Dove eggs

Question
We have a pair of Ringneck Doves every time they lay an egg, three days later there is a whole punched in it. Could this be the male doing it? It happens at night when no one is watching.

Answer
Hi, Bob,

Could be the male or female (or something getting inside their nest/cage).  Usually, the female incubates the eggs at night, male during the day.  It may not be happening on purpose, i.e., in moving about the nest/cage, the birds might accidently step on their egg(s) and their nails punch a hole in the egg.  Sometimes when the birds turn their eggs, they can accidently poke a hole or crack their eggs, eggs can crack/break when they roll into each other.  Some birds purposely break their eggs for various reasons....they may not be mature enough or a bonded pair or just have a bad habit of egg-breaking (some eat the inside and/or shell for calcium if they are deficient).  The birds might be getting disturbed during the night.  Perhaps their setup isn't right, some birds purposely destroy their egg(s) if they feel their offspring might be in some type of danger when they hatch, etc.  I'd have to know more about your setup, the environment they live in, and the birds in order to help more.  You might want to set up a video camera to see what goes on at night.  Are you certain you have a male and female?  Females can lay infertile eggs without any assistance from a male and, often times, 2 females will "pair up."  Sometimes when 2 birds are the same sex and eggs come, they destroy them.  

Chrys