Peafowl 101: Basic Care, Genetics, and Answers

Common terms and their meanings:
Peafowl- generic term for the species, without gender. Can be plural or singular.
Peacock- Male peafowl
Peahen- Female peafowl
Peachick- Young peafowl
Train- The group of long feathers peacocks show off during courting displays. These are not actually tail feathers. They are the coverts above the tail, greatly elongated.
Muster/Ostentation- Term for a group of peafowl
Bevy- Term for a family of peafowl

General Information - The stuff I don't have a better category for!
Peafowl have an average lifespan of 15-20 years. The Indian peafowl originated in the Indian subcontinent while the Green peafowl are native to Asian countries from Burma to Java and prefer warmer climates. Peafowl are very loud creatures for several months of the year. Average adult live weight is 8-15lbs.

A BYC thread on how to clean feathers for sale.


Sex:
The sex of your peafowl can be determined in several ways. Obviously adult males (2+ years old) will grow that long, distinctive train of feathers. Adult females will be drab in comparison and will not sport the display train.

Young peafowl can typically be sexed at around 9-12 weeks by their plumage, except a few. Whites, for example, will all have the exact same plumage until the males begin to grow their trains. In other colors, you will see barring on the shoulder/saddle feathers (excepting solid wing birds) and the males will grow distinctive burnt-orange primaries.

If you want to determine the sex of a peafowl for sure, DNA sexing can be done by a vet (and many online services offer it for much cheaper). Of course this can be done at any age if you want to be sure and are not certain about the feather patterns. Unlike chickens, peafowl cannot be vent sexed because their organs are too far inside the body.

On very rare occasions, one might encounter a 'unisex' peafowl.


Vocalizations:
If you would like to hear what peafowl sound like, here are a few links to videos.
Male calling
Honking
Female chattering
Common chick noises
Baby calling

If you are considering getting peafowl, bear in mind that they are VERY loud birds- the male's call can be heard up to 3 miles away, and they will call all summer.

There are a few basic sounds you will hear your peafowl make, starting from the minute they hatch until they are full grown.

As chicks they will make noise -constantly-. Mostly they make a high-pitched "pi-wheep" noise, punctuated with plenty of screaming. If you leave them alone, they will make their 'lost' noise, a "WHIIIIII WHIIIII WHIIIII" cry that only gets louder in volume the longer you are gone. When they are upset as a chick, they will scream.

As juveniles, their voices get a little deeper. Their pi-wheep deepens and will eventually fade. Mine make a low "Heww" noise of concern and interest instead. When they are upset or do not like something (like you picking them up, for instance), they make a fast series of "pik pik pik pik" noises. Mine will also sometimes hiss at me instead if they are not particularly upset.

As yearlings, they will lose the pi-wheep noise and begin making, for lack of a better term, a honking noise (like the one in the second video). They may also make the low, concerned "heww" noise, and continue to use the "pik pik pik" when they are upset. Yearlings may also start to make more 'adult' calls (somewhere between the noise in the first video and the second).

By maturity, the boys will begin to make their loud wailing call (which sounds remarkably like a woman screaming "help me" so make sure your neighbors know you have peafowl and what their call sounds like so the cops don't show up!). They will continue with the same upset noise and do some honking.


Basic Genetics:

There are two ways to describe how your peafowl looks- Color and Pattern. These are two very different descriptions. The best way to describe the difference is that pattern is the way the color is displayed and distributed. Several patterns can be present in a bird, but only one color (the exception possibly being Peach, which is believed to be an interaction of 2 colors). There are only 2 species of domestic peafowl: The Indian (blue) peafowl (Pavo Cristatus) and the green peafowl (Pavo Muticus).

For anyone interested, their ranking in the animal kingdom would be: Animalia Chordata Aves Galliformes Phasianidae Pavo (and then either Cristatus or Muticus). They belong to the same family as pheasants, turkeys, grouse, and partridge.

For more detailed information about genetics and colors/patterns, click here.

Colors:
Blue, Cameo, White, Charcoal, Purple, Bronze, Peach, Opal, Midnight, Jade, Taupe, Sonjas Violeta, EU violet, Montana, Hazel/Indigo, Platinum, Ivory, Steel, Mocha
The above are or are color mutations of the Indian peafowl.
Green colored peafowl belong to the muticus species (see below), or are hybrids between muticus and the India blues.

