Dovecote/Fantails - help please

Snapper · December 9, 2005

Still very much a novice in this area.

Can anyone give me some advice about caring for my 6 garden fantails living in my dovecote? I have read a couple of books but can find little helpful info about the real basics. The birds are very tame and great fun - but what I really want to know is:

What's the best feed for them (I'm just giving them an all-seasons pigeon mix) - do you give them different feeds at different times of the year?;

What medicaments to they need (eg. conditioner/lice-killer etc) and how/when to give it;

Do they still need grit if they are free-ranging and not kept in a bird-house (I hand-feed them);

If I put garlic in their water, how much do you put in (eg. 1 clove or 10).

I'd be really grateful for some direction on all this!

Thank you.

snowy · December 9, 2005

hi, & welcome, you have came to the right place for the information, loads of experienced fanciers on this site, good luck

if you browse through some of the posts, you will see topics like GARLIC etc just read a few & you will learn loads, but if there is something percific you want to ask, just ask away.

THE FIFER · December 9, 2005

SNAPPER :any mixture without beans will be ok for fantails, so long as there is nothing too large like beans, i have some fantails and westies which just feed with my racers, garlic just cut up a bulb and put in a bottle (large coke) and leave for a few days, use this a cupful in a pint of water, for drinking, for baths let it lie for a week or so and put the whole bottle in ur bath water, keeps ur birds klean and clears their nostrils.etc

Peckedhen · December 10, 2005

Fifer, Any reason for saying 'any mixture without beans' for fantails? Mine have beans and seem ok on them! :-/ They just get the same treatment as my pigeons.

Hi Snapper and welcome to the forum. There are lots of friendly folk here with a wealth of experience and great advice between them. How long have you had your fantails? Have they bred yet? I too have garden fantails in a dovecote but I am fairly new to them so I shall leave it to those who know to advise you.

December 10, 2005

My friend keeps fantails and feeds them on a a high protien economical mix feeds by hand till they go for a drink gives the usual grtit and minerals, clean watere and hasno problems with them.

Snapper · December 11, 2005

Thanks for all the advice. I've had them since August and they've not yet bred. I'm hopeful that they will breed next year. Does anyone know whether I need to put nesting pans in the compartments for the birds - or will just a bit of straw do?

Shadow - when you mention grit and minerals, what exactly do you do? Do I just mix in the grit with the feed or do I need to keep it separate? Also, what minerals do you give them, and how (eg. mixed with feed)?

Please keep the tips coming - I'm learning some really helpful pointers.

Peckedhen · December 11, 2005

Hi, I don't think that you will need a nest bowl in the dovecote as they will lay in the area round the side of the pop hole so they are out of the wind. I have wood shavings and hay in each compartment which I clean out every couple of months or so.

I throw a handful of pigeon grit on the lawn every week but really it's not necessary as they will find their own grit. I have a mineral pickstone ( keep it in an empty compartment of the dovecote so that the clay stays dry) and they do go in to it most days. Once a week I put half a clove of garlic into their two pint water fountain for two days but they have plain water the rest of the week. Other than that I offer them a bath early on warm, sunny days, they love it and will sit in the water for ages.

If you notice feather lice on your birds (they look like dark splinters in the feathers) the easiest way to treat them is probably with feather drops - I use Harkers - just a drop between their shoulders.

I think that that is about it, apart from initial health problems when I first got them mine have been fine and seem to be really hardy birds.

December 12, 2005

Hi, Snapper & welcome to the forum.

Don't know much about fantails, but would say if your birds are eating the mixture you've been giving them, and look well on it, stick with it.

Peckedhen has been through the wars with her birds. She's learned the hard way, and if you are looking for a tried & tested 'off-the-shelf' regime for looking after your birds, I wouldn't think twice about adopting hers... you'll see the proof in the pictures of her birds that she's put up elsewhere in the forum.