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Jillus

My dove has laid an egg

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We have been watching a lot of amorous behaviour between my white doves for a few days now and yesterday we discovered that Lily had laid an egg. I don't know if it will hatch as it is quite late in the season to lay, and the nest is pretty pathetic. She has laid it in the dove cote on a bed of twigs.

The arrival of the egg takes away from the sadness I have as one of the males doves disappeared a couple of days ago, not down the chimney this time but just completely vanished. It could have been a hawk or a cat but there is no evidence of anything amiss. :(

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I have just been for a long walk around the fields that surround our house and no sign of any feathers from Bully. Rather worryingly, this morning though when I got up I saw a sparrowhawk in a rowan tree about 6 feet from the dove cote so I think he may have been looking on the doos as potential food. He may even have already had one, although seeing no evidence of this I am remaining hopeful that Bully got fed up and just left.

 

I have been trying to see if Lily has laid a second egg but no luck as she only comes off the nest for a short while. The eggs are very small, about 3.5 to 4 cm long and white.

 

Fingers crossed that the incubation works, we wave to wait until around 13th to 14th October to know. I am like an expectant granny!!

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No sign of Bully at all. I have walked the fields looking for white feathers or evidence that he was caught but so far nothing. I have put up notices asking if anyone sees feathers then to let me know. On another pigeon forum I read of a bird that got chased by a hawk and came home 6 months later so fingers crossed yet again.

 

Lily is continuing to sit on her two eggs.

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Well after a long wait I am sorry to say that things have not gone well. Bully never came home and two weeks later Hindoo also disappeared, again after we had seen a sparrowhawk in the sky above the garden. The other two doves continued to take turns at sitting on two eggs but a few days ago there seemed to be longer periods when "Ooops, word censored!"ody was on the eggs and today we decided the eggs had been abandoned. My son removed the eggs and did a 'post mortem' both eggs had dead perfectly formed chicks in them, one with very little yolk sac left and one obviously less developed. :(

 

The doves have not been back to the nest box in the cote since the eggs were removed and are behaving as they always did. It is sad though just to see the two of them when once there were four. I suppose it may have just been too late in the year, it is cold up here and with the storms of the last few days not very good for baby dove rearing. At least we know they are fertile and if they survive the winter we may get babies in the spring.

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After all the sadness of last week the two remaining doves have been a little amorous and have laid another egg. :) This time I have put a felt nest liner into the dove cote and hope that the warmth it will give will aid incubation. The nesting felt was eyed with great suspicion by the dove who for a few minutes seemed just a bit confused but it is now in and on the egg so again I have another stressful wait fo about 3 weeks to see if we are yet to get some baby doves this year.

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The doves have laid another egg, or maybe two but as I cannot get in to see we will just have to wait. Today as I was sitting in the sitting room I noticed a flash of white from the corner of my eye and saw that a hawk had Lily in its grips and was tumbling down to the ground, I literally flew out of the house and was able to scream and wave enough to scare away the hawk but Lily was traumatised, she flew off and eventually calmed and settled into the dove cote.

 

I have now decided after taking advice from pigeon fanciers on another forum to build some winter housing a bit like an aviary and if I can trap the doves to get them into it. Easier said than done but as they tend now to roost in the dove cote and are on eggs I may be able to trap them with a net and move them to a safe refuge.

 

It won't be nice seeing them caged but hopefully with her meal ticket gone the hawk will move on to pastures new.

 

15 days till egg hatching day if they make it :D

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Today as I was sitting in the sitting room I noticed a flash of white from the corner of my eye and saw that a hawk had Lily in its grips and was tumbling down to the ground, I literally flew out of the house and was able to scream and wave enough to scare away the hawk but Lily was traumatised, she flew off and eventually calmed and settled into the dove cote.

 

How awful for you both :( Hope that she is ok today. Good luck with the winter accommodation.

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