Patterns:
Patterns apply only to peafowl descended from the India blue. Patterns can apply to some spaldings (ie, emerald pied spalding) despite their Green blood because they also have India blue blood.

Barred wing- Wings are brown/tan and black 'striped'.
Solid wing (also known as Black Shoulder and abbreviated as BS)- Alters the stripes on the wing to be solid black (in a wild type). In color morphs, the wing color is a solid color that matches the solid color feathers between their rusted primaries and their usually-barred secondaries.
Brown Wing - Dilutes the black stripes on a barred wing, turning it brown.
Pied- White patches on body (result of leucism genes).
White eye- The black eye of the tail feathers will be white (or have white spots). Some birds can be white-eye without displaying white eyes.
Silver pied- Body looks white with patches of color. Resulted as an interaction between pied, white, and white-eye genes.

All of these find their doubles in being crossed with greens to create spalding birds in other words, impure muticus birds also called hybrids (although these hybrids are unlike most hybrids, and are fertile). The term 'emerald' refers to a spalding that has 75%+ green blood from any muticus subspecies.
Please note: The term 'emerald' is no longer used by the UPA, as it was basically being misused by sellers. Sellers were using the term 'emerald' to refer to birds with a large portion of green displayed in their phenotype, but by genotype the birds were less than 75% green blooded. Beware when purchasing from sellers using the term 'emerald' without stating the blood percentage, as some may be truthful and some may not. As well, you cannot always blame the seller, as they may simply be misinformed as opposed to maliciously deceptive.

The greens are the second species of peafowl. There are three sub-species:
Muticus Muticus (Java)
Muticus Imperator (Indo-Chinese)
Muticus Specifier (Burmese)

So far no mutations in color or pattern have shown up in the green species.

Please note: There is one more species of peafowl, called the Congo Peafowl but these are endangered and are not commercially available, nor is much known about them at this time.
Please note: There is a bird called the 'peacock pheasant' but they are pheasants, not peafowl.

UPA approved Varieties of Peafowl
UPA article about family Phasianidae

Where to obtain peafowl:
Of course there are many sources through which to obtain your pea, anything from hatching your own to buying adult birds. Which is best? Well, that depends entirely upon what you are looking for in your bird.

Before buying you must always consider your own situation and ability to handle peafowl first. It may turn out after some research that you just don't have the ability to meet their needs and perhaps a different bird would suit you. It may also be that you find you have a lot more work ahead of you than you thought.

Eggs:
Buying hatching eggs is always risky business. First you have to locate a reliable breeder with eggs for sale. Second, the eggs can be expensive ($5-10+ each for wild type blues, and I've seen colors going for $30-50+ each) and they will most likely be subjected to the rigors of shipping and will definitely have to survive your incubator afterwards and anyone who has incubated an egg in the past will tell you that sometimes, even if you do EVERYTHING right, your hatch still goes poorly. Following the hatch, you have a very fragile life in your hands that will require a lot of time to care for. You also have to have some idea of how peafowl genetics work, because not all colors/patterns breed true (ie, pure India blue x India blue will create 100% India blue, but silver pied x silver pied will produce silver pied, white, and dark pied). You will also not be able to tell the sex of any chicks (except some sex-linked colors depending on parentage) except by blood sexing.

On the bright side of buying eggs, you have an excellent opportunity to craft an incredibly friendly bird. If you are looking for just a pet and you are not particularly attached to a color or pattern, the eggs can be relatively cheap to find (some people on eBay sell mixed pen eggs for around $5 an egg). When the chick hatches, you have the opportunity to imprint the chick to you. This is NOT advisable unless you have a LOT of time to devote to that chick, they do much better in groups. Additionally, many folks have found that imprinting/hand taming males can make them extra aggressive upon maturity. Peafowl are large, powerful birds as adults that can do serious harm if they become aggressive.

