Peahen showed up in our yard - now what?

[KprsMom]

About two weeks ago a peahen showed up in our yard and has been there ever since. My guess is that the sound of our chickens drew her in.

For those experience peafowl owners out there, I have a few questions: Is feeding her the same thing that I feed my chickens appropriate? Do your peafowl interact with your chickens and if so, are they friendly together? What diseases should I be concerned with being given to my chickens, or from them to her?

Whenever I let my chickens out to run, she'll come out of the woods to visit but is afraid to get too close to them. It's almost like she's the outsider, trying desperately to be liked by the "cool kids". She always comes across as the more docile of the birds and has shown no aggression towards them at all. Interestingly enough though, last night a red tailed hawk was circling our yard looking for its dinner. It spied a squirrel and went in for the kill - only to be chased off by the peahen, who then promptly retreated to the safety of the woods behind our yard. Is this normal behavior for a peafowl? Not that I'm complaining - I like thinking that she'll protect my chickens to.

Thanks in advance for any peahen behavior/health/eating habits you can share!

 

[Birdrain92]

About two weeks ago a peahen showed up in our yard and has been there ever since. My guess is that the sound of our chickens drew her in.

For those experience peafowl owners out there, I have a few questions: Is feeding her the same thing that I feed my chickens appropriate? Do your peafowl interact with your chickens and if so, are they friendly together? What diseases should I be concerned with being given to my chickens, or from them to her?

Whenever I let my chickens out to run, she'll come out of the woods to visit but is afraid to get too close to them. It's almost like she's the outsider, trying desperately to be liked by the "cool kids". She always comes across as the more docile of the birds and has shown no aggression towards them at all. Interestingly enough though, last night a red tailed hawk was circling our yard looking for its dinner. It spied a squirrel and went in for the kill - only to be chased off by the peahen, who then promptly retreated to the safety of the woods behind our yard. Is this normal behavior for a peafowl? Not that I'm complaining - I like thinking that she'll protect my chickens to.

Thanks in advance for any peahen behavior/health/eating habits you can share!

If she's free range she will try to find feed to satisfy her nutritional needs. If you have dogs or cats expect her to be in their food. Peafowl need about 20% protein in my opinion. Peafowl and chickens can get a long together so long as there's room. Peafowl tend to try and take alpha position though. It would be wise to get a peacock if you want her to stick around. Peafowl are social creatures, they prefer to be in a group, especially when breeding season comes to an end. Peafowl can be very protective of their flock. I've seen males that will defend other birds in the flock from foxes and coyotes.

Chickens are more hardy than peafowl so the risk of pathogens crossing would be chicken to peafowl usually. The most common is Histomoniasis, also known as Blackhead. Blackhead is caused by a protozoa that is transfered through parasites, usually cecal worms. Most worms will transfer through earthworms. Whatever eats the earthworms gets the parasite, and then it keeps going up the food chain. There are different ways to worm your flock. You can put Safeguard, 10% fendbendazole, at a dosage of 1 cc per 4 lbs for 5 days, skip 10 days, and then treat for another 5 days; directly in the mouth or on a treat they will devour quickly. Fendbendazole has a very low toxicity so don't worry too much on overdosing, worry more on under dosing. An adult peahen weighs about 8-10 lbs. Don't put Safeguard in the water, it's not water soluble. A wormer that is water soluble is Valbazen, I haven't done any experimenting with it personally but others here have told me 7 cc per gallon of water. If you prefer organic wormers you can use garlic or onions. Garlic and onions contain sulfur, parasites and other microorganisms can't handle sulfur. Usually peafowl know how much they need and will stop eating it if they no longer need it. One thing with garlic and onions is because of the sulfur, the microorganisms inside the cecum can be damaged if they eat too much garlic or onions. Usually you never have to worry about it though. If the microorganisms in the cecum are damaged too much it makes absorbing nutrients from plants more difficult.

 

[EyeKeyYou]

If she's free range she will try to find feed to satisfy her nutritional needs. If you have dogs or cats expect her to be in their food. Peafowl need about 20% protein in my opinion. Peafowl and chickens can get a long together so long as there's room. Peafowl tend to try and take alpha position though. It would be wise to get a peacock if you want her to stick around. Peafowl are social creatures, they prefer to be in a group, especially when breeding season comes to an end. Peafowl can be very protective of their flock. I've seen males that will defend other birds in the flock from foxes and coyotes.

Chickens are more hardy than peafowl so the risk of pathogens crossing would be chicken to peafowl usually. The most common is Histomoniasis, also known as Blackhead. Blackhead is caused by a protozoa that is transfered through parasites, usually cecal worms. Most worms will transfer through earthworms. Whatever eats the earthworms gets the parasite, and then it keeps going up the food chain. There are different ways to worm your flock. You can put Safeguard, 10% fendbendazole, at a dosage of 1 cc per 4 lbs for 5 days, skip 10 days, and then treat for another 5 days; directly in the mouth or on a treat they will devour quickly. Fendbendazole has a very low toxicity so don't worry too much on overdosing, worry more on under dosing. An adult peahen weighs about 8-10 lbs. Don't put Safeguard in the water, it's not water soluble. A wormer that is water soluble is Valbazen, I haven't done any experimenting with it personally but others here have told me 7 cc per gallon of water. If you prefer organic wormers you can use garlic or onions. Garlic and onions contain sulfur, parasites and other microorganisms can't handle sulfur. Usually peafowl know how much they need and will stop eating it if they no longer need it. One thing with garlic and onions is because of the sulfur, the microorganisms inside the cecum can be damaged if they eat too much garlic or onions. Usually you never have to worry about it though. If the microorganisms in the cecum are damaged too much it makes absorbing nutrients from plants more difficult.

Great post but I think you mean Prohibit (Levimiasole ) being water soluble my Valbazen isn't though its over a year old and I don't know if there is one now. I've heard there is water soluble Safeguard though I have never seen it.

 

[KprsMom]

How much garlic/onion should be added per gallon of water?

 

[Birdrain92]

Great post but I think you mean Prohibit (Levimiasole ) being water soluble my Valbazen isn't though its over a year old and I don't know if there is one now. I've heard there is water soluble Safeguard though I have never seen it.

I've never seen Prohibit before. I think it's a new Poultry Safeguard that was just approved but you have to buy them by the gallons I believe. The other one someone told me was but, never tried was the cattle powder one at 0.5% Fendbendazole.

How much garlic/onion should be added per gallon of water?

Garlic or onion you don't put in the water. Garlic and onion you just put out for them to eat. Birds know what they need to help themselves so long as they have access to it.

 

[EyeKeyYou]

I've never seen Prohibit before. I think it's a new Poultry Safeguard that was just approved but you have to buy them by the gallons I believe. The other one someone told me was but, never tried was the cattle powder one at 0.5% Fendbendazole.

Garlic or onion you don't put in the water. Garlic and onion you just put out for them to eat. Birds know what they need to help themselves so long as they have access to it.

Sorry Prohibit is just the common 52g packet of Levamisole by AgriLabs its what my feed store calls it. You say Levamisole and they don't know what you're talking about.

 

[KprsMom]

Well, she's still around and has gotten much braver with us and our resident flock. This weekend she even dared to share the handful of dried meal worms that I tossed out to them. I appreciate the feedback given by all!