Diamond Dove Care

Diamond Doves are a wonderful species of bird that make excellent pets. Whether you keep them for companionship, or to house in an aviary, they're fun additions with quirky attitudes that are sure to brighten up any household.

Diamond Doves are relatively easy to care for and comparatively, are low-cost to upkeep. The key to a healthy, happy Diamond Dove is to provide the proper care. Below we will share our recommendations and what has worked for us.

Choosing A Bird

So, you've decided that a Diamond Dove might be the right fit for you. Whether you plan to house it in an aviary, or keep it in a flight cage as a pet, choosing a healthy bird will set you up for success.

When choosing a Diamond Dove, the first key is to find a breeder who has healthy birds. Do research and find one that has clean cages with protocol for sanitation, as that will help prevent diseases or parasites. Cages should be cleaned regularly and give the birds access to clean food and water.

A healthy Diamond Dove will have smooth plumage free of signs of parasites like mites, and bright eyes. They will have clear nasal vents and no discharge. Their cloaca will be clean with no residue.

Choose a bird that is active and avoid any that are lethargic or "puffed up", as those are signs of illness. A healthy Diamond Dove will be very active.

Housing

A proper cage for a Diamond Dove gives it a solid floor (they eat on the ground) and room to move around and fly. They do not do well with a cage that has a grated floor and this should be avoided at all costs.

Depending on how many Diamond Doves you have, the cage space required may be more or less. Keep in mind that with each bird, more space is required to keep them healthy and happy.

Food

Now that you have picked a bird, what do you feed it?

Diamond Doves are a ground-feeding species that primarily eat grains and seeds. With this in mind, they do best on a millet-based diet. Avoid corn as it is too large and poses a choking hazard for the birds.

We mix our own seed mixtures for the doves. The base is a parakeet or finch mix, we like to buy Kaytee finch or parakeet food in bulk off Chewy.com. To this, we add dried greens, high calcium grit, eggfood, and we supplement with fresh greens and boiled egg given in small amounts. We offer greens like finely chopped broccoli to their diets and they love it! To entice them to eat the broccoli, we will chop the florets finely and add them to the seed mixture until the doves learn that it is food. After this, they are enthusiastic about eating it.