Incubation: Peafowl eggs have an average incubation time of 28-30 days (though many report hatches at 25-27 days instead). They need 99.5-100.5 degrees and 50% humidity through the hatch, with 60% humidity at hatch. Lockdown begins at day 25 (though you can start it as early as day 23 without harm). It is advised that you incubate peafowl eggs on their sides (horizontally instead of upright on a turner) and turn by hand 3+ times a day (always turn an odd number of times so the egg doesn't sit on the same side for 2 nights in a row). Rotate the egg first clockwise, and then back counter-clockwise, rather than always one direction, to avoid twisting the chalazae.

Your best bet for easily finding hatching eggs is between March and August on these forums, on eBay, on eggbid, or by contacting known local breeders to try to work out a deal. If you can possibly find a local pickup, go for it! Eggs always do much better without being shipped first.

[Links]
BYC's Buy/Sell/Trade forum for 'other' poultry hatching eggs
Eggbid
The UPA's breeder directory - Breeders listed here may or may not be willing to sell eggs. You would have to ask individually.
Artificial Incubation of Peafowl Eggs
Natural vs. Artificial Incubation of Peafowl Eggs
Hatching Time Information

Chicks:
Chicks are probably your best bet if you want a fairly friendly peafowl but don't want to go through the trouble of hatching the eggs. They are available in many places and some will even ship to you (though its best to actually visit the place if possible to pick up the chicks, so that you can see the location and the parent birds). Most chicks are sold at or after 3 months of age, as chicks can be hard to care for and the mortality rate before the age of 3-4 months is fairly high due to many factors. If you are going to buy chicks, be ready to worm them and make sure that they can be kept with proper heating, food, and medications available. Before the age of three months, you will likely not be able to tell the sex of any chicks (except some sex-linked colors depending on parentage) except by blood sexing.

On the bright side of chicks, you have a chance to raise a young bird and handle it from a young age, which will most likely result in a friendlier bird. You also have control over its early environment without having to own an incubator. If bought at a safer age of 3-4 months, you can usually tell sex and still get a fairly friendly bird, while skipping the worst period for mortality.

The price of chicks varies on your location and the color of the chick. Around me, locally-bred India blue chicks (2 weeks or younger) sell for about $20 while in other areas they are seen going for $40+. A decent average price for very young chicks is $40-60 for more common colors, depending largely on where you live and the quality of the stock. Responsible breeders generally do not sell before 3 months of age. This is the age that the birds are less prone to failure to thrive, have better immune systems, and are a lot more tolerant of user mistakes. It is also the age the breeders can tell sexes, and generally feel comfortable judging quality to decide who to keep and who to sell.

A good place to start looking for chicks is at local game bird/livestock swap meets and local auctions, which are held in many states. If you want higher quality birds, however, it would be better to look into individual breeders online, and find a reputable one with exactly the bird you want. Investing a little more at the start tends to result in a better overall experience.

[Links]
BYC's B/S/T forum for 'other' poultry chicks
The UPA's breeder directory


Adults:
If you are not particularly in need of a pet type disposition for your birds or you are looking for rare colors, adult birds are often the way to go. These can be VERY expensive ($200+ a pair is not uncommon for blues and newer colors can sell for upwards of $2,000 a pair) but if you want a specific color/pattern and want to be sure you have males or females, this is the best way. You also skip the early days where their mortality is high and you wont have to make a brooder or have the incubator (unless you want to breed them).

Adult birds can be shipped (some breeders will, some will not), but it is very stressful on the birds to do this, so it's preferable to buy as locally as possible or be willing to make the drive to pick them up personally, so they spend the least amount of time possible in transit. Some breeders use special transport services that make circuits of the US a couple of times a year, picking up and dropping off birds along the way, and these come highly recommended for the least amount of stress and work.

However, it can be difficult to find the colors you want nearby, so sometimes shipping is the only way. The hens are typically more expensive than the cocks, and often times breeders will not sell hens (either at all, or without also selling a male) or will not have many for sale. If you find someone that can ship, know that the shipping must be done in special boxes, will be very expensive ($100+), and is very hard on the birds. They will need pickup from the post office and special care upon arrival.

