Peafowl 101: Basic care, genetics, and answers.

[nickel chick]

Thanks for your help. I really don't think at this point I can handle another so for now it's the pen for him . His pen now is 6x10 which when I bought him his pen was so small and he shared it with5 other large males. S o I felt I was giving him the pent house he has been here a week, and maybe I am hoping for to much to soon if ever I will just have to enjoy him penned. Seems an unfair life I really thought I was giving him a better life than the sad one he had. I have always wanted a pea but as much as I love having himI can't help but feel sad for him. I will let him get used to his pen and enlarge it when he feels a lot safer. I was giving the chickens peanuts in the shell for treats and I toss some into him and he looked like I was throwing a live bomb at him. low and slow in the future we will learn together he and I. My daughter and her friend named him Picasso does him proud I think. thanks again.

 

[Kedreeva]

Thanks for your help. I really don't think at this point I can handle another so for now it's the pen for him . His pen now is 6x10 which when I bought him his pen was so small and he shared it with5 other large males. S o I felt I was giving him the pent house he has been here a week, and maybe I am hoping for to much to soon if ever I will just have to enjoy him penned. Seems an unfair life I really thought I was giving him a better life than the sad one he had. I have always wanted a pea but as much as I love having himI can't help but feel sad for him. I will let him get used to his pen and enlarge it when he feels a lot safer. I was giving the chickens peanuts in the shell for treats and I toss some into him and he looked like I was throwing a live bomb at him. low and slow in the future we will learn together he and I. My daughter and her friend named him Picasso does him proud I think. thanks again.

The usual standard for pen size for peas is 100 square feet per bird (or 10x10 feet), and that's with no other birds in with them. So, he may still be feeling a little trapped by a smaller pen, as well as nervous about the change in location and people/birds around him.

For treats, my peas really like kale, bananas, watermelon, spaghetti, unseasoned cooked ground beef, plain unflavored greek yogurt (just a little once in a while), and dry cat food. The dry cat food is also a good source of extra protein for them, since they use so much of it to grow in their feathers.

 

[kristin07035]

My peahen is 9 months old & lives in a run/coop with my chickens. The coop is a converted shed with multiple levels of roosts. All my chickens sleep on a roost but my peahen prefers to sleep on the floor...i put her on a roost but she hops down....no one is bullying her...why is she doing this? Is it ok to just let her sleep on the coop floor or should i keep trying to put her up on a roost?

 

[Kedreeva]

My peahen is 9 months old & lives in a run/coop with my chickens. The coop is a converted shed with multiple levels of roosts. All my chickens sleep on a roost but my peahen prefers to sleep on the floor...i put her on a roost but she hops down....no one is bullying her...why is she doing this? Is it ok to just let her sleep on the coop floor or should i keep trying to put her up on a roost?

You should make a new post for this question since more people are likely to see it that way. No one checks this thread.

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Some birds who never learned to roost up when they are young will not roost with the others when they are big and will keep sleeping on the floor.

 

[kristin07035]

She use to roost...this behavior started about a month ago...

Some birds who never learned to roost up when they are young will not roost with the others when they are big and will keep sleeping on the floor.

 

[sasglm]

we had a male that would roost up in a 6ft high coop or sleep on a board 6ft off the ground also, but after 4 months we let him out and he would roost on the ground, after 4-5 night of this a coyote got him and now he's 'sleeping with the fishes'.
Roosting off the ground is good for their survival.

 

[kristin07035]

we had a male that would roost up in a 6ft high coop or sleep on a board 6ft off the ground also, but after 4 months we let him out and he would roost on the ground, after 4-5 night of this a coyote got him and now he's 'sleeping with the fishes'.
Roosting off the ground is good for their survival.

Sorry to hear they all get locked up in the coop overnight so there's no worries about predator attacks

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

She use to roost...this behavior started about a month ago...

Then she could be sick, is she acting fine? How her poo look like?

 

[kristin07035]

Then she could be sick, is she acting fine? How her poo look like?

wormed them all in march...eating, drinking, acting, pooping... all 100% normal