Ringneck dove help?

[KiteKatsumi]

I know this forum is more meant for parrots, but I'm here out of desperation since I can't find anyone who can help x.x
I have two ringneck doves, an orange pearled named Raine who I always believed to be a male, and a rosy named Keiko, who the woman that sold her to be thought was a female. She is supposedly a couple months old.
Raine is a little over a year old. He coos constantly, bow-coos frequently, and has never laid an egg. All of this combined had lead me to believe he's a male.
Keiko is much quieter, a sign of being female...however, she's bow-cooed to Raine which is a sign of being male, but isn't a defining factor since both genders sometimes display this behavior.
They've been together for a few days now. Raine has been nest-cooing and wing-flipping ever since Keiko was put into his cage, and he's hetero-preened her as well. This also lead me to believe I have a male/female pair.
Today, in one of their nests, is their very first egg. Keiko is showing zero interest in it at all; Raine is sitting on it (both genders will sit on the eggs though), and his vent area is swollen, which makes me think he might've laid it...but I read that female ringneck doves start to lay at 5-6 months of age? If Raine is a female, is it typical for them to wait until they're a year old to lay their first egg? Mom says she thinks he may be swollen because of...pleasuring himself...because I read that they can do that. He can poop fine so that part isn't an issue.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated, I'd rather not take them to a vet to get them sexed for a couple reasons. Time will tell if the egg is fertile or not, but I haven't seen them mating, and I've been watching them like a hawk (except at night, and they tend to sleep through the night).

[KiteKatsumi]

I managed to get a photo of Raine's swollen vent, http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...ollenraine.jpg Its not that great, but it was hard to get a picture of it...its been swollen like that for a few days. The white specks appear to be feathers trying to grow back, so I'm wondering if the missing feathers give the illusion of swelling?

[Ashling]

Don't worry this is BIRDboard not PARROTboard! Welcome and I hope you get the answers you need. All I can say is that the swollen vent could be from the bird plucking its feathers out ready to sit on eggs. Many birds do this and I'm pretty sure both sexes do it so that's no indication to the bird's gender. The feathers that are starting to regrow would be further evidence to this as when feathers are plucked they grow back quite quickly. I'm thinking it's safe to say that Raine is a female due to the swollen vent and plucked feathers. Who knows if it is fertilized though, or whether Keiko is a male or female!

[KiteKatsumi]

Originally Posted by Ashling

Don't worry this is BIRDboard not PARROTboard! Welcome and I hope you get the answers you need. All I can say is that the swollen vent could be from the bird plucking its feathers out ready to sit on eggs. Many birds do this and I'm pretty sure both sexes do it so that's no indication to the bird's gender. The feathers that are starting to regrow would be further evidence to this as when feathers are plucked they grow back quite quickly. I'm thinking it's safe to say that Raine is a female due to the swollen vent and plucked feathers. Who knows if it is fertilized though, or whether Keiko is a male or female!

Thanks, you've made me feel a lot better. I've been paranoid about my baby being eggbound or something. I'll still keep a close eye of course.
Raine has spent more time on the nest than Keiko, but Keiko is starting to show interest and sit on the nest too. They've yet to lay the 2nd egg and I'm keeping a close eye to see if I can see which one lays it.

[KiteKatsumi]

As of today there's 2 eggs, but I still don't know who laid them. Raine is on the nest more than Keiko it seems...