another one cuase it seems like if the escaped dove's mate is being attacked by the other two, who are offsrping to him but somehow it seems like they became a pair and maybe since the other one is alone don't want him in there.

But once again sorry for your loss.

Jaime