Pigeon Divorce

[chseeads]

I have (had) a pair of modenas and they raised a few clutches of babies together this summer.

I also have a couple of utility kings that I picked up at one point this summer, I wasn't sure gender on them when I picked them out, just picked them from someone's flock....


Well, my Ma modena decided to have an affair and started dating one of the kings!

For all intents and purposes it looks as though she has divorced her husband and married the king, as they now hang out together and sleep in the same place and Pa modena is out in the cold.....

I thought it was pretty weird that she up and dumped her long-time mate.

The kings had been around for quite some time before this mate-swapping took place, it didn't happen as soon as they showed up or anything. Oh, and one other detail, was that after having been here for quite a while, the king had run the modena pair off from what had been their nesting and roosting area and it would sit up there at night and Ma and Pa modena had to take up other accomodations.

So after that housing situation had gone on for a little while, one day I found the king and Ma modena sitting in the nest cooing with each other.


Maybe she loved her old house more than she loved Pa and dumped him for the king to get to move back in. LOL

Is it unusual for pigeons to swap mates of their own volition?

 

[sourland]

Sounds like the pull of the nest site was stronger than that to her mate. Pigeons are just like people. Some are more faithful than others, and some are just plain fickle. Many c*cks will mess around while their hens are setting on eggs, and some hens will play the same trick. When I was seriously breeding Birmingham rollers, I would switch mates every 3 rounds or so. Most birds would switch mates readily, but with some the pair bond was so strong that they would not accept a new mate. I seperate hens and c*cks every November. When I put them back together in late February it's like pick-up time during happy hour. Within a matter of minutes those birds with a strong pair bond have located one another and started actively courting. I once had a homer hen that I had given away return after 6 or 7 months. Her mate had never remated. When she trapped into the loft the two of them went nuts. Strutting, fanning, chasing and then billing and mating. Within 10 days they were down on eggs. I'm not sure that birds feel joy, but it sure seemed like they were joyful to see one another. The strength of the pair bond varies from pair to pair.

 

[chseeads]

Interesting! Thanks for the input.

 

[abluechipstock]

that's good to know, i think i'm going to have to separate my rollers and my capuchines, i think some funny business may be in the making

 

[txcarl1258]

My mom had a white homer male who had three different mates at the same time! He would just go from nest to nest and visit each female and help with the babies. I couldn't believe it. Like Sourland said it must of been the pull of the nest, because it is normally the males who "wander".

 

[chseeads]

The soap opera continues with my pigeons.....


The other night, Ma modena and her king fling had went to roost on top of the nest box like usual.

But for some unknown reason, the king simply laid down and died right there. Hadn't seemed to have any problems priorly, didn't have any visible injuries or anything...don't know why it died, but it just up and croaked.


And now with the passing of the intruding king, Pa and Ma modena are back together again.


If this was a real soap opera, I'd definitely expect "fowl play." lol

 

[centrarchid]

I though pigeons and doves engaged in serial monogamy, where several broods in a row might be raised by a pair before new partners selected. Poor survival of young or loss of preferred nesting site would shorten intervals between mate changes.

 

[magicpigeon]

I had 3 females and 1 male and once the male died, the second-in-command female became the dominant female's mate! They even started grooming each other etc. but since they both laid eggs...

 

[rufus]

Quote:
You play around, you lose your wife. You play too long, you lose your life. Good time Charley is going to sing the blues.

Rufus

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Quote:
You play around, you lose your wife. You play too long, you lose your life. Good time Charley is going to sing the blues.

Rufus