feral pigeon

[whitetail]

Hi,

One of my male pigeons, Sambo, had an eye injury and had to have his eye removed. I had to keep him captive for 5 weeks until he healed. When I finally released him I noticed that his girlfriend rejected him and now has another partner. I get the feeling that she rejected him not because he is one eyed but because he was away for so long, but I'm not sure. It's going to be 2 weeks since I released Sambo and I think it's been a little difficult to find someone else. My question is: Do females reject one eyed pigeons because they see them as freaks?
I can tell Sambo is really needing some special company.
I would appreciate any insight into this situation.

Whitetail

[Jay3]

Originally Posted by whitetail

Hi,

One of my male pigeons, Sambo, had an eye injury and had to have his eye removed. I had to keep him captive for 5 weeks until he healed. When I finally released him I noticed that his girlfriend rejected him and now has another partner. I get the feeling that she rejected him not because he is one eyed but because he was away for so long, but I'm not sure. It's going to be 2 weeks since I released Sambo and I think it's been a little difficult to find someone else. My question is: Do females reject one eyed pigeons because they see them as freaks?
I can tell Sambo is really needing some special company.
I would appreciate any insight into this situation.

Whitetail

She rejected him because he was replaced while he was gone. She probably assumed that he was gone forever. A missing eye wouldn't bother a female that liked him. I have a cock that had a wing amputated on one side. He is mated to a hen in my loft.
That's the problem when they have to be kept away for a while. Often the mate will replace them. It's too bad, but he will find another mate. Is he kept in a loft?

[Pawbla]

Wait, is he a feral? A one eyed feral? Can he fly fine?

[Jay3]

Any one eyed bird can't fly perfectly. He's blind on that side. Easy for him to fly into things. If he were outside, a hawk could more easily catch him.

[whitetail]

Thanks for your replies.
No, I don't have a loft, I have a group that has been coming to my balcony for a few years, I feed them and do what I can to help them.
Sambo doesn't have any problems flying, that I can see. I didn't have much of a choice, one of the vets I saw thought that I should euthanize him, but for me that just isn't an option, he's young and deserves to live. The other two vets at the clinic said he would be ok with just one eye and I went on this. I know it's not optimal circumstances for him, but I still believe that things can work out well for him.
I'm so glad you tell me that the one eye wont be a problem with the girls; he is cooing a lot and I think he needs a mate.

Thanks

[Jay3]

It does make him more unsafe with predators. I hope he will be okay. But the eye won't stop him from getting a mate. Birds have had much worse, and they will still find a mate who likes what they do have. Too bad about the first mate, but there's another out there for him. Come back in on this thread and let us know when he finds one. Please keep us updated on him. Thanks. Good luck.

[whitetail]

Thanks again.
I'll let you know when he gets a mate, I hope it's soon as he's getting really cranky with all the others. He's a good looking pigeon and has tons of character; I hope someone will see this sooner or later.
Lets keep our fingers crossed

[Jay3]

They're crossed