Fantails have become a very popular breed, both with the fancier and the person who just wants a few to flutter around the garden. They are easy to care for and will become tame. They spend most of their day about the garden, returning to their home each night.
DOVES
GARDEN DOVE. These are a white bird that hyas no fantail and are ideal for avairy dovecote and are very often used for weddings and funnerals
PLAIN
GARDEN FANTAILS. these have what I call a spade like tail and are once again ideal for both dovecotes and avairy.
GARDEN
FULL TAIL.These are mid way between the garden fantail and then exibition and I feel the most attractive once again ideal for all ways of keeping.
FULL TAIL
EXIBITION FANTAIL. These have very large and erect tails that should only be kept in an avairy as the are unbale to fly very well
EXHIBITION
HOUSING
Fantails can be housed in a number of ways, the most attractive being a dovecote. These come in to forms the wall cote or a pole cote. As their name suggests the wall cote is fixed to a wall and the pole cote stands on a pole. The problem with both of these is that they are hard to clean out and you have no control over the birds. If you wish to ring our examine young birds you will need a good pair of ladders.
Fantails can be kept in an aviary; whilst it is much easier to clean the birds loose the freedom of fight which they do enjoy. I have tried a number of ways over the years and have found that for me the best way is a small aviary about 6'x3'x6'. Each morning the birds are let out and the door left open, this allows them freedom and at the same time you are able to check any young birds there may be. Each night the door is closed, this keeps them safe over night and allows you to handle any that you need to. A shed or out building could also be adapted and used in the same way.
Whatever way you choose be it aviary shed or out building it will need to be fitted with a few items. The first one being shelves for the birds to roost on. These can be very basic lengths of wood about 4'' wide fixed a various heights. The next item if you intend to breed you fantails, are nest boxes. Again these can be very basic and made from almost any thing, i have found that the best way to make them is out of planks of 4''x1'' timber. A box is then made that measures 12''x4''x4''. The entrance hole needs to be about 4''x4''.
It is important that the birds are contained in their new homes for at least three weeks or they may not return once they have been allowed out
FEEDING
Fantails are as easy to feed as they are to house. They should be fed on a staple diet of mixed pigeon corn this normally contains corn, wheat, lentils and pulses. They will also enjoy the occasional piece of bread. Water should always be available and you will be surprised at how much they can drink. As well as drinking water they will also enjoy a bath, this helps to keep their feathers in good condition. Grit should also be made available, as this will aid digestion.
MINERALS
GRIT is a very important part of a doves diet, not only is it absorbed by the body to help with good bone growth but it is also used in the gizzard to help break down the hard seeds that they eat. Poultry grit is the best sort to feed as it is the right size and contains oyster shell and lime stone. Grit should always be available to them and can be put in a small dish or a grit hoper.
SALT also pays a very important part in a doves diet, This is probley due to their close relation ship with the Rock dove that lives and breeds on cliffs around the coast. I have found tht the best sort to use is course sea salt that can be got at most health shops. Care should be taken not to give to much as it can kill them. I keep around 30 doves and fined that about a hand full a week is fine.
Grit hopers both of these are ideal for grit and can be placed on th floor or attached to a wall.
WATER
I’m sure that we all no the importance’s of water for drinking and this should be provided at all times. I fine that the best way is to provide a water hoper as this stops the water from being soiled. Doves also like to have water to bath in and is infact essential in maintaining good feathers. I like to provide my birds with a bath at least twice a week. A large plant potholder is ideal. Its great to watch the birds and the joy they get, they seem to take great delight in wallowing in the water, expanding their wings and loosening their arrangement of feathers. Once they are saturated, they give a vigorous shake and struggle to fly to a sunny spot to dry.
SEXING
Members of the pigeon family are notoriously difficult to sex. The only sure way of telling is by watch their behaviour.
The male tends to be slightly larger than the female, with a shorter and bolder head. The female has a slender head and neck; as a result this tends to make her beak appear longer than the males. The male is more showy than the female and coos more loudly paretically in the courtship when the male will turn 360 degrees over and over again in front of the female in an attempt to impress her. It is the male that will bring all the twigs to make a nest and sit inside the nest box cooing to attract a female.
After a while you get an eye for sexing and just when you think you have got it right a bird comes along and fools you.
BREEDING
Once your fantails have become established they will start to form pairs. The male will be seen strutting and cooing round the female, this may go on for days until the female is impressed. Once they have formed a boned it will last for life. The male will choose a nest site and with the females approval he will start to collect nesting material. This is normally small twigs, I like to provide them with Tobacco stalks as these not only make great nest but also help to keep away lice and fleas. The cock may spend days until the pair feels that they have made a nice cup shaped nest.
After a day or so of completion the female will lay her first egg she will then lay a further egg the next day and then incubation will start. Both the male and female will take part in the incubation that lasts for about 19 days. The young hatch blind and covered in yellow fluff, they soon grow and at the age of about 3 weeks they will leave the nest. If all has gone well the parents will already have another clutch of eggs.
YOUNG BIRDS
The young birds that are known has squabs hatch blind and covered in yellow fluff, and at this stage look rather ugly. Their beaks are soft and spade like so that they can receive semi liquid food that is regurgitated by the parents. This liquid meal is called milk as they get older the mike becomes thicker until they can eat hole grains of seed. After about five days the eyes open and around the seventh day small feather qills will start to show. It is at this age that you should put closed rings on if you wish. Closed rings are used to identify the bird and also the breeder
As the young birds grow so will their appetite, as soon as the parent arrives at the nest there will be much flapping of the wings and loud squeaking. The nest will become more and more dirty as droppings are left by the young bird. I like to clean mine out at least once a week and put a fresh layer of saw dust on the bottom. This will help keep the young birds feathers in a better condition.
The young birds will tend to leave the nest at around 3-4 weeks, the parents will however continue to feed them for a sort while. At this age they will have all of their feathers and should be starting to learn to fly. It is important that whilst birds are at this age, a little food is place on the floor of the aviary or dove house as they will start to pick it up and learn to feed them selves. At this age you may well see a change in the beak it will start to go from a soft flat looking beak to a hard beak this is a sure sign that they are stating to become independent. Once they start to fly they can if you wish be moved to a separate aviary, this will of course depend on who much space you have in with the adults
These young doves (squabs) are about 2 days old
NEST BOX
Here you have a very basic nest box. I have used this design for many years and fine them to be one of the best and most used by the doves. The sizes are as follows
I have found that the best material to use is planks of 8' x 1' wood
The length of the planks need to be around 36'. The height width and depth is of course going to be 8'. This is then divided in the middle to give you two 18' nest box. The entrance holes need to be about 5' wide and about 5' height.
These nest boxes can then be secured onto the wall of the aviary. If you have a pole cote and need extra nets boxes then these can be attached to the pole or the outside of a near by shed.
WAYS OF HOMING
Both of these ways work very well. Thanks to Robert stephenson for supplying the photos, have a look at his site www.rupert-fish.co.uk for more fantails
If you have trouble getting hold of good netting for homing please contact me I can supplie
If you have any questions please contact me at r-lcollins@tiscali.co.uk and I will be more than happy to help.