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Dear Friends

I have several white ringneck dove pairs and breed them with plenty of time between clutches. I have raised one male who is now 18 months old. He has coo'd/cried for a female for 12 months. I had a petstore locate a female for me to buy. They said she was a proven female because she had laid an egg. I can tell by her feet she isnt a baby. Im guessing 9-12 months. I put them side by side in cages. I also let them out in the room for a couple hours a day. It looked to me like he mounted her and successfully mated once. But its obvious this is her first time. She didnt resist but was hesitant.
From than he has tried to mount her several times. And since they are both inexperienced it hasnt been very successful. In their large cage he flys up to the nest basket and coos fluttering his feathers while she eats or preens on the bottom. But now he is just charging her and pecking...not really hard...but pecking ...sometimes bowcooing and other times just pecking. When i let them out he spends most of his time aggressively showing off to the other males in their cages. ...while she sits on the highest place in the house.
My concern is there is alot more pecking than courting. I know the males act like this ...because i went through this with his parents but its distressing for me to see him peck at her...i keep telling him ..Go Easy...but he isnt. i just want them to bond and be at peace in their large cage. Any advice??
Blessings

 

[Marina B]

Give them more time. That is all normal behaviour. He wants her in the nest to lay eggs.

 

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Thank you so much!!! I noticed she flew onto the perch he was on and got as close to him as she could...because he was bent over cooing and fluttering his feathers. But as soon as she got next to him he stood up and started pecking her........oh dear.
I dont know why i should be surprised...my ex treated me the same way! 😄

Ill keep you posted. Thank you

 

[Marina B]

I was just going to say....males of all species! 😆

 

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I was just going to say....males of all species! 😆

Ok so this is day 2. He is still chasing her and pecking at her. I let them both out of the cage to fly around the room hoping he will get tired and she will have more space to flee. Than i put them back in the cage together. But this is my concern he is chasing her more than he is trying to mount her.
2 different times i kept one of my baby doves and waited 6 months to see if it was a girl that i could give him. In the beginning he bonded with them. But as the younger got older he became more and more agressive. Chasing and pecking. Than at 6 months i knew why...both times it was a male not female. And once the younger realized it was a boy it would fight him.
Now the guy i bought this bird from knows i will come unglued if this is a young male. He said this bird has even laid an infertile egg in its cage. So im standing on that. But it bothers me that my male isnt courting or trying to mount her more. If he is trying to chase her into the nest...she does jump in the nest and than he drives her out. And since he has only mated with her once i dont ses how he could think the has eggs. I only saw him try to mount her once today
Ive heard that a male can get frustrated if the female doesnt respond...she doesnt know how to squat down yet and balance him but shes definately not trying to fight him. Right now he is doing the bowcoo to her. ive noticed males do that to each other to show dominance. Once he did the bowcoo he never tried to mount her...just pecked her off the perch.
Any thoughts?

 

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Day 3..i seperated them but put their cages right next to each other. She stayed as close as she could to him and he did the same. Than she started fluttering her feathers while head down and calling for him. After a couple hours of that i put them both in a big cage that was nuetral territory. As soon as i put them together he mounted her and she did the sqwat with her wings out to support him. They did successfully mate. They were kissing and preening and than the pecking and wing slapping started. I remember you said he is trying to drive her into the nest. So i put a nice nest basket towards the top of the cage. He went in put his head down was fluttering his wings calling for her to join him. And she wasted no time getting in the nest with him...as soon as she did the pistol whipping started again until he pecked her out of the nest. This happened so many times i had to seperate them again. Im wondering why is he driving her out of the nest instead of driving her into.
Really frustrating. She is a real female and sweet...but he needs bird tranquilizers!!

 

[Marina B]

I hope they can sort out their problems! Keep us updated.

 

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I hope they can sort out their problems! Keep us updated.

Good News!
I realized the problem is my male is inexperienced. He wasnt a brute but just didnt understand. He has been alone and only known how to defend his territory. The female on the other hand is experienced. She loves him so much that she has been very patient with him. He is a very well behaved and teachable dove. So i did the following:
Pray
Moved their perch so they could mate
Let them both out for couple hours each day
Took a squirt bottle and lightly sprayed him.. calling his name... when

he started really started pecking her

And he got it! Now they both sit in the nest together cooing!
Ill try to attach a picture

 

[Marina B]

That's great news!