Ringneck doves failing to produce offspring

[Orcae]

I've had a pair of ringneck doves for a few years now. Every month they mate many times a day, the female lays 2 eggs, they sit on the eggs, and the eggs rot. Candling always shows empty eggs. I was told the other dove was a male, but he cant seem to fertilize any eggs. I've read that female/female pairs will lay 4 eggs since each female lays 2, so it doesn't sound like I have two females. The male bows and coos and does everything a male is supposed to, except fertilize the female's eggs.
As it turns out, the male is a result of many generations of inbreeding. I'm not sure if that could effect his ability to fertilize eggs. Maybe its the female who's having the problem? I'm so confused! But I'm 100% sure I know which one is the female. I've witnessed her lay eggs many many times.

The female is the orange pearled, and the supposed male is the rosy.

 

[usschicago1]

The only thing I can think of is they are related. Related doves (brother and sister, half brothers) have trouble producing viable offspring.
Have you ever felt the eggs to see if she is keeping them warm?
Maybe give them vitamins, what are you feeding them?

 

[Orcae]

I cant say for sure, but I got them from different people who lived far away from each other, so they aren't related to my knowledge.
I feed them dove-specific seed mix. I -think- it might be KayTee brand, but I'm not sure (I don't keep the bags - I dump the seed into a tin. Much more convenient than a flimsy bag).
The eggs are definitely kept very warm! I feel bad for them, her especially. She tries so hard but they never hatch

 

[usschicago1]

Quote:
Okay Awesome! Thats your problem. I feed mine Kaytee Dove mix too, along with a lot of other stuff.

Anyways, during breeding time, for them to have healthy eggs with all the nutrients they need, you need to offer a bigger variety of seeds/grains And Fruit and maybe add some vitamins/minerals to there water ($4-5 a bag and lasts YEARS). So what I would do is do that for a couple months and I bet you will have babies!

 

[Orcae]

Thank you! I'll look into it

 

[bagendhens]

my first thought would be to DNA the supposed male. ive had females NEVER lay an egg before, assumed male and turned out they were actually female.
a female female pair will sometimes have both girls lay, sometimes not so without a dna sexing to back it up i wouldnt be so sure youve got a mated pair...it costs about $20 with avian biotech.

if he is male and she is female (youve seen her lay so no question there lol)

id try changing diet, soak and even sprout some seeds and get some fresh foods in there for them, you mght want to up the protein some with a product like "egg food"
dry seeds are nutritionally devoid, the body cant break them down properly and there very unnatural, most birds would have acess to viable "live" seed, simply soaking them is often better, but sprouting them is even better.
also make sure they have acess to a good calcium and mineral supliment
personaly i dont like vit supliments that go in the water because many birds wont rink it if its "not right" but a good balanced diet should help.

and finally given you know the supposed male is inbred it is VERY possible that hes infertile.

 

[elmo]

Our pair of doves has the same problem, only I've seen them mating and I know what causes it. The male's first ...um..."girlfriend" was the computer mouse, and he developed a bad technique if fertilization is the goal. He just doesn't make contact with the right place on the female (her cloaca).

Have you observed your birds mating? They might have the same problem.

We've joked about getting a dove porno movie so our male could watch and see how its done properly. Seriously, though, I don't think there's any solution to a problem like this.

 

[Magic Birdie]

I don't know anything about doves, but they are BEAUTIFUL!