# Paired pigeon are fighting



## Emon (Jan 2, 2018)

Hi,
I bought two adult archangel pigeons. The buyer told me that they were pair. After bringing home I realized they were not pair. First they were alone . They stayed together all the time but at night the male did not let the female enter inside the box/nest. It was 2 months but scenario was same. Once he tried to scalp the female. So I moved them into different cages and introduced them with my other birds. They paired up after 2/3 weeks, laid eggs. They were sitting on eggs. One day the female was sitting on drinking pot. So I opened the cage door. She took a shower and went home by her own. All of a sudden male started to hit the female. He did not let the female come close to the nest bowl. I thought it was not a big deal cause they were on eggs. After I returned from work I saw both eggs were broken and male is still hitting the female. There were embryos in both eggs. I was so sad. I separated them again. I let them look each other. After a month he was easy on her. They mated again. Today i gave them nest bowl. Male bird sat on it. When ever the female came near the bowl he started to hit her head. So I removed the nest bowl. Now they are not fighting. 
What is happening? What should I do? 

The female is crazy for this abusive male. I should mention you that there are 7 pairs and two single males in my loft.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

I find with one of my males that he can be quite aggressive to his hen if there is another male out at the same time, so I only let them out with other hens when he's in a possessive mood. I think your problem is the two unpaired males, he sees them as a threat to his pairing and unfortunately he's being abusive to her in trying to stop her being attracted to them. I'd take the unpaired males away from the pair completely and see if that helps.


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## Emon (Jan 2, 2018)

FredaH, thanks for your reply. I was also guessing that problem. But it is winter in my place. Finding warm place for the birds is very difficult. So I am trying to pair up my bachelor(eligible) adult males. Good news is they laid an egg today. Bad news is my other 2 males started to behave rough with their hen recently. They never did this before. This is why they say "A pigeon is known by the company he keeps". The abusive pigeon is continuing his abuse performance but the amount of violence is reduced.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

We have a pair, Buzzy and Fiona Jr, who i have to separate every time Buzzy lays an egg. They try to take each other out, with bites and wing slaps. So i separate them and wait until they are friends again.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

cwebster said:


> We have a pair, Buzzy and Fiona Jr, who i have to separate every time Buzzy lays an egg. They try to take each other out, with bites and wing slaps. So i separate them and wait until they are friends again.



I really think Buzzy and Fiona would act differently if not caged. In a cage, there isn't anything else to do, so they fight over the eggs. If they were in a larger enclosure they would have other things to do and places to go to keep them busy. They would probably prefer flying around to sitting on eggs.


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## YaSin11 (Jul 23, 2009)

Interesting scenario.

FredaHs' reply makes sense.

I would try to keep the unpaired males as far as possible from the paired couple.

Nice looking birds. 

Wish you good luck


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Keeping paired with single birds only causes problems.


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## Emon (Jan 2, 2018)

And they broke both eggs again.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Are you sure they're breaking the eggs? Not another male trying to take over the nest box?


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## Emon (Jan 2, 2018)

Jay3, sorry for the late to reply. I had an interview.......and all ended in smoke.
Any way, no, no other male comes to their nest box. When they laid eggs, I stopped to let them out. They couldn't even see another pigeon nest form their nest.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Are they getting enough calcium/D3? If not then the eggs will break more easily.
If the male is being so mean to his mate, then I would pair her with a different male. Can you give him back to the guy you got him from? Try with another male. How much room do your birds have? Are they in cages or a loft? If a loft how large is it?


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## YaSin11 (Jul 23, 2009)

I agree with Jay3, please try to make sure the laying birds have proper Calcium.

If they are kept locked inside, separate, then make sure they have enough space to move freely. Usually they do not break their eggs.

Good Luck.


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## Emon (Jan 2, 2018)

Here are the ans of questions by Jay3.
1. I give the adult birds Egg Formula suggested by veteran which contains vitamin A, D3, E, K3, B1, B2, B3 etc. I give them grit, oyster shell and egg shell every other day. So i don't think it is D3 problem.
2. No, I can't give them back. I bought them from a street side market. And the seller was a liar. But they were healthy.
3. (About changing the male) I'll think about it. I thought it before starting this thread. But getting a single healthy bird is difficult in my country. People sell single adult male when their hen is dead(mostly).
4. 2 feet cage for each. I think it is enough. I have a big indian fantail pair and they are the best breeding pair of them all. 
5. They live in cages but cage doors are most of the time kept open. Cause all my birds are tamed and all know their home(This is why i don't want to sell my birds). It is a 13 feet veranda where they play. So maybe you can call it a loft. All of them are fancy pigeon breed. They never flew away from veranda although the grills are wide open.
Thanks for the reply YaSin11 and Jay3.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Emon said:


> Jay3, sorry for the late to reply. I had an interview.......and all ended in smoke.
> Any way, no, no other male comes to their nest box. *When they laid eggs, I stopped to let them out. They couldn't even see another pigeon nest form their nest.*




This is what you said. Now you are saying the doors to their cages are open most of the time. Are they locked up or not? 
If they are locked in together then they will fight more. Would be better if the veranda was wired in so they still had some freedom to move around even when on eggs or babies.


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## Emon (Jan 2, 2018)

Jay3, I said most of the time because when all pairs are out, my single adult male is not allowed to go out. When they are on eggs, sometime they don't want to incubate when they are free. So i don't let the birds on egg out all the time. 

When the quarrelsome pair laid eggs for 2nd time i didn't let these pair out. Because 1st time when they laid eggs they were free and the male did not want the hen to enter inside the house. I mentioned it earlier.


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