Peacocks w/chickens

zazouse said:

Blood in the stool can be caused from the intestin sheading it's lining, it can be normal or can be caused by illness also, i see blood once in a while it would be the kind of poop i see it in that would tell me that i have a sick bird.

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Joe A said:

We just learned a very painful lesson.

We got 1 day old chicks on Aug10. Mid -Sept, we acquired two young peacocks. We had just put the chicks into their new 12' x 12' coop with attached 18' x 50' fully enclosed aviary. They assimilated with each other in just a few days and never fought more than small objections, generally when the chicks would startle the peacocks with their sudden, quick, playful movements.

As winter set in here in Flagstaff, AZ (7,000 ft) with temps dropping to teens overnite, the chickens and peacocks were let into the heated coop (2 x 250w red heat lamps) that keep the coop at about 45 deg overnite. Until Xmas Eve, they wre allowed in and out priveleges all day and only cooped at night. But facing single digits or less overnite and highs in only the high teens and low 20's, we copped them to keep the drop door closed and the heat in.

Mid week last week, I told my wife that the male peacock was apparently pulling out his feathers near his tail or lowe back. He had apparently bled a bit as their was a blood spot on his leg. I thought he was removing feathers that hadn't fallen out during his molt about 6 weeks ago. In fact, I tried to catch him yesterday to examine him. But the bird I could easily catch and hold no more than 30 days ago had becaome incredibly more able at flying. His lift off had massive torque power. Not wanting to stress him, I lived to fight another day. But that day would never come.

When we went to care for the chickens and peacocks this AM, we found both peacocks dead. The chickens had ganged up on them and pecked them to death. A Buff Orpinton was, in fact, having breakfast on the female peacock when I opened the coop door.

I knew that chickens would peck each other to death with open wounds. But the peacocks 3x size and the fact that peacocks can fend off many predators in the wild and that they themselves are small mammal predators made it so that the thought of chickens taking them down never even entered my mind.

While the loss of two Indigo Blues is a small financial disaster as they wee a matched breeding pair, they had become a funny and lovely part of the family. When we got them, they were scraggly but not weak. We fed them table scraps and 24% starter feed to turn them around. They became strong and agile. They filled out incredibly well and had developed their neck colors. The male was practicing his fanning for Spring and both had molted already. I have wanted peacocks since I was a child and am very disappointed.

We'll get another set if/when we can affod them. But at the first sign of feather pecking, either by the peacocks themselves or the chickens, we will turn the peacocks out, regardless of weather. While we meant well in providing a secure and warm environment, we killed 'em with kindness (and stupidity).

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Boichik86 said:

In regards to the blackhead disease, I run/house my turkeys with my chickens, they were raised together since birth. 1 year into it, my toms developed the dreaded disease! It happened overnight. they had all of the symptoms, blackened faces, swollen sinus, lethargy, and yellow,runny,bloody droppings. I immediately gave them 1/4 cup garlic powder, 1/4 cup italian herbs 1/4 cup cayenne pepper per 15 lbs of food. It worked immediately. Garlic is a natural dewormer, the italian seasoning consists of rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley, basil, and thyme, which have antioxidants, and cayenne/chili contains capsaicin. Ocellated turkeys eat peppers in central america, I have observed my turkeys eating cloves of garlic, I'm sure peafowl might do the same to rid themselves of harmful parasites. I also use above ingredients as a prophylactic, I just reduce the quantity to 1/4 cup each per 50 lbs of feed. I keep tetracycline general antibiotic on hand, but I only use it as a last resort. Antibiotics can cause more harm than good in the long run. Just MHO.

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NateinFL said:

Keeping them with chickens is risky. I have only had problems when introducing adult peafowl to chickens, when they have never been housed alongside chickens.

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