My mated male is being nasty to the new addition, will he stop?!

[Steph lovemybirds]

Help I have had one pair of pigeons that mated right away and are inseparable. Sammie my male is molting right now as is Stella his "girlfriend" . I introduced Woodstock ( my second female) and thought they were doing fine but the last two days Sammie is pecking at Woodstock and seems aggressive. He's not letting her in by the food and "grunts" at her. She's very small and I'm wondering if that's why he's picking at her. Any advice is great thanks!

 

[Qwerty3159]

Do they have a nest?
I have one cockbird that is really agressive to everything but his hen and he guards their nest very fiercely. Some can easily breed in close proximity to others and get along but not all.
Perhaps feed the third bird separate? I have one bird that can't eat with the flock because the same cockbird I mentioned absolutely hates it and will ignore all the other birds eating to attack him when he comes down to join in. I feed that poor bird in his own area with his own little bowl and he knows now to jump up and wait in his spot every time.

 

[Steph lovemybirds]

Hello, no they dont have a nest right now. And I changed all the bedding materials and there's plenty of food and water. I find it odd because he was smitten with her when I had them in separate cages for the first couple weeks to make sure she's healthy. Even the first few days they were together was fine. Things why I was wondering if it had anything to do with him molting. I decided to take her back out to the other cage because she is skinny and I don't want her missing meals

 

[cavemanrich]

You may have a similar situation as Qwerty has with one of his males.
There is also a second possibility,,,,, and that may be.... NEWCOMER is a male, and your dominant male wants NO COMPETITION around.
I would definitely separate the loft living quarters, so ALL are in same loft, but separated by some screen/chicken wire. I also suggest you feed extra to the skinny newcomer.
Post some pix, of your loft setup. Your loft/cage may be insufficient in size. Many problems arise from birds being kept in too small of a living space.
Same applies to peeps keeping too many chickens in insufficient size coops, and runs. Overcrowding always causes problems.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and

 

[Qwerty3159]

I should add that I recently added a large aviary onto my loft and I haven't had any more issues. They squabble a bit now and then but there is plenty of room for a victim to escape an aggressor in the new living situation. I think the issue when they were just living in the loft without the big aviary was that the dominant cockbird had essentially claimed the entire thing as his own.
I should also add that the bird being bullied was also another cockbird, so as caveman said you might have two males that just won't get along in smaller living quarters.

 

[cavemanrich]

and you reassure the point, that density is a major factor. Regardless if it is referring to pigeons, chickens, other animals, as well as people.

 

[Steph lovemybirds]

I was wondering the samething, about her being a he lol, which is possible. I moved Woodstock to the other coop and everyone is back to normal. I worry she'll get lonely since pigeons are group animals. I will try to take and post pictures tomorrow. Thanks for the advice keep i coming!