new 2 pfowl
Crowing
Hello you peapeople,
So, my boy Peggy is ready to get out of his pen and I'd appreciate your seasoned advice.
Sorry in advance for a long post, and for those of you who have already heard too much about Peggy.
The shortest possible version of Peggy's story:
We have 14 free rangers here (3 hens, 5 peateens, 2 one year old males, 2 three year old males, 2 older males).
Last Spring Peggy was kidnapped and the peanappers clipped all of his primary and secondary wing feathers.
I miraculously got him back and penned him for his wings to grow in (we have a lot of predators here).
I let him out after 6 months in jail. The other boys ganged up on him right away (pecking order business).
The morning after I let him out, he came back into the pen with most of his primary wing feathers missing.
Now they are grown out and he's ready to be a free bird again.
I want to make sure that Peggy is safe and doesn't get run off the hill by the boys.
My current plan is to put one of the peahens and her two peateens in the pen with him for a week or so, so he can form a bond with some members of his gang again.
Then I plan to close up a few of the older males in my neighbor's chicken coop for a few days so Peggy can get reacquainted with his territory and get some flying practice without so much ganging up.
If you have any other ideas, I would really appreciate them.
You may say to yourself, "Don't worry so much, just let him out for goodness' sake!" Which would be a reasonable response.
However, Peggy is a guy that so many bad things happen to (this is just the latest set of bad things!), so believe me, it's safer to be overly worried in his case!
Thank you for any advice and sorry again for the too-long post.
So, my boy Peggy is ready to get out of his pen and I'd appreciate your seasoned advice.
Sorry in advance for a long post, and for those of you who have already heard too much about Peggy.
The shortest possible version of Peggy's story:
We have 14 free rangers here (3 hens, 5 peateens, 2 one year old males, 2 three year old males, 2 older males).
Last Spring Peggy was kidnapped and the peanappers clipped all of his primary and secondary wing feathers.
I miraculously got him back and penned him for his wings to grow in (we have a lot of predators here).
I let him out after 6 months in jail. The other boys ganged up on him right away (pecking order business).
The morning after I let him out, he came back into the pen with most of his primary wing feathers missing.
Now they are grown out and he's ready to be a free bird again.
I want to make sure that Peggy is safe and doesn't get run off the hill by the boys.
My current plan is to put one of the peahens and her two peateens in the pen with him for a week or so, so he can form a bond with some members of his gang again.
Then I plan to close up a few of the older males in my neighbor's chicken coop for a few days so Peggy can get reacquainted with his territory and get some flying practice without so much ganging up.
If you have any other ideas, I would really appreciate them.
You may say to yourself, "Don't worry so much, just let him out for goodness' sake!" Which would be a reasonable response.
However, Peggy is a guy that so many bad things happen to (this is just the latest set of bad things!), so believe me, it's safer to be overly worried in his case!
Thank you for any advice and sorry again for the too-long post.