Hi everyone, first time poster here. 
In short:
I bought two new peahens this morning to join our peacock family. Despite getting their wings clipped this morning, they managed to fly off as soon as I opened their boxes in our pen (which has high walls, but an open roof out of necessity). I was shocked and I'm absolutely heartbroken.
I tried finding them for about two hours, but as we live in an area surrounded by woods, they managed to hide and/or they ran off. Our male peacock keeps calling, so I hope they might come back by themselves. Is there anything I can do? Or should I just leave them be, so as not to spook them?
More details/context (sorry for the long text):
My parents live on a farm in an area of other farms, woodlands, fields and some houses. About 1,5 years ago a peacock showed up next to our chicken pen. He apparently loved the place and nestled in a chestnut tree next to the chickens. We eventually found his owner (a farmer about 3 miles off) and he tried to catch him for about a month. It didn't work as the peacock seemed pretty happy at his new home, and eventually my parents bought him + a peahen from the farmer.
The peacock has been doing great and brings a lot of joy. He free roams in the garden and sleeps in the chestnut at a height of about 15 feet. He's super friendly and quite affectionate. For example, if you're reading outside he'll come sit next to you.
However, finding a good peahen combination has been tricky and a very unlucky/sad process...
The first peahen we got roamed freely too, until she was eaten (presumably by a fox) after about 6 months.
We then got another peahen (white, with one wing burnt to prevent her feathers growing back to fly - which we didn't know when we bought her), for whom we built a special pen with a hole in the roof so that the peacock could fly in. The peahen didn't seem happy, so we made a bigger pen around the chestnut in which the peacock sleeps, with a completely open roof, and we got a second peahen. That worked well, until unfortunately we had a bad storm and a tree fell on the pen, which scared the white peahen to death (she wasn't physically hurt - but she was always very anxious and we think that she was terrified because she couldn't fly up in the tree during the storm with the other peahen and the peacock).
We then got another peahen to join the remaining peahen and that worked well. Unfortunately the oldest peahen then got a bit sick. We went to the vet who prescribed supplements and she seemed to be doing better, but then we found her dead in the pen one morning. We were of course heartbroken (and frustrated) to loose our third peahen in a year.
The remaining peahen (which wasn't clipped) free roams with the peacock and they are doing great. They fly in and out of the pen (where it's safe) and that seems to be a good combo. The peahen is very assertive and stays in or close to the pen; and since we were so sad about how the white peahen died (out of fear due to not being able to fly up in the tree during a storm), we decided to keep her unclipped.
As one peahen is still quite limited, especially since it's now breeding season and the peacock is very active, I looked for another peahen.
I found a couple of small-scale farmers who take excellent care of their peacocks and they had two young peahen from 2021 for sale. We've been talking this week and I went there this morning. I discussed our pen situation and we decided to clip the wings (just cut the feathers) of the two peahen, so that they can first get used to the pen - to avoid the risk of them flying off. As a reminder, the pen is about 8 feet high, but has an open roof, as we built it around the chestnut tree in which the peafowl all sleep.
And this is where things went wrong. I arrived at my parent's farm with the two peahens in separate boxes and our peacock and peahen waiting in the pen.
Despite their wings being clipped, the two peahen flew off (over the 8 feet pen wall) when I let them out of their boxes. One immediately flew off and the other after about 10 minutes.
I looked for them both for about two hours and warned neighbors + a hiker with a dog, but absolutely no trace of them.
I'm absolutely heartbroken to be honest. And shocked that they flew right over an 8 feet pen wall despite each having their left wing clipped just this morning. I keep wondering how I could have done things better considering the situation.
Our peacock keeps calling (mate calls), so I dearly hope they will just show up near the pen once they've calmed down.
Is there anything else I could do?
I'd be very grateful for any advice.
Thank you very much, from a heartbroken peafowl lover.
