# First eggs; Ringneck's sex is verified!



## mubcupk (Apr 20, 2010)

I have 4 ringneck doves. Mubcupk, a white male, came to us the weekend after Easter in 2009 (probably someone released a white ringneck dove in an Easter release ceremony). Rainbow, a white juvenile (sex unknown), came to us the weekend after Easter this year. Because we then had 2 doves already and we set up for them (and hooked on loving them!), when we saw more doves at the Magnolia Bird Farm in Riverside, CA, we bought a pair. (We requested 2 females but of course the pelvic bone test is not 100% accurate and we got a male and a female). So now we have a buff colored male (Benvolio) and a tangerine female (Clementine).

Before we got the new doves Mubcupk liked to assert his dominance and peck Rainbow on the head and neck. If he came down a perch, he would peck Rainbow until she moved down to a lower perch. Benvolio (keeper of the peace) made friends with both Rainbow and Mubcupk and was their uniting factor. Mubcupk let Rainbow sit on the same perch as him. All four are peaceful friends now!

Yesterday I went out to feed them and saw an egg in one of the nesting containers. None of them have laid an egg before, so I didn't even know whose egg it was! This morning I went out to check and Clementine was sitting on the nest (Clementine ALWAYS likes to sit in the nest, even though she's never laid an egg). But then I saw that Mubcupk was guarding Rainbow, who was squatting and crawling around like she had 2 broken legs, tail in the air. I was really concerned about her, but I couldn't get a good look because Mubcupk stood directly between Rainbow and me. Suddenly, Rainbow's rear dipped down, and there on the shelf lay an egg! She stood up and turned around and was just fine. So she's the egg layer! 

Now, until today I didn't know if Rainbow was a boy or a girl. She is just coming through puberty as far as I can tell, as she made her first vocalizations just a few weeks ago. I'm happy that Rainbow turned out to be a female, anyway. I was a bit worried about the prospect of having 3 males and one hen (Clementine). Now we have 2 pairs, which is fine. I will end up replacing eggs with dummy eggs in the future (especially if Clementine starts laying too) but I'm debating whether to let them try to hatch their first eggs or to replace them with dummy eggs right now. Ideas?


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## Pigeonlove (May 6, 2008)

I say let them keep their first babies!! After that, replace them.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Since this site looooooves babies, I'm betting the consensus is KEEP...at least this first batch...

Of course, once hatched, we expect updates and pictures...

*CONGRATULATIONS!! *

Sending Love, Hugs and Scritches to ALL

Shi with MR. Squeaks and Dom/Gimie/WoeBeGone/Rae


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## mubcupk (Apr 20, 2010)

Our canaries are busy raising 3 babies right now, so it's funny our doves would start laying right now as well. The baby canaries were "an accident." I bought the mother and the morning after I got her home, she laid an egg! The first 2 were infertile and never developed, but then she'd mated with our male and the last 3 were fertile and hatched. It's so fun to watch the little canaries grow up, and I wonder how the doves will be as parents.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Sure...do keep them if you can provide a forever home and we do love babies. [I just wish they would stay babies a little longer than they do. ]Finding a good home, if you can't keep them, is not easy and there are plenty out there needing good, forever homes.

If you let every couple have one set of babies and you keep every baby to provide a safe home...soon you will have a very large flock. Many of us can vouch from experience that this can happen. It's not unlike letting every cat have one litter.

If I remember correctly, couples need *lots of room *to get away from each other because once the babies are weaned, the dads often become very aggressive and are capable of killing the babies if they think they pose a threat of stealing their mate.


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## mubcupk (Apr 20, 2010)

Charis said:


> If I remember correctly, couples need *lots of room *to get away from each other because once the babies are weaned, the dads often become very aggressive and are capable of killing the babies if they think they pose a threat of stealing their mate.


That is good to know. I figured from the beginning if/when the doves started laying, we wouldn't allow any eggs to hatch, but now that the eggs are there, I find it difficult to want to remove them! I know one person who definitely wants a baby dove if ours reproduce, but not two people, and I think our aviary is suited for 2 pairs, but not 5-6 birds. We do have the old cage we built that is good for 1 pair if we have to separate couples for a while, but we prefer not to use it. 

I know a local pet store will buy our baby canaries from us but they do not buy ringneck doves. Still pondering. Of course, I don't even know if her first clutch of eggs would be fertile AND she doesn't seem to know she's supposed to sit on them, but I'm sure this won't be the only set of eggs I'll have to think about. Course, it's 110 degrees outside today, so maybe they will just incubate themselves (joking).


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

If you are going to let them incubate babies, 2 is better than just one, for many reasons.

I am one of those, that many years ago, learned the hard way. I still feel bad about swapping out the eggs with pretend ones, but i do it anyway. Even though I do, still they sometimes slip one past me. That makes me sad,even though I love them, because it is a big responsibility. The responsibility isn't there's...it's mine.


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