What does it mean when a peahen raises her tail?

[amsunshine]

This is our second year with peafowl, and we are loving them! The photo shows our peahen with her three babies. On Day 8, I put a chicken egg in her nest when she was off getting food/water so the chicken chick is "hers" too. This chicken pullet has for the past month spent her nights in the chicken coop with the chickens, and during the day she comes out, finds her mama peahen and siblings, and free-ranges all day before going back in the barn at night.

Our peahen's two peachicks are, I believe, one male and one female. I can see a lot more coloring in the neck on the one, and he's bigger than the other chick. So, the picture shows Mama raising her tail at her male offspring. I wondered why this is? She did the same thing one morning when her chicken chick came walking over after having been in the barn all night.

Thanks for any insight you can give on this behavior.

 

[zazouse]

Beautiful bunch ya got there

Hens fan because they are excited, or trying to intimidate something or jusr cause they can.

This little fella is a just a few days old and is trying to intimidate the big peacock.

Hey look at me.

These are all hens fanning at a rabbit.

 

[amsunshine]

Thanks, you've got a gorgeous bunch there yourself! I wish it were green here in Kansas like it is by you. Granted, it's fall, but it's drier here.

Thanks for the info on the fan display in peahens. That makes sense. I just thought it was a little odd, being new to peafowl, as I had always thought it was the male only who displays!

 

[zazouse]

Thanks, you've got a gorgeous bunch there yourself! I wish it were green here in Kansas like it is by you. Granted, it's fall, but it's drier here.

Thanks for the info on the fan display in peahens. That makes sense. I just thought it was a little odd, being new to peafowl, as I had always thought it was the male only who displays!

I thought the same thing when I first saw my hens fan

 

[AugeredIn]

It means literally, "you want a piece of this."

 

[zazouse]

 

[MinxFox]

It means literally, "you want a piece of this."

Haha so true!

Peahens are tough. Our first poodle we had really wanted to go inside the peafowl pen so we let her in. She was just sniffing around in one area of the pen and my smallest peahen, who was also the lowest ranking bird, sneaks up behind the dog and kicks her! The dog yelped and ever since that day she was afraid of the adult peafowl but you would have to watch her around the peachicks. She wanted to bite my peachick Peep when he was little.

Here is that same peahen that kicked the dog. Unfortunately she was killed by raccoons a few yeas ago. In this photo she was displaying to a peachick.