A lovely family of doves

Fantail doves are elegant, and they are interesting to watch as they walk around a home or a garden.

The exotic doves help beautify a home, and they are easy to care and tame, says Mbarak Feisal, a farmer in Tudor, Mombasa.

Mbarak, 24, has been keeping the birds since 2011.

“I love the birds. They afford me a decent life. I started the fantail doves business after I completed secondary school. I bought a pair of Indian fantail doves at Sh10,000 from a friend who brought them from Dubai,” he tells Seeds of Gold, adding that the money was from his savings.

Mbarak also keeps parrot beak doves, which he bought at a cost of Sh1,200 each. Recently, he added American fantail and the Jacobins doves varieties.
“The fantail doves are easy to feed as they eat wheat, grit and pulses. Grit is essential for digestion in and for bone development.” For breeding purposes, he provides pots that have a layer of grass inside and he sprays them to eliminate mites.

White fantail doves are mainly released at weddings because they symbolise purity. And this is what offers Mbarak good business.

“I sell to people across the country. Those in places like Kisumu or Nairobi I transport the birds by bus. I make for them cages and inform the management for special care.”

He sells a pair (male and female) of American fantail doves, porters and Kingpin pigeon at Sh50,000. The market price of Indian fantail doves is between Sh6,000 to Sh8,000. Flare birds go at Sh500. His average monthly income ranges from Sh70,000 to Sh140,000.

During breeding, he identifies the specific variety to be bred depending on the orders from his customers.

“When they are pure breeds, I have to match the same colours. And to breed coloured fantails, I select different colours depending on buyer requirements,” he says.

DISEASES

One of his challenge is to keep diseases at bay and some birds are infertile.

The Bachelor of Commerce student at University of Nairobi, Mombasa campus says fantail doves are now popular in Kenya as people embrace ornamental birds. From money he gets from the birds, he pays fees for his education, he has bought Sh100,000 motorcycle and has seven acres in Kwale County.
“I also paid dowry recently from the money I made from the birds,” says the farmer.

Kilifi Director of Veterinary and Livestock Gideon Wambua says fantail doves are not conventional poultry thus those who want to rear them must get permit from Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

“Keeping the doves is a lucrative business because their prices are good.”
KWS Assistant Director Coast Conservation Arthur Tuda says to keep fantail doves, one requires first a clearance from the veterinary department, so that KWS can issue a permit.
“The farmer must show the legal permit of importation from the country of origin to be authorised to apply for a permit to keep them. It costs Sh500.”
Tuda says the birds origin is mainly Asia and Middle East.