Is she dry/barren?

[Fuxzi]

Hello everyone I'm fairly new to pigeons I got 2 pairs last year in the spring. The man I got them from said they were already paired up and I saw that when I put them in the coop. They both made nests and a lot of kissing went on. I never have seen them mate but my dad said he's seen them plenty of times. They are always on their nests but there hasn't been an egg yet. During the summer I would let them out so they could fly and one of the males got taken by a hawk. I now have a lot more pigeons and the female has found a new mate. She made another nest and has been sitting on it constantly (by constantly I mean all summer-winter-and this spring) still no eggs. But the other male left his mate and paired up with a different female. They have hatched 6 squabs already and are on their next brood now. And his old mate paired up with a male who just got done raising a brood of two with his past mate, who got taken by a hawk. Ok now for the actual questions! Does all this mean that my 2 females are dry/barren? Will they ever lay eggs? I really don't want to keep them if they are not gonna help grow my flock, but I don't want to get rid of them because they were my first pigeons and they mean a lot to me? Sorry if this is confusing! But any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[laughingdog]

They are maybe not two boys? Either way, you could use them as and to foster eggs from others, then others lay again quicker.most do that that have valuable birds, then they use not as valuable birds to raise them, same sex, barren, ferals, all great foster parents.

 

[Fuxzi]

What a great idea! Thanks for the advice! But I know they are for sure females.

 

[jak2002003]

What a great idea! Thanks for the advice! But I know they are for sure females.

How do you know for sure they are females? If they have never had any eggs.. its likely they are males. Its so rare for a female pigeon to be infertile.. and so having 2 that are infertile in the same small flock is almost impossible.

I have had males pair up and one acts like a female.. but never any eggs. They will stay together once they are bonded with each other.. even if other females are around.

I also have 2 females that have paired up.. but they will mate with other males.. but its the 2 females that sit on the nest and raise the 4 young themselves with no help from the other males that had been cheating on their partners!!!

I have tried to split up the pairs that are the same sex.. but, even after weeks apart from each other (where they can't see each other).. they always go back to their mates. They are happy enough.. and I use the males as foster parents...

From all my years keeping pigeons.. I am still constantly surprised by their behaviour. Males acting like females and females being super aggressive and dominant like males.

I have even had a pair hatch out a raise a bantam chicken chick.. the chicken laid an egg in the pigeon nest box without me knowing. The pigeons raised the chick to a adult.. even following it around on the ground and brooding in in the corner of the coop at night. They are amazing birds.

 

[Fuxzi]

Ok I guess I should probably correct myself, I'm 99.99% sure they are females. When I got them with their original mates the males had different color heads. One with a blueish-black color and another with a dark brown color, again only on their heads the wrest of there body is all white. The "females in question" are smaller in size compared to the males. Both the females have light brown on their heads and are very aggressive when I place my hand next to them in there nests, while the males fly out. But I'm sure there is a slight chance that they both could be males. The man I bought them from said he had pigeons ever since he was little and he probably had 100 in his barn. So I trust his word.

The hatching and raising of the chicken is very interesting, I placed 3 quail eggs under a pair and they hatched all three but they didn't show interest in raising them. Thanks for your input jak2002003! I appreciate it!

 

[jak2002003]

Ok I guess I should probably correct myself, I'm 99.99% sure they are females. When I got them with their original mates the males had different color heads. One with a blueish-black color and another with a dark brown color, again only on their heads the wrest of there body is all white. The "females in question" are smaller in size compared to the males. Both the females have light brown on their heads and are very aggressive when I place my hand next to them in there nests, while the males fly out. But I'm sure there is a slight chance that they both could be males. The man I bought them from said he had pigeons ever since he was little and he probably had 100 in his barn. So I trust his word.

The hatching and raising of the chicken is very interesting, I placed 3 quail eggs under a pair and they hatched all three but they didn't show interest in raising them. Thanks for your input jak2002003! I appreciate it!

Males will also act aggressive on the nest and slap you with their wings.. not only females. Colour of feathers has nothing to do with gender... Some females can be bigger than males.. and depending of their genetics and breeding...

The guy you got them off could have made a mistake.. especially if they were young birds.. which are almost impossible to sex.. even by experienced pigeon fanciers.

Even the bow and coo and fanning the tails display is not a 100 percent way to tell the gender. I have seem one of my female king pigeons 'dancing' to another pigeon and fanning her tail at him.

Why don't you pair theses 'females' with other females in their own cages... see what happens... that would be one way to know for sure.

 

[Fuxzi]

Ok I'll try that thanks for the help!

 

[laughingdog]

Hope works out for you. i just had two sisters lay eggs and had been dancing etc for while.