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Shaner316 Loyal user St. Catharines, ON. Canada 213 Posts |
Well yesterday was quite exciting and tragic all at the same time. I went in to check on my birds yesterday and there lying on the ground was an egg! (And I thought I had all boys!!) Unfortunately, when she laid it she was on her perch and it broke when it hit the bottom of the cage.
So in anticipation of the second egg coming I put in a bowl and nesting material, hoping that she would figure out that's where she was supposed to lay them.I just came back from checking on her, and she once again tried to lay it from her perch and again it broke in the fall. Obviously I am going to leave the nesting material in there in hopes that she figures it out. Is there a chance that she won't figure it out and continue to try and lay them from the perch?? Also, I noticed that the nesting material had been tossed around the entire cage by 1 or more of the birds (I have 3 in that cage) but I kept placing it back in the bowl. Is this a normal thing for them to do??? Maybe they just don't like it?? Any help is appreciated Shane |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Shane, doves will not normally throw the nesting material out of the nest. If the other birds are males, they may be fighting for dominance. Try to figure out which one has mated with your female and move the others out. Leave the nesting material in the bowl. She will naturally find it use it for the nest.
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Shaner316 Loyal user St. Catharines, ON. Canada 213 Posts |
Hmmm, It has been 10 weeks since my female laid her first eggs (That broke as mentioned above) and since then there have been no others.
Is this not a long time between laying? (I am excited about the prospect of her trying to lay more eggs, hopefully more sucessfully than last time) |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Shaner, you can never tell when a female will lay eggs. I have a pair that will lay eggs every 7 weeks or so and then go for months of nothing. I have another that didn't lay an egg for over a year, now she lays every few months. There's nothing you can do but wait for the event to happen.
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1906Alpha1906 Special user North Cacky Lack 516 Posts |
On the Topic of Eggs:
The strangest thing happend, and I have never seen this, but one of my doves laid an egg about three weeks ago, but never laid the second! I kept watch, but it never happend... I was wondering what happend to the other egg, but still to this day have no idea.. What do you think? - Also, the egg that was laid was very odd looking. Most dove eggs have an oval shape to them (normally because of the soft shell passing through), but this one was completely round. Since it wasn't fertilized, I tossed it, but the second one never came. ???????? |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Alpha, are you sure you have a male with the female? Females often lay only one egg unless there is actually a male around. How old is your dove? I have one that is about 18 years old and she often lays only 1 egg. I too have had a few perfectly round eggs and they hatched just fine.
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1906Alpha1906 Special user North Cacky Lack 516 Posts |
Hey Dave..Yeah, they are male and female - Positive. They have been together for a little while (They are about 3 years old), and usually lay 2 eggs at a time and that's why I thought it was odd for only one this time, and round at that. It was strange. Since tossing it out (since it wasn't fertile), they have been back to the mating process again. Glad to hear that it is a common type thing for one egg at a time. I just had never seen that happen before. I was looking around all over the place thinking that they possibly pushed the other out by accident or something, but just turns out, it was only one. Also, it was odd seeing a round egg. Kind of funny to be honest. Oh well, Thanks again, Dave for your insight and experience!
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Shaner316 Loyal user St. Catharines, ON. Canada 213 Posts |
Well looks like I jumped the gun a bit on my last post. I just came home from work and noticed an egg lying on the bottom of the cage. Unfortunately (Once again) it was dropped from her perch. For some reason she still can't quite figure out where to lay her eggs.
I am concerned as I would like to breed and raise a few more. Is there anything I can do to help her along?? (Take the perch out etc?) Would it make a difference if I moved the cracked egg into the nest so she knew where it was supposed to go? THanks. |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Shaner, don't put the broken egg in nest. Just get rid of it. How old is the mother? If she is very young, it takes a few cycles for her to get the message about the nest. Removing the perch isn't a good idea either. They need that to excercise their feet by grabbing.
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WisMel Loyal user 264 Posts |
I have rectangular feed cups that hang on the sides of the cage. The birds actually like to sit in these food cups. Both sets of my egss so far have been in these cups.
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Shaner316 Loyal user St. Catharines, ON. Canada 213 Posts |
WOO HOO! SHe figured it out Dave!!
I got up today, and she was sitting in her nest, and lo and behold she was actually sitting on an egg!!! (Guess she finally figured it out!) Between her and my other male, they have been on it most of the day. I will let you know in a few weeks how it turned out. Thanks for all your help again, Shane |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
You're welcome. The male will sit on the egg from about 10 AM to 4 PM and then the female should take over for the rest of the time.
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