An unexpected guest...has been caught...

[jeffkerle65]

I had a surprise the other day when I went to feed my chooks. A male peacock was in with my laying hens. WOW

I couldn't believe my eyes

He seems to be only a young bird, just starting to colour up. He has no tail feathers.

He hangs around with the hens & serenades them & the rooster chases him away. He doesn't harm them. He stays in the yard over night when the chooks are locked up. I through a couple hands of feed to him of an evening. I think he has made himself at home.


He just roams around free, I don't know there he came from. He's not tame can't catch him or get him into the hen house.
I'm not worried he doesn't hurt anything. It's nice to have him around.
How old are they when they start to grow tail feathers? Don't know much about them.

 

[jeffkerle65]

Over the past week I fed my guest & lured him into the pen & caught him. So I took him in to show the misses.

They are a very powerful bird. He takes a fair bit to hold. I don't think he liked being caught. Since I caught him
he is very weary & keeps his distance. I got to get his confidence in me again. It will take time.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Your peaboy is beautiful!

In my experience, they forget about being manhandled pretty quickly!
If you want him to warm up to you, maybe you can start trying to hand feed him treats? I've found that holding out longish leaves of lettuce is pretty effective starting point if he doesn't want to get too close (thanks to @MinxFox for that long-ago suggestion...).

 

[jeffkerle65]

I am going to keep him if no one claims him. I am going to wait a while & then I'll get him a partner.
Here he is fanning tail.

 

[doudini2]

Nice surprises!! I would love to have peacocks randomly roam my place
I have only one but he started growing feathers pretty soon, like year and half.. I think this could also be a peahen, since the lack of tail...
If he's a male I wonder is he wants to have fun with the chickens...my house peacock fell in love with a toy christmas tree and has been in love with it for 5 years now. So they do have a "drive" for sure. I read some stories here that peacock will go after other birds..
Enjoy...

 

[jeffkerle65]

Yes he parades around the chickens with his tail raised up in a fan. If he gets to close to the chickens the rooster
starts to chase him. He fan up at the cat & the cat didn't know what was going on. It seems like they are playing
a game when you sit quietly & watch them, funny & good to watch.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

He's a pretty boy!

Less than a year old - they don't get a full train until they are 3-ish.

Did you try to find his owners? People get really attached to their peas and someone might be missing him...
If you keep him, you might think about finding him a girlfriend!

 

[jeffkerle65]

Yes, I left a notice at the corner store & at the post office. If no one claims it with in a couple months I will keep it & then get a peahen for him.
Just see what happens.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Good! Well please keep us posted about how he's doing and ask us any questions! And don't forget to post pictures, we love them here in Pea Land...
And of course,

 

[uzisuzuki]

This is how I ended up with a peacock, too! Almost 2 months have gone by and no one has claimed him and he hasn't gone back to wherever he came from. Congrats on surprise peafowl!