Getting free-range peacock off the porch

A peacock adopted us this fall. We have 7 to 10 free range chickens, so he is just one more bird on the hobby-farm. The dogs have gotten adjusted to it, just as they adjusted to the chickens.

Several years ago, we had trouble with the chickens settling in on our porch to get out of the heat. We solved this by creating a little shaded mud bath that gets wet during the hot afternoons. They love hanging out there.

Any suggestions for getting the peacock off the porch by providing a 'landscape feature' he would find more attractive than the porch?

I can't help you on that one but I would just like to encourage you to read up on housing chickens with peafowl. Peafowl like turkeys can get blackhead from chickens.

Good Luck finding a solution to this situation. Have you thought of getting it a friend like another peafowl ???

Quote:
Build him a giant bird house- one with no walls but some semblance of a roof - it should have a few wide floor planks that he can stand and rest on and it will ideally be of sufficient height that he can take advantage of the sun as well as the air currents for most of the day. Having a bit of roof enables the bird to take cover from the sun when need be and still have access to wind currents. Peafowl have a high requirement for Vitamin D and consequently they sunbath and rest on elevated places a great deal of the day. They also like your company as they're so nosy and he's probably developed a relationship with the bird he sees reflected in the windows as well.

well first make sure you NEVER feed him on the porch.
and second, when he is up there you have to make him think it is an unsafe place to be.... so that he dosnt come back.
If you are outside, turn the hose on him.
If you are inside, throw something big and noisy.
If you make him think that the sky will fall if he is on the porch.... he wont get back on the porch.

>If you make him think that the sky will fall if he is on the porch..

I read this to my DW. She replied, "I don't want him to leave forever!"

>Build him a giant bird house..

OK. 4 feet by 4 feet? Up in a tree? How do we get Mr. Peacock to move in?

Thanks!

Mark

lol leaving the porch forever is a good thing. I got tired of cleaning the pooh off the porch. When my birds get on mine I let the dogs out. As soon as the peacocks see the dogs they jump off and find a new place to hang out. Basically you just need to make them uncomfortable when in places you don't want them to be. Understanding their behavior is important ... you have to imprint his little brain the first time he is on the porch with one or two big scary events (the sky is falling) hes less likely to come back to the porch.

occasionally my free range boys go to the neighbors. They like seeing the birds, but didn't like them on their new patio. I gave them the same advice.... make the patio a scary place anytime they are there. So, that's what they did... they squirt the bird with the hose... two times, and the birds never did it again. They walk around the yard still, but avoid the patio.

I think building him a tree house sounds great, but a waste of time, he'd never use it. They are wild animals and do what they please. I have a large 2 story childs playhouse with a cute little deck upstairs... I converted the lower part into a chicken coop after we moved here. I thought the peacocks would love the upstairs.... its under a tree.... they NEVER use it... not even in bad weather.

Our friendly peacock disappeared a week or two ago. Before he disappeared, he seemed to start roaming more. We had heard reports from neighbors seeing him a half a mile up the river, in the direction of his original home.

If we were to raise a peacock ourselves (free range, of course), would he be more likely to stay? Do you need a female to keep him at home?

Thanks,

Mark

I raised up 2 batches from hatch and turned them loose when they turned 4 months they have dissapered 1 time for an all nighter and were back in the morning, i figured out they were just in a tree in my own woods but i had not looked in that area because i was getting dark.
my peas have been loose a total of 17 months , i don't know if things change when they get older like 4 and 5 when they are fully mature but i guess i will find out.
Mine are pretty spoiled, i go and find them threwout the day with treats in hand they are the only birds here i feel i have to keep and eye on cause they tend to run after critters, specily cats and wild water fowl type birds that hang around catching crawfish after the rains, they can easly cover a hafe a mile in pursut of another critter, found that out at a young age.

Half a mile in pursuit of a critter? Is this to catch it or just scare it off?

Just harassing them.
with cats if they walk away and peas follow, if the cat stays there a bit they surround it till it moves off then they follow it again, this will go on till it runs off and they can't find it, then they turn around and come back home, same with the birds , they chase squirrels till they run up in as tree, there just Territorial and curious at the same time.
They don't mess with the cats that live here , they even eat with them when i put the cats food out.