# Pet pigeons fighting and no longer working together on nest



## djhart (Apr 2, 2015)

Hello,

We have 2 rescue pigeons. The female has been with us for about 2 years and the male has been with us for just over a year. They have always gotten along pretty well and quickly started mating. For the past year, they have gone through a routine of mating, building a nest, laying 2 eggs ( we replace them with wooden eggs) and sitting on the nest for 18 to 20 days.

They have always been great about taking turns on the nest and helping build it but in the past month, their relationship seems to have become more violent. 

The female was about to lay again about 5 days ago and the male made no attempts to help her with the nest so she build it alone. She laid both of her eggs over the next few days and the male has not taken a turn at all to sit on the nest.

I'm not sure what is going on. He seems usually aggressive with her and doesn't let her eat and she seems to run him away from the nest when he's near.

Any idea what I can do for these guys? They are both a part of our family now and I can't think of what we can do to make things better.

Thanks for any thoughts!


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

First of all take away ALL nesting and building material including the nest pot or cage or whatever they are using. Probably normal for so many hatch failures that he probably deems her as a defective mate. So they become aggressive. If you had let them have a clutch they may have stayed amicable. So if u want no babies, then I say discourage all mating. Keep them separate as pets, allow one out at a time and enjoy them that way, or allow them to have a clutch. Just my opinion. I allow mine to fraternize during spring season but do not allow them to mate or have babies as I am at capacity. 

Also , feed them separately, you are looking for trouble if he chases her away from feed dish. she will get stressed and sick and or worse. When I see someone getting hen pecked, I remove the offender or it will cause illness for sure from the stress, and she is laying eggs to boot, so her body is already under duress.


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