Mourning Dove's abandoned egg

[BabyDove]

Hello, I entered this site 2 days ago in hopes of giving and receiving some advise.
Its day 12 and I have been keeping this tiny egg warm 97 - 100 degrees.
I candeled it using my Iphone and can see it moving inside the egg
I have some questions: I bought Exact by Kaylee for baby birds because I read on the internet it was ok for Mourning Doves but on the container it reads, "do not feed to wild birds". can someone advise on this?
Thank you

 

[R2elk]

Hello, I entered this site 2 days ago in hopes of giving and receiving some advise.
Its day 12 and I have been keeping this tiny egg warm 97 - 100 degrees.
I candeled it using my Iphone and can see it moving inside the egg
I have some questions: I bought Exact by Kaylee for baby birds because I read on the internet it was ok for Mourning Doves but on the container it reads, "do not feed to wild birds". can someone advise on this?
Thank you

Mourning Doves are Federally protected by the Migratory Bird Act and by state laws under their hunting regulations. It is illegal to collect, possess or incubate a Mourning Dove egg.

 

[Qwerty3159]

They put those warnings on the labels because people often try to DIY raise/rehab baby birds and they often kill them with improper diets. You always see people trying to raise a dove or songbird on a formula made for parrots and the bird either suffers or ends up caked in the food. I'm not sure of the ingredients in the Kaytee diet but I'm pretty positive it won't be suitable for a dove.
Just the other day someone on this forum actually found an egret egg out of the nest and were unable to locate it and they incubated it and handed it over to a rehabber as soon as it hatched where it could receive proper care.

Doves/pigeons are actually even harder to hand raise then say a robin or a parakeet because the parents feed the young on specially produced crop milk which is rare in the bird world and often times hand rearing pigeons and doves isn't successful if they're not past the crop milk stage. I have DIY rehabbed birds in the past and I wouldn't recommend doing it and I definitely wouldn't have tried it with an unhatched dove. It will be much more likely to survive and thrive with proper care from a rehabber. If you're looking for a pet ringneck doves and pigeons are cheap and easy to come by.

 

[BabyDove]

Mourning Doves are Federally protected by the Migratory Bird Act and by state laws under their hunting regulations. It is illegal to collect, possess or incubate a Mourning Dove egg.

Hello, I appreciate your response and concern. I did however find this egg shortly after it was layed. it was layed on my concrete patio in my back yard where we have a hawk flying by and some stray cats. I followed my instinct and brought the egg to safety
I have been studying and so far I had been successful with keeping this egg safe.
I am taking one step at a time. if it survives the hatching I'll seek further resources.
Again, thank you for your concern

 

[R2elk]

Hello, I appreciate your response and concern. I did however find this egg shortly after it was layed. it was layed on my concrete patio in my back yard where we have a hawk flying by and some stray cats. I followed my instinct and brought the egg to safety
I have been studying and so far I had been successful with keeping this egg safe.
I am taking one step at a time. if it survives the hatching I'll seek further resources.
Again, thank you for your concern

I know that you think you are doing the right thing, but what you have done is illegal. You cannot legally pick up a bird's egg or even a bird's feather without being in violation of the law. Keeping it in your possession and trying to incubate is a further violation of the law.

The laws have been written the way they are to make it easier for people to be successfully prosecuted. They do not need to prove that you picked up an abandoned egg or a molted feather. The fact that you have it in your possession is all that they need to prosecute, fine and possibly imprison you.

 

[BabyDove]

Well, I'll be sure to have the coffee ready when the Feds show up.
Regards,
Retired Corrections Officer

 

[BabyDove]

They put those warnings on the labels because people often try to DIY raise/rehab baby birds and they often kill them with improper diets. You always see people trying to raise a dove or songbird on a formula made for parrots and the bird either suffers or ends up caked in the food. I'm not sure of the ingredients in the Kaytee diet but I'm pretty positive it won't be suitable for a dove.
Just the other day someone on this forum actually found an egret egg out of the nest and were unable to locate it and they incubated it and handed it over to a rehabber as soon as it hatched where it could receive proper care.

