Mixed Up Dove

by Ben Miller
(Junction City, Oregon U.S.)

My wife has a way with domestic and wild animals that is almost unbelievable. One day she decided to raise some chickens, actually laying hens, for the eggs.

She started with very young chicks and incubated them in her studio on the back side of the house.

She had many different breeds, many I had never heard of or seen before and some quite strange looking.

Before I knew it she was getting some 60 to 70 eggs a day and as the collection of chickens multiplied other birds started showing up.

She would build them a shelter and they would stay. She has pheasants, chuckers, and quail. All living right in among the chickens.

Then one day a beautiful male blue peacock showed up and moved in, two weeks later a green female moved in and hooked up with the male.

The Pheasant, Quail, and chuckers come and go as they please, but the peacocks had no desire to go anywhere.

We also had three baby geese show up and stay, they have since grown quite large and are very noisy as are the peacocks.

Anyway on with the dove story.

Our property and the property next to us had a lot of large old pine and fir trees. We decided to cut some down before they fell down.

Shortly after the trees came down my wife found several baby chicks franticly running around and brought them in to incubate them.

We didn't have a clue what breed they were. As they grew we found it was a mix. Some had afro's, some were white, some black and some were all diferent sizes with wierd looking feathers, but one was pure white with some black in the wings and on the neck, and it acted different then the rest.

It had thinner legs a different kind of beak and it was always flying around the room.

I told my wife that wasn't a chicken but she insisted it had to be and put them all outside together.

As they grew the one grew more beautiful daily and would follow my wife around hopping along the fence, so she started feeding it on the fence.

When it started cooing and flying up into the cherry trees we new it was a dove.

It must have fallen from the trees that were cut down and got mixed in with the chicks, till this day that dove greets my wife every morning by flying down from the cherry trees and landing on her shoulder or on the fence right next to her.

Since she found it to be a dove she feeds it special feed and it really likes that.

We also have 12 cats 2 dogs and they all, dogs, cats, chickens, peacocks, the whole clan, follow her around the yard.

We even have pictures of almost all of them eating right out of the same tub at the same time.

I personally have never seen anything like it nor has anybody we know.

I will get some pictures uploaded and send them in showing them all eating together.

OH YA AND RECENTLY we have had a family of cottontails move in. They are still a little shy, but I truely believe my wife will HAVE THEM JOINING IN WITH THE REST

A HUSBAND IN AWE, BEN