Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 6/2/2006

Question
Hi Chrys, I have to wonderful Doves and they are mates. My female lays eggs all the time . The first time I saw her mate the eggs were fertile the babies had a hard time coming out and when they did they didn't stand up is this normal i mean for days they did not get up and then they passed. She lays eggs but her first lay was the only one that was fertile. What's up with this can you give me some idea what's wrong. Thanks

Answer
Hi, Dandydeb.  Thanks for posting.

It's normal for female doves to lay a lot of eggs.  They can actually lay a new clutch about every 40 days.  Baby doves don't stand up immediately after hatching.  It takes time for their legs to gain the strength for them to do so.  In addition, the parents are usually laying on them to keep them warm until they have some feathers, so there isn't really a reason for them to have to stand.  This had nothing to do with their passing.  As far as hatching goes, it takes 24-48 hours for a baby to hatch out of it's egg (you stated the babies had a "hard time coming out").    

Baby birds (animals in general) are born without any defenses against illness/disease...they are "clean slates" so to speak.  Resistance to illness/disease builds as they age and are exposed to germs.  I suspect the babies acquired some type of illness they couldn't fight off, either while in the egg or soon after hatching.  I'm assuming the parents were keeping them fed?  

I don't know specifically why her eggs aren't fertile.  Doves/pigeons lay lots of eggs (even though only 2 at a time) because of high mortablity rates due to predation, etc.  The eggs could be fertile to begin with, but die in their shell due to contamination within the egg (egg shells are porous and bacteria, viruses, etc. can penetrate and affect the developing embryo).  Also, not every egg laid by a bird is fertile and hatches!  There could be a problem during the mating process...there are so many things that can happen.

Chrys