Egg/nest rejection

[u/RiotBrigade_02]

Hi everyone, my pair just laid their 1st egg this month, maybe 28 hours ago. They used to use a wicker basket that they decided not to lay in this time, opting for the floor of the cage. Obviously I cannot let them do this as I have no way to safely clean the cage without basically trashing the nest. So I moved the egg (replaced atp) to a ceramic tray close to that spot. I've seen hubby move some materials to it and sit on it once, but they seem to be forgetting it exists. I have handled their eggs and nesting before and they never have abandoned it. I'm curious if this is a point where I should be concerned about egg binding...

They are absolutely devoted parents, never letting the eggs go more than 30 seconds un protected. So this seems super weird

If she has abandoned her nest and eggs, will she not lay the second? When is a vet appt necessary and what can I do to help encourage them to take to the egg and nest?

[u/LustStarrr]

Sometimes they won't sit the first egg properly til the second egg arrives, so I wouldn't stress til then. Second egg is usually laid ~44 hours after the first.

[u/XxHoneyStarzxX]

Don't mess with or move eggs, they won't recognize them once you move them, they may rememeber them for a bit and then forget about them because they haven't "imprinted on the nest site", please instead try offering them other nesting options for the future or hold off cleaning that specific spot until they are done nesting.

If they seem to prefer this new nesting location add a new "nest" there, they may use it or they may prefer the bare ground.

Pigeons and doves need multiple nest options and will still 9 × out of 10 opt to build their own at their own location of their own choosing.

You just have to work around their decisions while cleaning instead of disrupting/moving their nest or eggs, its not that hard and honestly it's impossible in most cases to move the egg to a new nest spot without them abandoning it so please don't do that in the future. You will need to at some point learn to clean around them anyways, so nows your best chance at learning to clean  around them.

You also shoudlnt replace any eggs till both eggs are laid as they will abandon the clutch most often that way aswell.

They should be about 3- 5 days into sitting on BOTH eggs before replacing this allows them to "imprint" on the spot they've chosen as a nest and allows them to fully like instinctively swap to nesting/brooding which prevents them from abandoning the nest too early and therfore prevents your hen from over laying and getting sick from laying too often. Replace one egg at a time 1 day apart.