# castratto King



## cooingsosweetly (Apr 3, 2005)

I have a homer/king i found, from one of those dove release comnpanies ( i assume) starved, thin for his breed (fattened up quickly) and unable to fly. I was thinking, maybe on his way back to where his loft is, unable to make it. He had at least 150 km to go before getting to the town listed on his band to where i found him.

Anyhow, that is the story of King, my white homer/king. This is the question: 
He wont mate. he does the "defenseive dance" but never any mating ritual behavior. There are hens all around, and cocks, he has choices. Is there a possibility he is castrated? do they do this in the White Dove Release business? HE is happy, and really friendly, he coos when i approach his pearches and roosts happily in the sun all day, between streching his wings.

The question is, do White dove release birds get castrated? (fixed)???and how do i tell if King is fixed?

or if he is a she...

confused, queenpigeon


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

cooingsosweetly said:


> Is there a possibility he is castrated? do they do this in the White Dove Release business? confused, queenpigeon


The answer is no. He's a pigeon and believe me, when HE thinks he's found the right "lady"......he'll do what pigeons do. I don't know how old this bird is? Some mature slower than others and it just takes a little time. I'm sure he's fine. 
In fact, people who race, show or do the white bird releases would for the most part have no need for a bird that can't breed. That's what keeps them in the game and/or business. 
I guess you could operate on one and "fix" it, but I've never ever heard of such a thing, except of course in a hen who has reproduction problems.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

If this pigeon is exceptionally tame, it may have been a pet and associates itself with humans more than pigeons. We have had some that did that. We have a beautiful little feral named Jimmy Jack who is a girl but has never laid an egg and she is probably two years old. She spent her first winter with us and became so bonded to us that I'm not sure she will ever pick a mate. We thought she had one this summer but that romance fizzled out pretty quickly.


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## cooingsosweetly (Apr 3, 2005)

*my king bowing!!!!*

just as i posted this, he starts bowing and cooing!!!
He is shy, extremely intelligent though, and shy. He is about 4 years old, (the band says 2003 on it, there is also a possibility he is almost 11, there is another area on the band that says 1996.
I love him so much, it was like a blessing when i found this beauty. He is so big, and when i pick him up he coos and grunts and rubs his wattle with such ferocity maybe he does consider me his mate...he hs taken to sleeping on the bookshelf by my couch, where i pass out sometimes...

Thank you for the replies.
qp


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## nbdyuknow (Apr 10, 2007)

That's so cute. Sophie does a lot of the same things, except she has to sleep on my chest.


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