OK, I wish someone had told me this....but since no one ever has, here's a word to the wise.
We've had peafowl for the past ten years and during that time we've introduced four hens. We have never had a problem introducing them, and they blended fine into the flock after their month in quarantine. However, all our other birds we acquired in November. We have two peacocks. When we lost our last hen in April to some mysterious illness, our remaining hen grieved for her friend. So we frantically searched for a new hen friend for her until we found one. At the time, i was looking for a hen close to her age. We found a 3 year old BS female to be a companion for our 5 year old IB female, Snap. I asked the breeder if the new hen was aggressive towards other birds, if the difference in color would be a problem, and if she would have a problem adjusting. He replied no to all He did caution me to be careful about introducing her during breeding season because he said the peacocks might drive her away. Well, no.....but I will never, ever, get anything but a young hen again...I mean yearling...and here's why:
1) The new hen, Snow, was a total freak when we brought her home. She would not settle down, paced constantly, and I finally had to move her to a more open pen where she could see more, so that she would settle down, which she eventually did. One day, she flew into the side of the pen, and injured her leg, she had a bad limp and could barely stand. This cost us 70.00 in vet bills to find nothing seriously wrong, AND an incredibly stress filled afternoon trying to find a vet to look at her, catching her, driving an hour and a half each way to get there, only to arrive during a power outage, so the vet was unable to take Xrays. We brought her home on Meloxicam and after that she did settle down, and eventually recovered, and she and Snap seemed to bond throught the wire fence, they were always together, so we thought..."Oh, good!" Wrong.
2) We let her out last Sunday. She and Snap ran together for the first few days, then began to wander separately. I noticed that she has become aggressive towards the other birds...even the peacocks; no one can share a feeder with her. Last night she refused to go in the barn, and insisted on sleeping on our driveway near our bedroom window. WE thought it was because someone in the neighborhood was lighting fireworks. At 5:30AM, she began honking. Constantly. I went outside to be with her. She quit honking, but started to wander off into the neighbors fields. I shooed her back, she did let me catch her, and I carried her back to the barn. She acted odd when I brought her back in there and let her go...very tense.
3) this morning, she went to sit with Snap in the sun. Snap immediately got up and left. Later I saw Snow chasing our beta peacock away...!!. And then mating with our alpha peacock. I finally realized that what she is doing is chasing Snap away so that she can mate with the dominant male. I have not seen Snap since she left. I am very worried that she will wander off.
I am beginning to wish I had never gotten Snow.
Lastly, I discovered that she is very weak; much more so than our other birds who have been free ranging since they were young. Snow can barely fly to a low roost; she roosts on the ground and always has for the most part; maybe a low roost. At the breeder's, she only had low roosts, and, of course, a run. This is a very good breeder imo, and it's not really his fault, but here's what I learned from this experience:
1) Never, ever, try to introduce a bird over a year or so old to an existing flock.
2) Never, ever, ever, introduce during breeding season!!
3) For best results, try to stick with the same breed, or at least basically the same color and size (Snow is much bigger than Snap).
4) Be careful about how you introduce a bird that has lived under completely different circumstances.
I am so sad for poor Snap, she and our previous hen were always together....and if she leaves I will seriously want to be done with peafowl.
I am worried that if Snap leaves, our beta peacock Phoenix may leave too...as now he has to deal with an aggressive adversary AND a bullying peahen!
For what it's worth. Thanks for listening.
We've had peafowl for the past ten years and during that time we've introduced four hens. We have never had a problem introducing them, and they blended fine into the flock after their month in quarantine. However, all our other birds we acquired in November. We have two peacocks. When we lost our last hen in April to some mysterious illness, our remaining hen grieved for her friend. So we frantically searched for a new hen friend for her until we found one. At the time, i was looking for a hen close to her age. We found a 3 year old BS female to be a companion for our 5 year old IB female, Snap. I asked the breeder if the new hen was aggressive towards other birds, if the difference in color would be a problem, and if she would have a problem adjusting. He replied no to all He did caution me to be careful about introducing her during breeding season because he said the peacocks might drive her away. Well, no.....but I will never, ever, get anything but a young hen again...I mean yearling...and here's why:
1) The new hen, Snow, was a total freak when we brought her home. She would not settle down, paced constantly, and I finally had to move her to a more open pen where she could see more, so that she would settle down, which she eventually did. One day, she flew into the side of the pen, and injured her leg, she had a bad limp and could barely stand. This cost us 70.00 in vet bills to find nothing seriously wrong, AND an incredibly stress filled afternoon trying to find a vet to look at her, catching her, driving an hour and a half each way to get there, only to arrive during a power outage, so the vet was unable to take Xrays. We brought her home on Meloxicam and after that she did settle down, and eventually recovered, and she and Snap seemed to bond throught the wire fence, they were always together, so we thought..."Oh, good!" Wrong.
2) We let her out last Sunday. She and Snap ran together for the first few days, then began to wander separately. I noticed that she has become aggressive towards the other birds...even the peacocks; no one can share a feeder with her. Last night she refused to go in the barn, and insisted on sleeping on our driveway near our bedroom window. WE thought it was because someone in the neighborhood was lighting fireworks. At 5:30AM, she began honking. Constantly. I went outside to be with her. She quit honking, but started to wander off into the neighbors fields. I shooed her back, she did let me catch her, and I carried her back to the barn. She acted odd when I brought her back in there and let her go...very tense.
3) this morning, she went to sit with Snap in the sun. Snap immediately got up and left. Later I saw Snow chasing our beta peacock away...!!. And then mating with our alpha peacock. I finally realized that what she is doing is chasing Snap away so that she can mate with the dominant male. I have not seen Snap since she left. I am very worried that she will wander off.
I am beginning to wish I had never gotten Snow.
Lastly, I discovered that she is very weak; much more so than our other birds who have been free ranging since they were young. Snow can barely fly to a low roost; she roosts on the ground and always has for the most part; maybe a low roost. At the breeder's, she only had low roosts, and, of course, a run. This is a very good breeder imo, and it's not really his fault, but here's what I learned from this experience:
1) Never, ever, try to introduce a bird over a year or so old to an existing flock.
2) Never, ever, ever, introduce during breeding season!!
3) For best results, try to stick with the same breed, or at least basically the same color and size (Snow is much bigger than Snap).
4) Be careful about how you introduce a bird that has lived under completely different circumstances.
I am so sad for poor Snap, she and our previous hen were always together....and if she leaves I will seriously want to be done with peafowl.
I am worried that if Snap leaves, our beta peacock Phoenix may leave too...as now he has to deal with an aggressive adversary AND a bullying peahen!
For what it's worth.
Thanks for listening.