Adult birds also vary greatly in price depending on where you live and what color you want. A yearling male India blue around me sells for around $60, and in other places I've seen them going for up to $200. Pied males (2+ years) here sell for around $150. A 'common' color mature male (like the India blue) will typically run between $75 and $125 (if you aren't having it shipped), whereas I have seen an adult Bronze male going for $400. You should expect to pay between $100 and $800 per bird, depending on color/pattern, sex, age, and quality. As stated above, rare colors and patterns will only increase the price, and buying from good breeders (ones with better quality in their birds and bloodlines etc) will usually be more expensive, but ultimately worth it.

[Links]
BYC's B/S/T forum for 'other' poultry adults.
The UPA's breeder directory


Identification:
There are numerous ways to identify and keep track of your peafowl with the aid of identifying markers. You can mark on the wings or the legs or the toes and some markers require the aid of special tools to apply.

Wing Bands: Wing bands are applied through the membrane of the wing and some kinds require an application tool. They typically come with a 6 digit number and can be bought in numerical order (ie, 1-100) or non-consecutive but not repetitive (ie, 100 different numbers but they may not be in order). I believe custom made wing bands can have letters for putting your name, or specific numbers. Because these do pierce skin, they can get infected, so please monitor the insertion site after application.

Leg Bands (solid plastic): Round, thick plastic bands that typically do not require an applicator. These should sport a numerical identification. Typically brittle.

Leg Bands (metal): The same as the plastic, but more enduring and I believe they require an applicator. These are usually imprinted with information such as numbers or letters so you can record which birds are which. Some places I have seen can actually inscribe personalized information, such as your name or phone number (which can be helpful for lost free-range birds!)

Leg Bands (Spiral plastic): These are thin, spiral pieces of plastic in an array of colors. They do not sport identification numbers, but instead can be used in combinations to denote birds. There is every color of the rainbow plus black and white, and two legs to put them on. Colors and positions (both on the leg and in relation to other spiral bands on the leg if you put more than one) can be used to denote a lot of information without having to look at a log. The downside is that these are much less durable than leg bands and as they have no identifying number if one is removed its a pain to determine where it came from or what is missing from which bird.

Toe Punching: I don't know that this is used very often. A small hole is punched in the webbing between the toes. Location and number of punches donates which bird is which. This is not recommended, as it is painful and can tear and/or get infected.

NPIP (National Poultry Improvement Plan): Peafowl are one of the breeds that should be NPIP certified. This is not really 'identification' of individual birds, but rather whole-flock identification. In most instances, NPIP certification is expensive to obtain (in Michigan it is $300 the first year and $125 every year after, in addition to whatever the pullorum tester charges). It will certify your flock is free of pollorum and typhoid, which then allows you to sell hatching eggs and birds both in and out of state. Some states also require additional testing for Avian Influenze (AI) or other diseases before your flock may be registered NPIP. You will have an ID number that people will be able to look at later.

[Links]
Leg Band Size Chart
National Band and Tag Company - Great place, lots of variety, and customizable letter/numbering
Cutler Supply - Has all the above identification methods for order


Housing:

Chicks:
Chicks should be housed in a brooder with temps around 95 degrees for the first two weeks dropping 5 degrees every week following (less or more depending on how their feathers are coming in and whether or not they are shivering or huddling, of course, and not below 70 until after 3 months of age). Many will recommend wire-bottom brooders because a lot of diseases that will easily kill peachicks are found in the soil. I keep my own chicks indoors in a clean, new brooder with pine shavings and have not had a problem. The most important thing to remember is to keep them off natural ground, watch for signs of illness closely, and DO NOT use anything slippery for bedding- newspaper, bare plastic, metal, etc. Improper footing can lead to spraddle-leg. The brooder should be free of drafts and kept clean. Chicks can be moved to normal pens around 3 months of age in warm weather. By this time they will have 'full' feathers (except for their heads) and be better able to cope with any medical problems that may arise. You may still want to keep a heat lamp on them over winter the first year, depending on where you live.

You may want to raise chicks with their parents (or with surrogate parents if you have other fowl and are looking to buy eggs for them to hatch). Many people raise peachicks via broody, but you should be aware that the mortality rate per this method is higher than chicks raised in a brooder. Your chicks raised by mom will be exposed to elements and diseases and parasites in the soil (and some diseases can be present whether or not you've personally had fowl on your land EVER, as they can come in on wild birds). There's a higher chance that predators may find their way in or that the chicks may encounter death due to something in their environment (getting their head stuck in the fencing, stepped on by other peafowl, mom loses it and pecks its face off... things like that).

