Ask A Scientist© Zoology Archive

name      Larry
status    student
age       19

Question - I am a student and i have two beutiful white doves. They
have had eggs before,but the female always kills the eggs after sitting
on them for a long time. Why does she do this? She just had 2 more eggs
a couple of days ago will she keep them now that she lives in a cage
that she can fly in and out of with her mate because,she's sitting on
them at my moms house and i was just wandering. Thank you for your time
and consideration.  

You might want to contact a vet or an exotic vet if you are in a large
metro. area. This rings of a nutrition problem.

Steve Sample
York High School
Elmhurst, Illinois
60126
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Larry,

In my experience the birds will lay on the eaags in an apparent attempt to
hatch them until the eggs 'go bad". You can identify this by their smell.
Naturally, I suspect the birds know a bit earlier whether one or any of the
eggs will hatch. if the bird has not had the opportunity to mate, no young
bird could ever develop, regardless of whatever care the adult bird may
take.

Thanks for using NEWTON!

Ric
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