2 1/2yr old peacock hurting new peahens

[down2earth]

Young cocks and Spalding cocks tend to take out their frustration onto the hens. A neighboring cock is seen as a threat to his breeding territory and will beat up one or more of his hens if he can't run off the intruder.

Thankyou for your reply. I have them back in their original enclosure and same aviary. He now is following her around while she cries most of the time but he is not hurting her. She will go inside and hide behind the divider I have set up on one of the perches. Both of my hens are now squeezing behind the divider to get away from him. LOL My 2 yr old just laid an egg yesterday. Dont think it would be fertile since all he does is chase them around. I never saw any mating. He still has his tail from last year and is displaying. Wondering if I should keep the egg and start collecting them for incubating. Im new to breeding. So I also am confused as to why she is laying so early and what I should do with the egg and how long I should wait to incubate. Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KsKingBee]

I will assume you live in the USA since you said it was 2* not long ago. ?, have you had a light on the inside of the coop? That will usually confuse them and throw off their natural rhythm of molting and laying eggs.

 

[down2earth]

I will assume you live in the USA since you said it was 2* not long ago. ?, have you had a light on the inside of the coop? That will usually confuse them and throw off their natural rhythm of molting and laying eggs.

Yes I live in northeast Pennsylvania. I do use heat lamps during the winter. There are so many opinions about lights and I know a lot of people use them. I like to give them some heat in a large inside enclosure. I wonder if everyone that uses heat lamps has the same problem with molting and laying.

 

[KsKingBee]

You have answered your question. The artificial light has caused your cock to not molt and the hen to lay out of season. They are confused both physically and mentally.

 

[Midnightman14]

Yeah the light is messing with their internal clocks both day/night and seasonal

 

[down2earth]

Oh boy. That doesnt sound good. I guess I will turn the light out. Thanks everyone for helping me out like you always do. Happy New Year.

 

[down2earth]

Young cocks and Spalding cocks tend to take out their frustration onto the hens. A neighboring cock is seen as a threat to his breeding territory and will beat up one or more of his hens if he can't run off the intruder.

Can I ask what you would do in this situation? I have a barrier between the pens but they can still see each other when they are on their perches. I was told that was ok its just when they are on the ground so I made the barrier 3ft high
Thankyou.

 

[KsKingBee]

Young cocks and hybrids especially will worry about competition and will want to protect their breeding territory. They will get quite upset when they are not able to run off the intruders and will turn that frustration onto the hens within their pens. I put sight barriers up on the roosts in these cases, it can be made from any material. Here I used coroplast, in other applications I have used windscreen, a light material although not as durable as the coroplast.

 

[down2earth]

Young cocks and hybrids especially will worry about competition and will want to protect their breeding territory. They will get quite upset when they are not able to run off the intruders and will turn that frustration onto the hens within their pens. I put sight barriers up on the roosts in these cases, it can be made from any material. Here I used coroplast, in other applications I have used windscreen, a light material although not as durable as the coroplast.View attachment 3375961

Thanks for your reply. I will do that. Funny peacock peeking under the sign. LOL

 

[down2earth]

Hello I have an update on the few eggs I got from the white pen (the one with the aggressive white peacock that is now by himself). At least until the two girls get used to their new aviary and shed. Then I will try to introduce again. The egg I got from my 2yr old white hen that was with Mr aggressive is in the incubator and it is at day 15 and is very much alive. I hate to have it hatch alone so I am adding eggs as I get them from my other pied pen. The young 2yr old white hen has been pacing the fence wanting to get back with him. The older silver pied that got hurt twice doesnt want anything to do with him. Wish me luck when I put her with him again in a couple weeks. Thanks for listening to my adventure. This breeding thing is interesting to say the least.