Adolescents:
Peas which are old enough (3-4 months at least) that they do not need the heat lamp can be moved to a larger space. Many people have small versions of adult pens for the young peafowl, until they have gotten the hang of perching and surviving the night times. These sorts of pens also serve as a way for peafowl to see more of their surroundings and get used to where home is supposed to be- this wont stop 100% of them from leaving if you let yours free range but it may help. Larger breeders often have huge grow out pens for all their birds under a year. Once your birds have access to real ground, they will need to be wormed and watched closely for signs of disease (for example, coccidiosis is common).

Adults:
Adults can either be kept in pens (usually for breeding or if you don't want to risk free range) or be allowed to free range. Whether or not they free range, they should have access to an indoor area where heat can be provided (especially in winter). They can have free access to ground by now. Wire fencing and wooden enclosures seems fairly typical for them, though many people use netting for the enclosure ceiling so that if the birds flush, they do not risk breaking their necks against the ceiling. If you are allowing a male to free range, it is a good idea to keep a female penned to increase the chance that he will stick around.

Enclosures for adults should have at least 500 square feet or 150sq feet per bird, whichever is larger. They should definitely have a ceiling which is at least 8 feet high (though the higher the better). Broad roosts/perches should be provided, so that they can lay upon their feet completely. Roosts thin enough for them to wrap their feet around expose their toes to frostbite. Roost perches should be at least 6 feet off the ground, to allow the male to keep his train out of the dirt. Additionally, every 1 foot of perch height should have 5+ feet of horizontal glide space for them to get down (so, a 5 foot tall perch needs 25 feet of "get down" flight space). This minimizes the stress placed on their joints/tendons when landing and reduces the risk of sprains and slipped tendons. This is often why breeders have long, thin enclosures instead of more square pens.

Please note: If you are housing a muticus species of peafowl, they are not well-adapted to cold weather so unless you live someplace very warm throughout winter (70F+), they must be kept in an indoors, heated area, not just be given a heat source.

Information on heated roosts for peafowl
Creating free ranging peafowl

Food:
Peafowl are omnivorous, which means they will eat any plant matter they can find as well as bugs, amphibians, small mammals, and anything else alive that is small enough to fit in their beaks- including baby bantam chickens or other tiny fowl chicks. Food should be provided to your peas in such a way that they cant fling very much of it around. They do not eat as much as you think they would, but they do love to fling it everywhere. A good food stand will be off of the floor and stable enough that they cannot knock it over. Food should be provided fresh and any that smells off or is moldy should be thrown away to prevent occurrences of Coccidiosis.

Chicks:
Peachicks can be fed medicated game starter (if you can find it) or medicated chick starter mixed with gamebird/turkey starter (28-30% protein). Make sure to get the starter with amprolium (or you can lace their water with it) for the prevention of Cocci- I believe Purina offers starter with AND without and both are considered medicated due to the medication included for other problems. Starter should have 20-24% protein, which is higher than chickens but lower than adult peafowl. Substituting their starter with other foods can be harmful. They do not need grit if they are only eating the correct starters, but if you are giving them anything else (which you should not do for a couple weeks), small grit should be available (not oyster shell or other calcium-rich grit! too much calcium can be harmful at this age). Clean/baked sand or small-bird granite chips work well for this.

Acceptable treats for chicks (that can be fed without grit) include plain greek yogurt, egg yolks or whites, mealworms, and non-instant oatmeal. The instant sort has too much salt and sugar and is hard to digest. After they are a week or two old you can introduce soft greens like baby spinach and kale.

Adults:
Adult birds can be fed gamebird maintenance crumbles/pellets or turkey starter- as long as you can find some with 24-30% protein. They need a high protein amount to maintain those gorgeous feathers and produce adequate nutrients for eggs and body condition. If they are penned without access to dirt or pebbles, they may need supplemental grit (such as granite chips). Adult females should have access to an additional source of calcium (oyster shell, fresh kale, dandelion greens, etc) during the breeding season, but should not be fed chicken layer chow as it is both too low in protein and too high in calcium (and WAY too high/low for males that are penned with them). Too much calcium can stress their kidneys and ultimately shorten their lifespan. Additional vitamins may be offered (see Water below).

