Hi Magic Café, I have a dove that I got about 3 weeks ago and on his bottom side like the whole part of his body parallel to the floor, his belly are is having kind of a problem, well I don't know if it's a problem actually. I recently realized that when he flys back his feathers on his belly separate and you can see a little of his purple flesh because of the scarce amount of feather there I guess. He's about a month old and well grown. Should I take him to a vet for this because I'm concerned about it. Also he always pecks himself like the cats and dogs lick themselves and I was wondering if this is natural.

Thanks for the help, Roham

Roham92 - If he is a young dove, it may take a little time for the feathers to fully grow in, especially if he is used to sitting on the bottom of the cage. Its normal. If, however, the dove you have is an older dove, then it may just be hereditary, or mites. Turn the dove over and look at the area, and if you see little tiny black specs, then it is mites, and the best thing to do is get some stuff called "Sevin" from the pet store, and this will cure the problem. It doesn't sound like that is the problem though, you probably just have a young dove. how do you tell if its young? Look at the feet. If they are light pinkish, its a young dove, if they are a darker maroonish color, it is an older dove.

As for it pecking at itself, they do that all the time. They are just preening is all. Cleaning themselves, pulling out old feathers so that new ones can grow in. Its a doves way of grooming.


Hope that helps some.

To add....just reread your post - You have a month old dove....the feathers will take a while to grown in all over. at about 6 weeks is when most of the feathers will be totally in, and even then sometimes not. I have some new ones that are 9 weeks and they still haven't fully feathered around the beak area and some on the tail, so no worries. Your dove is fine...

Good answer. That's exactly right. It takes months for a dove to get fully feathered. Some feather faster than others but at only a month, I wouldn't worry about it.
Roham, lift the wings and check the area where they meet the body. You'll probably see the same purple skin there. The "arm pit" is usually the last to get full feathers. Checking for mites isn't a bad idea but I doubt at this point that it's the problem. You'll usually see mites in the wings or around the head.

Thanks everyone for your help, at least now I can stop worrying. And Dave I did look in his armpit area and he definitely doesn't have any feathers there yet but after reading this I'm happy to know there will be.