Advice on Free Range Peafowl

[LittleRedShed]

Hello everyone -
We recently purchased a one-year-old Peacock. He is currently being housed in our chicken run with our other chickens. We plan on free ranging them in about eight weeks once everyone is familiar with where they're supposed to sleep at night. Will it be likely for him to meander over to our neighbors property? We are on 5 acres and we have mature pine trees and a creek right behind the coop. I'm hoping he won't go to a neighbors house but I'm not sure how far and how brave he will be? I'm looking to get some insight into this issue.

 

[zazouse]

So Oscar is really finding his wings. Should we clip them? He almost flew onto the road.

Sweetie if Oscar can fly to the road he can also walk to the road or run, mine can run about 8 miles per hour, clocked them running beside me on my 4-wheeler, i am sure they can run faster but after 8 MPH they took off flying to get ahead of me

Never ever clip their wings they can still jump a fence but can't get away from wild things and dogs.

Now i am gonna tell ya, being as that road is close enough to see you can bet your britches he will get in it before you can catch him and turn him back, first time some road kill attracts a buzzard or someone has a flat and is on the side of the road in his view he is gonna be his nosy self and go see what is going on. this is just how free rangers are, you put them in a pen and they are scared of everything but they get use to being free and they are just the opposite, very nosy and territorial birds and there territory is as far as they can see, my place is completely surround buy creeks thick undergrowth and forest , they can not see the outside world and that is why i can free range and not worry about a road with traffic or neighbors, my only neighbor is my daughter and they are not allowed there but sometimes they still try when she is making some kinda noise over there out of the ordinary.

I would hate to hear you lost Oscar to a auto or he causes and accident.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Your boy will definitely go to the neighbor's house and beyond...if you dig around here on the pea forum, you'll find that our wonderful member and pealady Zazouse has 100 acres and she still needs to keep a close eye on her peas and make sure they don't go astray.

It may be that free ranging won't work for you. Are your neighbors friendly? Are you near any busy roads? Do you have a lot of predators?

Also, you say "once everyone is familiar with where they're supposed to sleep at night." Does this mean you think he will come back to the coop to sleep at night? Because it's likely he'll sleep wherever he feels like sleeping. Pine trees are a big favorite here, but if he likes your neighbor's trees better he might sleep there instead...

 

[MinxFox]

I have limited experience with free-ranging, but when I free-ranged my first birds it didn't end well because one day they decided to cross the busy road and run away. I got the hen back but not the peacock. They would roost in a large oak tree at the very edge of our property and sometimes when they flew down in the morning they would fly down onto the neighbors side. They are silly birds and don't realize they can fly over the fence, or maybe they didn't want to, so they would spend the day at the neighbors. The neighbor loved them but I always panicked when I couldn't find them in the yard.

On the other hand, I have seen a free-range situation where tons of peafowl are confined to about a 1 acre sized backyard that is fenced in. The reason why they stayed in the backyard the owner says is because if they leave the safety of the backyard the coyotes in the surrounding woods will get them. Everyone has different results with free-ranging, but overall peafowl are very curious and will wander off. One lady who I got a few peafowl from said sometimes hers will be gone for days over at a neighbors eating up the pecans that got chopped up after he mowed his lawn. I personally would worry too much if I had birds loose that made it a habit of visiting a neighbor a few houses down for a few days.

It can't hurt to just see what he does. If it doesn't work out you can just pen him. Some people can get their peas to go into a pen at night. I read once about someone having a peacock that would wait for all the chickens to enter the coop before he entered it for the night. It was like he was watching over them making sure all of them got in safely.

 

[DylansMom]

I'm going to have to agree here, there is just about NO chance that you do not have any predators around. You may not see them because most are nocturnal, but they are there. A raccoon will happily kill a full grown peacock and can tear thru chicken wire in minutes(if that long). We are working on rebuilding our outside runs and I have decided to use 1 x 1.5 welded 12.5 gauge galvanized pvc coated wire, overkill for peas but I wanted the strength and durability, as I don't intend to redo these again.