Treats for adult birds can be: hardboiled/scrambled eggs, melons (watermelon, cantaloupe, etc), squashes, tomatoes, greens (spinach, kale, mustard greens, dandelion, etc), crickets, mealworms, wet cat food, pasta, cooked rice, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries (etc), peas (har har, feeding peas to peas), cucumbers, peppers, raisins, cooked meats (never raw or partially raw), cooked fish (in small amounts), cooked shrimp (without shells), grapes, corn... well, you get the picture.

What NOT to feed to peas: never feed raw meats. Avocado, eggplant, and greens from tomato plants are all toxic to birds. Cabbage (and other foods high in oxalates) should be avoided during breeding season, as oxalates inhibit calcium absorption. Bread is not nutritionally sound and may rot in their crops. Avoid foods with red 40 in them. If you are unsure of a food's safety for your birds, you can check with online communities, google toxic foods for birds, or ask an avian veterinarian.

Also be wary of what bugs you give your birds, as some can be hosts for other parasites/worms (and yes they will eat these insects anyway, which is why you worm your birds at least twice a year by a different wormer each time). Here are some of the common hosts/parasites:
Worm - Hosts
Cecal worms - Beetles, grasshoppers
Capillary - Earthworms
Gapeworm - Earthworms, slugs, snails
Tapeworm - Ants, beetles, earthworms, slugs, snails, termites
Flukes - Dragonflies, mayflies

A BYC Thread about Peafowl Nutrition.
Captive vs Wild bird diets
Feeding Exotic Game Birds

Water:
Water should be provided so that they have access at any given time. A lot of feed stores sell waterers but you can also make cheap ones. I have seen waterers made from 5 gallon buckets with screw tops, with holes cut in the sides to allow access. The biggest thing about providing a waterer is to keep it off the ground and make sure they cant 1) get into it and 2) tip it over. It should be provided fresh every day.

Vitamins can (and should) be provided in the water, especially to females during the breeding season, even more especially if you intend to hatch the eggs. The most important vitamins are E, B, and D. Mix-in water-soluble vitamins are widely available.


Breeding:
The breeding season begins around late March (when the males have grown in their new trains and start calling) and ends around August (when the males drop their trains). Hens may begin laying before they allow the males to breed them, and many will lay after the male has dropped his train. After the male has dropped his train, though, expect a drop in egg fertility soon after, as his fertility is believed to drop or (though she is still laying) the hen may not be allowing him to mate. Sperm may (but will not always) remain viable inside of the hen for about 2-3 weeks after a mating occurs.

A breeding pen can be set up for specific pairs (or parties, with a male and several females) if you are looking to breed a certain male to certain females. These pens should be similar to their normal pens, with places for the females to lay. It is recommended to have enclosures at least 10 feet wide, preferably 12-15 feet wide to give the males room to fully display without touching the sides, with at least an 8 foot tall roof. Provide perches high enough that the male can keep his train off the ground and clean, so as to win the ladies' favors with his beauty. A fully mature peacock in his prime can breed up to five females, but egg fertility should be monitored at 4 hens or above. Three hens to one cock is ideal.

Females will lay one egg about every 2 days, and can collect a clutch of 3-12 eggs before they go broody. Twelve is a high number, though, and clutches are usually closer to 4-6. However, if you remove the eggs as she lays them, she will continue to lay through the breeding season, with pauses every few weeks. They do not use enclosed nesting boxes as far as I'm aware, and prefer to lay under open cover (for instance, at the base of a bush or in a corner of a coop, or like mine in the big food dish). Many folks have success with open nesting boxes, which are basically just a wooden square box with no lid.

Be aware when breeding that not all colors/patterns will breed true (like silver pied to silver pied will not produce 100% silver pied). Others will breed true (ie: India blue to India blue will produce 100% India blue... providing none of the blues are split to another color).

Some colors, like cameo, are sex linked (male sex chromosomes are ZZ, females are Zw and the color genes are carried on the Z gene), meaning that if you breed a male of that color to a blue, you will see blue male offspring that carry the color gene, but females will actually be the color (this doesn't happen with the non-sex-linked colors).

