u/Dazzling-Response427

This is a long one, so just read the questions at the end if you don’t feel like reading my essay.

So I have 2 pigeons, one male and one female. The female is very quiet and docile, and I’ve had her since January. She bonded with me first. I had to start work in February, so I thought it’d be best to get her a friend. I got him a month after her, he’s quite a bit younger but both juveniles. Everything was fine, but he has progressively gotten extremely loud and aggressive towards her. She seemed to kind of be bonded to him but would refuse to mate with him when he tried.

He has been chasing her around, cooing, and backing her into corners. She’s become a bit reserved from humans, and I think him not reciprocating is why he’s being so aggressive towards everyone. He will follow me and my household members around just to attack them. People could not even stand outside my bedroom without him freaking out.

On top of that, he coos all day and all night at her to mate and she as I said refuses. For the last 2 months I have not gotten an hour of straight sleep and it’s taking a serious toll on my mental health. I have also just found out that I’m moving into an apartment and the cooing would be a serious problem.

I feel truly awful about this, I love him so much and I’ve gone back and forth thinking I could do it but I just can’t. I think the best for me and the birds is surrendering him back to the breeder. She took him back, but now I’m getting a bit worried about her. Since I dropped him off she has been sitting on top of the cage looking into it.

I guess my question is, how to pigeons react to situations like this? Can they become depressed? How long will it take for her to get used to this? Any advice is appreciated.

*I will also be around almost all day besides for work so I’m not worried about her being lonely. She is out of the cage 24/7 and I am home besides 6 hours of the day.