2 more pigeon questions from the new guy.

[Friar_Tuck]

As I said in my other post, I am new at these pigeons.
I now have 4 swallows, that all came together in one cage.
My first question is about their beaks.
It looks to me like their top beak is too long, and they are not near as handy at the feeder as the other pigeons I got.
Do they need to be trimmed back a bit?
I trimmed their nails and now they are much better at walking on the cage wire.
Here is a picture of one of the swallows, they all have the same length top beak.

Next question is on pairing them up.
Two of the 4 had an orange split ring band on one leg, along with the NPA band on the other leg.
I was guessing that maybe the previous owner used that for sex ID.
One of the ones without the split ring does a lot of dancing and cooing around in circles, and seems to spend a bit more time around one of the others with the split ring. I also notice that the one he seems to be attracted to is missing a lot of feathers at the base of the neck, and am guessing that is where the male grabs the female, does that sound correct?
I may just take the other two out of that pen and see what these two do. I have a nice nest platform in there, maybe they will start a clutch.
Thanks for your time,
Jim

 

[Hokum Coco]

Sounds like your bird with the missing neck feathers is going through a molt. They do not pin the female down like other birds do to copulate.

I have to admit that top beak does look a bit long. I never trimmed a beak on a pigeon before so I can not give you any advice. I would supply them with a lots of grit and maybe a it will naturally wear down on its own. Good luck Friar!