Gay pairing? How to deal with it?

[barn206]

Sounds like a lot to deal with..
Well the only suggestion I can give you is to throw some hay in the middle of the coop!!!
I didn't realize my pair was gay until they built a beautiful tiki bar in their nest box. Even then I was like hmmmm?

All joking aside, if you need the space and these 2 are not producing young ones, simply find them another home. It's really about you managing your coop
That's all. I have hundreds of pigeons so 1 pair not producing didn't bother me. In your case , you have a small coop.
Sounds like you are thinking about a decision. Just go with it
Good luck

 

[barn206]

UPDATE: I caught #6 (my known cock) this morning sitting in the nest bowl, and his mate, #9, cooing in the nest box, puffing up its neck, and walking in a circle while doing so. My understanding is that this is a cock bird behavior. #6 does the same thing. It is going on 2 months that these two have been apparently paired up, with no eggs, and I have never caught them copulating or billing (one bird nibbling at the other bird's beak).

So, the saga continues, and I am still convinced this is a gay pairing.

Lamarsh
Years ago I had hens on occasion that didn't produce young ones. I can't remember if the didn't have eggs or they just gave up on the eggs. Anyway I still kept the bird if she flew good and had nice markings. Why remove a good bird.. as time goes on you'll see that we only have so much control over nature. You'll come across hens that aren't good sitters. You only learn by going through it. Just throwing that out there

 

[LamarshFish]

Sounds like a lot to deal with..
Well the only suggestion I can give you is to throw some hay in the middle of the coop!!!
I didn't realize my pair was gay until they built a beautiful tiki bar in their nest box. Even then I was like hmmmm?

LOL

 

[LamarshFish]

All joking aside, if you need the space and these 2 are not producing young ones, simply find them another home. It's really about you managing your coop
That's all. I have hundreds of pigeons so 1 pair not producing didn't bother me. In your case , you have a small coop.
Sounds like you are thinking about a decision. Just go with it
Good luck

I would rather keep them, I like them, they are really nice birds. Can't I just lock each of them in a nest box with other birds I know are hens and they will pair up? Or am I off on this?

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I am assuming you have a sexual orientation, lets just say straight male. Lets say we move you into an all male situation, will you change from straight to gay?

If they are a same sex couple likely it would be as hard to change their sexuality as it would be yours.

Gary

 

[LamarshFish]

I am assuming you have a sexual orientation, lets just say straight male. Lets say we move you into an all male situation, will you change from straight to gay?

If they are a same sex couple likely it would be as hard to change their sexuality as it would be yours.

Gary

I understand your analogy; however, it's my understanding that you can do exactly what I described with pigeons. They pair for life, but once separated they look for another mate. Fanciers purpose breed pigeons, which means the fancier selects each pigeon's mate. If this occurs, I don't see why I cannot attempt to do the same with these two.

Although I will say, part of me does feel bad about it! I want more pigeons, especially from these two, since they are both such nice birds (especially #6), but at the same time I also want them to be happy.

Maybe there is a way for me to get them each to breed to females, get some young from them, and then after breeding and rearing the young let them go back to being happily gay.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I understand your analogy; however, it's my understanding that you can do exactly what I described with pigeons. They pair for life, but once separated they look for another mate. Fanciers purpose breed pigeons, which means the fancier selects each pigeon's mate. If this occurs, I don't see why I cannot attempt to do the same with these two.

Although I will say, part of me does feel bad about it! I want more pigeons, especially from these two, since they are both such nice birds (especially #6), but at the same time I also want them to be happy.

Live and let live, they are happy the way it is.

Your flock your call

Gary

 

[LamarshFish]

I just went home at lunch to let my dog out and caught them copulating lol (or attempting to at least). Ok so that's that. Let's see if there's eggs after 10 days.

On the other hand, another pair in my loft which I know is male/female, I have caught them copulating way longer than 10 days ago and still no eggs.

Maybe it takes some time for really young birds to figure out the birds and the bees.

 

[jak2002003]

As you are not sure about their gender I suggest you leave them to it for this breeding season.

At the end of the season if no eggs, you will know they are both males.

I recommend you remove the nest boxes when the breeding season is over, or block them off. Also put them on a reduced feed ration to discourage breeding attempts and let the birds rest and molt their feathers.

Next breeding season you can separate the 2 males (if they are males) and pairthem with females. but make sure the malesout of sight and ear shot of each other. If they can see each other they will not pair up with another bird.

I use this method will all my pairs... as I breed only a few each season and select the best birds. Mostly they will pair up eventually. But make sure you protect the hen from the cock by having a mesh or bar divider in the nesting box until they have formed a pair.. otherwise they will fight and injure each other.

If they are young bird they might just have formed a same sex pair by accident.. and got bonded to each other like that. However, if they are really going to be gay pigeons then they won't pair up easily with a female! You will have to try and see.

I had one lesbian pair of pigeons that would never pair up with other birds... and they would beat up the males! I had to just leave them to it in the end... and they were fantastic foster parents and very protective and caring to their foster chicks... in fact the best pigeon parents I ever owned.

 

[LamarshFish]

As you are not sure about their gender I suggest you leave them to it for this breeding season.

At the end of the season if no eggs, you will know they are both males.

That is my plan.

I recommend you remove the nest boxes when the breeding season is over, or block them off.

Due to the small size of my loft, I'm afraid this is not possible. My birds need the nest boxes as extra space. They often hang in the nest boxes, but they do not roost there, only on the perches.

Next breeding season you can separate the 2 males (if they are males) and pairthem with females. but make sure the malesout of sight and ear shot of each other. If they can see each other they will not pair up with another bird.

Due to the small size of my current loft, this won't be possible. There's no way in my loft to keep any birds from hearing each other, it's only 4'x4'.

If they are young bird they might just have formed a same sex pair by accident.. and got bonded to each other like that. However, if they are really going to be gay pigeons then they won't pair up easily with a female! You will have to try and see.

They are only about 4-5 months old, and have been paired since about 3 months of age. They have access to females in my loft that are not paired up yet. if they are both males, what is the chance they will eventually pair up with a female? They seem to like each other quite a bit lol.