# Male Pigeon Attacks His Mate - HELP!



## pigeonpants (Oct 16, 2020)

Hi everyone,

I have a male pigeon who paired up with a female except he full on attacks her. I have to keep them separate because if the male can get to her, he will follow her around and coo as though he's courting, but as soon as he gets the chance because he gets close enough, he'll start attacking her! I don't think it's "driving", because he totally tears at the back of her head and around her beak. He will seriously injure her if I let them be together. But I know they're a pair because she will call for him and follow him however she can and he'll do the same, and they've mated a few times when I've tried letting them out together. But straight after, he'll start tearing the feathers from the back of her head. It's seriously vicious. What is going on??? How can I make him stop??? Even worse is that she won't run away when he's attacking her, she just kind of stays in one spot but definitely looks stressed.

Please help!!!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Do you have other single males in with them? If you do, that might be the reason why he is so vicious with her.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

While on of our pairs was young, i had to separate them several times. Finally they got older and the males overzealousness stopped.


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## pigeonpants (Oct 16, 2020)

Marina B said:


> Do you have other single males in with them? If you do, that might be the reason why he is so vicious with her.


No, all of my pigeons are paired up. No single pigeons


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## pigeonpants (Oct 16, 2020)

cwebster said:


> While on of our pairs was young, i had to separate them several times. Finally they got older and the males overzealousness stopped.


The female is 5 years and the male is 1 year old. They are ex racing pigeons I adopted from rescue so I checked their rings for their age


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Our male was obnxious for years.


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## pigeonpants (Oct 16, 2020)

So what can I do to make him stop biting her?


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Every time Junior really got obnoxious, chasing Bussy around the cage, i moved him to a small cage next door. He had his own food, grit, and water. I would leave him there for a few days. Often, he would do his chasing when she laidan egg. I would leave him separate until she got bored from her eggs. He was on much better behavior when i put him back.


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## pigeonpants (Oct 16, 2020)

cwebster said:


> Every time Junior really got obnoxious, chasing Bussy around the cage, i moved him to a small cage next door. He had his own food, grit, and water. I would leave him there for a few days. Often, he would do his chasing when she laidan egg. I would leave him separate until she got bored from her eggs. He was on much better behavior when i put him back.


I did a few tests today. The hen laid eggs a few days ago. What I did was I put her in the same coop as her mate, while she was sitting in the nesting bowl. The male was totally fine, he was just guarding the entrance to the coop and was really well behaved. That continued for maybe an hour, I was supervising the whole time of course to make sure he didn't do anything. Then I took the hen and the nesting bowl out, then put the hen back in with no nesting bowl. Pretty quickly the boy started to bite her again. What he does is he runs up behind her and is squished up against her, and she doesn't move, then he starts pecking and biting and tearing at the feathers on the back of her head. I took her back out and put her in with the nesting bowl again. Once again, no reaction. Then I took the nesting bowl out from under the hen, so I didn't move her. The male was fine for a few minutes. Then the hen started to move around and started eating from the bowl of seeds, and that's when the boy started attacking her again. After that, I just separated the boy and put him in a different enclosure. He hates it, he's running back and forth trying to get out so he can go back to his coop. But there's nothing else I can do, otherwise he'd tear her apart.  Any thoughts based on all this?


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## Rose Fox (Jan 2, 2021)

pigeonpants said:


> I did a few tests today. The hen laid eggs a few days ago. What I did was I put her in the same coop as her mate, while she was sitting in the nesting bowl. The male was totally fine, he was just guarding the entrance to the coop and was really well behaved. That continued for maybe an hour, I was supervising the whole time of course to make sure he didn't do anything. Then I took the hen and the nesting bowl out, then put the hen back in with no nesting bowl. Pretty quickly the boy started to bite her again. What he does is he runs up behind her and is squished up against her, and she doesn't move, then he starts pecking and biting and tearing at the feathers on the back of her head. I took her back out and put her in with the nesting bowl again. Once again, no reaction. Then I took the nesting bowl out from under the hen, so I didn't move her. The male was fine for a few minutes. Then the hen started to move around and started eating from the bowl of seeds, and that's when the boy started attacking her again. After that, I just separated the boy and put him in a different enclosure. He hates it, he's running back and forth trying to get out so he can go back to his coop. But there's nothing else I can do, otherwise he'd tear her apart.  Any thoughts based on all this?


He is driving her to incubate the eggs. That is part of his "duty", to make sure the hen incubates the eggs. If the hen doesn't sit on the eggs the male attacks her until she does. The best thing to do to keep the peace is to let them keep the eggs. That way he will go back to his own duty which is guarding her and her eggs. After a few hours he will allow her to leave the nest to defecate, feed and drink, then he will make sure she goes back on the eggs. If you don't want babies you can substitute fake eggs and they'll still incubate them. If you don't have fake eggs you can coat the real eggs with a thin layer of vegetable oil which will smother the embryos. It's unfair to keep him away from his mate and eggs.


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## pigeonpants (Oct 16, 2020)

Rose Fox said:


> He is driving her to incubate the eggs. That is part of his "duty", to make sure the hen incubates the eggs. If the hen doesn't sit on the eggs the male attacks her until she does. The best thing to do to keep the peace is to let them keep the eggs. That way he will go back to his own duty which is guarding her and her eggs. After a few hours he will allow her to leave the nest to defecate, feed and drink, then he will make sure she goes back on the eggs. If you don't want babies you can substitute fake eggs and they'll still incubate them. If you don't have fake eggs you can coat the real eggs with a thin layer of vegetable oil which will smother the embryos. It's unfair to keep him away from his mate and eggs.


I've never in my life seen this level of aggression with any of my other pigeons. He'd scalp her if I didn't do anything. Is it really driving???


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## Rose Fox (Jan 2, 2021)

pigeonpants said:


> I've never in my life seen this level of aggression with any of my other pigeons. He'd scalp her if I didn't do anything. Is it really driving???


The instinct for the male to make sure the hen incubates the eggs is pretty strong. Based on what you described, it seems like this is the cause of the male attacking your hen. I have noticed in different species of birds that sometimes the hen doesn't take her job seriously with the first fertile clutch she lays, then the male has to step in and make sure she incubates the eggs. The hens have to learn to sit on the eggs for quite a few hours at a time without eating, drinking or defecating, sometimes they're not willing to do this. I've seen this in my diamond doves, once a male scalped a hen and tore her feathers off all the way down her back. I could see her skull and was afraid she'd die. Once she learned to sit the eggs properly he left her alone and she healed up on her own, and they raised the clutch with no problems. This is a form of natural selection, if the hen won't do her job the male eventually kills her and finds another hen who will be a better parent. However, if the male continues to attack even after she's sitting on the eggs, you would have to keep them separated and find them new mates.


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