In short:
I bought two new peahens this morning to join our peacock family. Despite getting their wings clipped this morning, they managed to fly off as soon as I opened their boxes in our pen (which has high walls, but an open roof out of necessity). I was shocked and I'm absolutely heartbroken.
I tried finding them for about two hours, but as we live in an area surrounded by woods, they managed to hide and/or they ran off. Our male peacock keeps calling, so I hope they might come back by themselves. Is there anything I can do? Or should I just leave them be, so as not to spook them?
More details/context (sorry for the long text):
My parents live on a farm in an area of other farms, woodlands, fields and some houses. About 1,5 years ago a peacock showed up next to our chicken pen. He apparently loved the place and nestled in a chestnut tree next to the chickens. We eventually found his owner (a farmer about 3 miles off) and he tried to catch him for about a month. It didn't work as the peacock seemed pretty happy at his new home, and eventually my parents bought him + a peahen from the farmer.
The peacock has been doing great and brings a lot of joy. He free roams in the garden and sleeps in the chestnut at a height of about 15 feet. He's super friendly and quite affectionate. For example, if you're reading outside he'll come sit next to you.
However, finding a good peahen combination has been tricky and a very unlucky/sad process...
The first peahen we got roamed freely too, until she was eaten (presumably by a fox) after about 6 months.
We then got another peahen (white, with one wing burnt to prevent her feathers growing back to fly - which we didn't know when we bought her), for whom we built a special pen with a hole in the roof so that the peacock could fly in. The peahen didn't seem happy, so we made a bigger pen around the chestnut in which the peacock sleeps, with a completely open roof, and we got a second peahen. That worked well, until unfortunately we had a bad storm and a tree fell on the pen, which scared the white peahen to death (she wasn't physically hurt - but she was always very anxious and we think that she was terrified because she couldn't fly up in the tree during the storm with the other peahen and the peacock).
We then got another peahen to join the remaining peahen and that worked well. Unfortunately the oldest peahen then got a bit sick. We went to the vet who prescribed supplements and she seemed to be doing better, but then we found her dead in the pen one morning. We were of course heartbroken (and frustrated) to loose our third peahen in a year.
The remaining peahen (which wasn't clipped) free roams with the peacock and they are doing great. They fly in and out of the pen (where it's safe) and that seems to be a good combo. The peahen is very assertive and stays in or close to the pen; and since we were so sad about how the white peahen died (out of fear due to not being able to fly up in the tree during a storm), we decided to keep her unclipped.
As one peahen is still quite limited, especially since it's now breeding season and the peacock is very active, I looked for another peahen.
I found a couple of small-scale farmers who take excellent care of their peacocks and they had two young peahen from 2021 for sale. We've been talking this week and I went there this morning. I discussed our pen situation and we decided to clip the wings (just cut the feathers) of the two peahen, so that they can first get used to the pen - to avoid the risk of them flying off. As a reminder, the pen is about 8 feet high, but has an open roof, as we built it around the chestnut tree in which the peafowl all sleep.
And this is where things went wrong. I arrived at my parent's farm with the two peahens in separate boxes and our peacock and peahen waiting in the pen.
Despite their wings being clipped, the two peahen flew off (over the 8 feet pen wall) when I let them out of their boxes. One immediately flew off and the other after about 10 minutes.
I looked for them both for about two hours and warned neighbors + a hiker with a dog, but absolutely no trace of them.
I'm absolutely heartbroken to be honest. And shocked that they flew right over an 8 feet pen wall despite each having their left wing clipped just this morning. I keep wondering how I could have done things better considering the situation.
Our peacock keeps calling (mate calls), so I dearly hope they will just show up near the pen once they've calmed down.
Is there anything else I could do?
I'd be very grateful for any advice.
Thank you very much, from a heartbroken peafowl lover.
But we keeping looking and asking neighbors. Our peacock and other peahen seem to be looking for them too, they're acting a bit different from usual. Fingers crossed that they're still nearby and will find their way back. Thank you again for the advice and I'll keep you posted.