Doves/pigeons are actually even harder to hand raise then say a robin or a parakeet because the parents feed the young on specially produced crop milk which is rare in the bird world and often times hand rearing pigeons and doves isn't successful if they're not past the crop milk stage. I have DIY rehabbed birds in the past and I wouldn't recommend doing it and I definitely wouldn't have tried it with an unhatched dove. It will be much more likely to survive and thrive with proper care from a rehabber. If you're looking for a pet ringneck doves and pigeons are cheap and easy to come by.

 

[BabyDove]

They put those warnings on the labels because people often try to DIY raise/rehab baby birds and they often kill them with improper diets. You always see people trying to raise a dove or songbird on a formula made for parrots and the bird either suffers or ends up caked in the food. I'm not sure of the ingredients in the Kaytee diet but I'm pretty positive it won't be suitable for a dove.
Just the other day someone on this forum actually found an egret egg out of the nest and were unable to locate it and they incubated it and handed it over to a rehabber as soon as it hatched where it could receive proper care.

Doves/pigeons are actually even harder to hand raise then say a robin or a parakeet because the parents feed the young on specially produced crop milk which is rare in the bird world and often times hand rearing pigeons and doves isn't successful if they're not past the crop milk stage. I have DIY rehabbed birds in the past and I wouldn't recommend doing it and I definitely wouldn't have tried it with an unhatched dove. It will be much more likely to survive and thrive with proper care from a rehabber. If you're looking for a pet ringneck doves and pigeons are cheap and easy to come by.

Thank you for your advise.
Ill keep you posted as to how I am doing with such a delicate matter.

 

[backyard pigeons]

Hello there! Good luck! I think it should be asked, where do you live? it may or may not be allowed where you are, but either way, I won't tell.
It is understandable what you did.

It says to not feed it to wild birds because it simply isn't encoiraged. But Kaytee is the best commercial dove mix available. How do you plan on feeding it? Through a syringe?

Good luck! and keep us posted!

I hope this helps.

 

[Qwerty3159]

It's understandable to want to rescue an animal in a poor state, its the nature of decent folks I think its commendable to try to hatch the egg and keep it away from feral cats which are a huge burden on wild birds. They're probably the reason the egg was laid out like that anyway- the doves' nests were probably disturbed. That being said there are a lot of things to consider when doing that.
My 2 cents of advice from experience rehabbing a grackle in my yard that had BOTH parents killed by hawks, its a good idea to turn it over when/if it hatches and leave it to a professional. Doves and pigeons are unfortunately are even harder to raise from hatching because of the crop milk stuff I mentioned earlier. Their dietary needs are actually pretty specific at that age. If you do decide you want to raise it please try to learn as much as you can about doing it properly. There's so many things that can go wrong even stuff as simple as the food being too warm or food getting caked onto the bird's feathers causing burns or infections and issues with the baby bird not digesting properly or having its legs developed splayed and crooked because the surface it was being kept on wasn't appropriate. A wildlife rehabber would be trained in all of this and at this time of the year they'll probably end up with some doves at the same time yours would hatch so they would likely be raised/released together and get a chance at a natural life

The law mentioned earlier is the Migratory Bird Act of 1918. It's mostly designed to stop people from shooting raptors and catching wild birds for the pet trade which were both rampant when that law was created. The bits about collecting feathers and even bits of eggshell are true, but countless people innocently pick up shed feathers all the time and don't get prosecuted. It is my general belief that they're more concerned with the things I mentioned earlier rather than someone with a feather collection or someone raising a bird. The feds do however take it very seriously when people shoot birds of prey, and there have been busts related to pigeon fanciers killing hawks that decimate their flocks. I wouldn't be overly concerned about it but be mindful. I'm suggesting handing it over to a rehabber more for logistical reasons rather than the law in all honesty.