 

[zazouse]

Ya know i can set up all 3 of my cams in different areas and almost always catch something, wanna know for sure what you got in the area put out a bucket of dog food way away from your run and wait and see what come for dinner you will be real suprised what shows up in no time, just cause you ain't seeing them on the cam don't mean they ain't there it just means they haven't come that way yet, i have game trails all over my place to keep an eye on whats around and if they are new or not and my Peas see all kinds of wild things and what do they do??? run after the trespassers like fools fanning like they are big and bad then all off a sudden they take off flying and calling all the way back to the barn cause one of them got spooked, or they will follow the trespasser to the ends of the earth or outa site which ever come first so you got to keep an eye on them.

 

[zazouse]

It has been recommend here to keep them penned 2 to 3 months .

I don't think he will want to be a chicken he may come back to them but to check in but he will take off by himeself and explore Peas are different from chickens and guineas , they forage most of thew days where peas forage a little and explore alot so their activitie time is different.
, I raised all my peas with other hatchlings and they are still just peas, where a guinea might hang with chickens till breeding age and even try to hang with the peas, peas don't care Guineas panic when they get outta sight.

Also had guineas bond with the geese they were brooded with and when the goslings found the pond the guineas tried to go with them, poor babies, in the end the guineas left the geese and became part of the big guinea flock.

 

[JoeCole]

Little Red Shed.

My sister lives in New Port Richey Florida and in her neighborhood there lives 6 peafowls who have been in the same area for the past 10 years; the peas make their daily rounds to anyone who will feed them. No one knows if they even belong to someone.

I live in the Florida Panhandle and my peas are quite happy free roaming and at night roost in a large pecan tree; so far they haven't run away, but they did wander away only to return before dusk.

My adult peacock roost in the tree right across from the kitchen window and will holler at me every time I walk by the window; I'm not sure why he does that, but I talk back to him and he'll holler back a few more time. What a goof ball he is.

They do have personality, good luck with yours.

 

[DylansMom]

Wow! Your place is amazing! He shakes his feathers at my chickens. Will they keep him close? I always wanted a peacock. But I do to want to ruin relations with neighbors. They're all nice people but I don't want Oscar leaving our property. I'll do what it takes (within reason) to keep him in our property.

Thanks, but my barn is more amazing than the rest of the place, we have only 5 acres. When we moved here there were about 30 empty acres behind us and on the weekends we saw more horse traffic on our road than car traffic, now there are 2 houses behind us and we haven't seen a horse for probably 3 years. That's progress for ya...... sigh! Your best bet would be to just take it one day at a time and keep a close eye on him. The chickens will keep him interested for awhile at least, he will probably even try mating with them eventually. I have heard of people who have had a lone male with their other poultry for years and he seemed content and stayed put, unfortunately more often I hear of ones who are just up & gone one day. No sign of foul play so the assumption is they left to look for a mate. He will be very loud and vocal during the breeding season and my boys yell all night long this time of year, how close are your neighbors and how do they feel about noise?

 

[msmolly]

I highly recommend putting a band on his leg- ASAP. I bought brass plates from a saddlery store- the kind you put on your saddle or halter. I had them print my Tel# in the biggest font possible (assuming it will be read with binoculars), filed the edges nice and smooth, bent it into a circle (hammered it around a dowel) and put it around the birds leg (a whole nother story). There is a thread here somewhere I wrote last year -complete with pictures. Also -train him to a call and special treats-ie, dried meal worms or hard boiled egg yolks. Call and treat multiple times for several days, then consistently every evening before dusk. You want him in the habit of coming home before dusk to roost. Make sure you have a great roosting spot for him. If you don't have tall trees, or high roof- install a pergola or build a nice high ,secure roost, where he can have a view of his domain. If you dint have a good place for him to roost- nice and high- he will go hind the neighbors who do.

And,... there is a lot of talk tonight about mirrors, but I have a different view (tee hee, get it?). My peacock is the only male bird on my property, no roosters, just 1 peahen and lots of chicken hens.
He's extremely docile and friendly. No other males to compete with. He takes very good care of all the hens, pea and chicken alike. He used to take off , disappear periodically, and each time I found him, he was admiring himself in some ones window, or glass storm door. I started banding him for one, and..... bought a large plexi-glass (unbreakable) mirror- from an auto supply store. Got them to cut me a rectangle and even drill holes for hanging. Been 2 years now, and he hasn't left once. Probably doesn't want the bird in the mirror -moving in on his chicks!

So, 1) BAND
2) Good Roost/Perch
3) Train-Treats w/Call
4) Plexi Mirror
5) Break down and get a Peahen
Good Luck