I recently got a male dove who I named Columbus. He's a great bird and very sweet. When I came home today I found that Columbus was improperly named. I should have named him Columba because Columbus is a girl. How I found out you ask? Columba laid an egg! My question to all of you is what should I do. Will Columba take care of the baby once it hatches or will I have to take care of it? If I don't want the egg, do I just take it away. Please, HELP ME!

If you would do a search you will find this has been answered many times. If you do not have a male dove then the egg will never hatch. Ask your mom about this, it is time for the 'talk'.

Just throw out the egg.

Do you have more than one bird? If not then the egg is a dud. Either way its alright to remove the egg if you don't want it; just gently move the bird and throw away the egg. The bird will look around for a few minutes wondering where the egg went but will go back to normal in a short amount of time.

How come the egg is a dud without more than one bird. I don't know much about bird reproduction but doesn't the part that requires two birds come before the egg is laid?

No, a female dove can lay an egg on her own but it won't contain life. For a egg to contain life your right, you need two birds and some luck. I have had many females that lay eggs even though they don't have a mate.

If you have any other questions its really best to go with your parents to the library and get a book on doves to fully understand what's going on with your birds.

Hope this helps.

Hey Guys,
I read this in one of my dove books. A female will / can lay an egg without it being fertilized, and that egg will not hatch. BUT.....If you remove the egg right away, the dove will feel the need to lay another egg.....if this is repeated, the dove can lose iron / proteins and can cause serious health problems. So.....what to do? Simple. Leave the egg. The dove will sit on it for a few days...This satisfies the "nature" side of her. She will then destroy the egg herself and intake some of the "proteins. I have 5 females and this is a cycle they go thru every few months. Just my 2 cents.
T

Truthfully you should have researched and learned about doves before you ever bought any.

tdowell,You can buy fake eggs.

I actually got the bird as a gift last Saturday. I bought a couple of books online that should arrive tomorrow. Thanks for all the help guys.

Hi Daniel,
Excellent idea!!!!! Thank you

T

I have 3 doves and they lay eggs all the time and they never hatch. Wish at least one would. Any way I leave them for a few days then take them out. Haven't had to take them to any therapy as of yet.
Wondering do you need to pair dove up by any chance? I have one dove that is getting pecked pretty bad by the other 2 doves. didn't know if this is a mating thing or if they don't want that dove around?
Shawn D

You have two males in the cage. They are very territorial and will fight and peck each other as they are looking to establish dominance. You need to watch which ones sit on the nest. When they lay eggs, the male will sit on them between 10 AM and 4 PM and then the female will take over for the night. I don't know how they know it's 10 AM but they do. Once you determine which two birds are responsible, you'll know you have a pair. The other bird needs to be removed from the cage.

The average hatching time for an egg is 16-21 days so if you're removing them after just a few days, you may have fertile eggs and not know it.

>>>You need to watch which ones sit on the nest. When they lay eggs, the male will sit on them between 10 AM and 4 PM and then the female will take over for the night.<<<

That's not always accurate. I once had two females pair up and take turns on a nest. hehe

Cris

Well, there's always an exception but we're talking about hatching eggs here which requires a male and a female so my information is pretty accurate in determining which is the male. A way to determine if you have females rather than a male and female is by the number of eggs. A single female will lay 1 egg, a male and female lays 2 eggs and two females will give you 4 eggs in most cases.