Some birds can be 'split', which means they are carrying genes for a color or pattern they are not displaying... for instance, a blue split opal bird will look blue but be able to produce opal chicks if bred to an opal. Because females only have one Z, they cannot be split to a sex-linked color; if they have the color gene, they are that color.

[Links]
Nesting boxes for Peafowl

Diseases and medications:
I was going to write up a whole thing on diseases and medications... but I found a great link that has all of them listed, written by an avian vet:
Click to read about peafowl diseases.

Some of the standard medications are as follows:
Tylosin - Used typically for respiratory infections/problems (Tylan 200)
Ivermectin - Wormer
Oxytetracycline - Antibiotic (duramycin, liquamycin, LA-200)
Fenbendazole - Wormer (safeguard)
Albendazole - Wormer (Valbazen)
Wazine - Wormer (for roundworms only, be aware your birds may dehydrate after use)
Meloxicam - Anti-inflammatory painkiller (Metacam)
Rimadyl - Anti-inflammatory painkiller
Ammoxicillan - Anti-biotic
Enrofloxacin - Strong Antibiotic (Baytril)

Many medications can be obtained through your vet if you know the name of the medication. As many vets do not cover birds (or have zero knowledge of farm birds, especially peafowl), it's possible that if you go in knowing what you want, they can write you a prescription. They will need to see your bird, so be prepared to transport it and pay for a visit. Peafowl are considered "exotics" at my vet, and you may be able to find a vet that will take them if they take other exotics. Most vets that take exotics will jump at a chance for something unusual, but don't be surprised if they tell you they don't know enough to feel comfortable treating your birds or that they will do their best but may not know enough.

It is always a good idea to research which vets are in your area and willing to see you BEFORE acquiring peafowl, or at the very least before you absolutely need the vet. Looking for a vet while you are panicking and worried is not going to be fun for anyone.

A good tip regarding veterinary care is to request the information of your breeder's vet. If they're local, you may be able to use them as well. If they are not local, you may be able to pass their information to you vet, so that they can consult if they need help, or to confirm their diagnosis. I would not trust a vet unwilling to ask others for additional information.

[Links]
Oral Medication Dosing of Peafowl
More on worming and Diseases
Infectious Coryza Information

Wounds:
Wounds vary in nature and cause, but if a wound is caused by trauma (as opposed to disease), then you have to make an assessment of whether or not the bird needs a vet. If the wound is small or simple enough it can be taken care of at home. If it involves uncontrolled bleeding or broken bones, you should go see a vet. It's important to separate injured birds from the healthy ones so that they can rest without stress and in a clean place so they don't get anything in the wound which will cause it to get worse (like dirt and bacteria). I have included a link to Peafowl 103: Illness, Injury, Medication, and Care at the bottom of this page.

Please be aware that neosporin and other triple antibiotics with painkiller use an analgesic they list as "pramoxine HCL" which is actually just pramocaine. Peafowl are extremely sensitive to medications in the procaine (-caine) family, to the point where it can kill them. Due to this, you should be using the versions without painkillers.

Wound care in birds


History of Peafowl:
A link to the history of peafowl in captivity: Click Me
A link to the peafowl that appear throughout history: Click Me


Other Helpful Peafowl Links:
Peafowl Image Database - An in-progress collection of images for use in identifying colors and patterns.
United Peafowl Association - Standards and pictures and information. Official peafowl site!
Bob's Green Peafowl - lots of nice images of greens
Rocking BAB ranch -
Legg's Peafowl - This has got a lot of peafowl images and information. Brad Legg has got nearly all the available colors, and a lot of information on peafowl genetics and breeding.
Wikipedia's entry on peafowl


If there is information I have missed or gotten wrong, or if you have additional basic questions please feel free to send me a PM!
If there are useful links I have missed (and I have), please PM them to me and I'll add them in too.

Next Lessons:
Peafowl 102 - Advanced Housing and Accessories
Peafowl 103: Illness, Injury, Medication, and Care (in progress)
Peafowl 104: Anatomy, Motion, and Behaviors (In progress)
Peafowl 201: Further Genetics- Colors, Patterns, and More (needs updating)