Advice on Free Range Peafowl

[JoeCole]

Enjoyed reading your story about your free range peahen and chicks. An update on My pea hen - after placing her in the pen with her last surviving chick, they spent 3 months in the pen on high protein game bird crumbles. The chick is 1/3 the size of momma and looks like a peacock chick. I opened the door and left it opened for a week, they both ventured out, but prefer to spend 95% of their time in the pen. Hope by next year the hen will decide to nest in the pen, as it is more secure then out in the open. I just placed the remaining chickens in the pen and locked it behind them, as the hawks have kill 15 of my free range chickens and guinea's. In about a month I will open the door again for all the birds to free range, but return to the pen at night. I had 7 pea's, but a month ago 4 have decided to go else where, probably found some neighbor of mine who is feeding them. I still have 3 that chose to stay at home. I hope you continue to have success with your free range pea's....take care now.....JC

 

[zazouse]

Hi Joecole

been a while , how have you been and how are your peas?
Did you hatch out many baby's this year?

 

[nomdeplume]

We have had really good luck tempting our two tame males,first with blueberries, and when that became too expensive, with cut up grapes. Our two less than 6 month old "pea dudes" eat from our hands, and always know when we have (red or black) grapes in our fists. We give them a couple of pieces to get their appetites whetted, and once they fly up on the edge of their enclosure, just toss a few in and they are usually happy to jump down and get their treats, at which time we close them in for the night. We have a large population of raccoons so they are inside a doughboy pool enclosure, with shelves inside a small inexpensive greenhouse where they sleep, and large woven black bird netting over the whole thing. We have had them since they were almost just hatched, and so far so good. Yes, grapes have worked for us. They also like cut up slivers of apple and apricot, which we use when the trees in our yard are producing.
In the morning, we give them another small treat of grapes as we open up the netting and let them out in the yard. Usually they stay around, although a couple of times we have had to find them, and coerce them to follow us home, plying them with grapes as we walked together along the way.

 

[zazouse]

Please post some photos of your Petty's.
It is good that you teach them young to walk with you, all of mine will walk with me and can be herded back from any where i do not want them.

 

[KsKingBee]

I can't get mine to follow me around like Zaz, well ok, I haven't really tried, but the birds at evening feeding time will do some funny things. Some, like mama and her girls will be waiting around the door ready to come in and eat. Others will see me coming and they fly back yappin all the way. Then there are the ones who run like their tail is on fire. And of course there are the stragglers who take their sweet time and have to pace by the door to get in because seeing the others eating.

I heard that you want to use the same call to get the birds used to coming when called so I use Pea-Birds! Pea-Birds! and bang the bucket with the spoon. It works fairly well but what I find interesting is when that doesn't work and they have more interest in the deer feeder and whole corn I will yell Polo! Polo! They stop everything look and see me and scurry home to eat. I guess it's from their natural call of Marco! and the refrain Polo! they naturally use.

 

[chicknmania]

That's funny.

Our peacocks come to COMEOOONNNNN PEACOCKS!!!!! Usually anyway, unless it's REALLY a nice evening and they just can't bear to come inside yet. Most of the time they will call back to me too, and I know where they are. I think they're saying "yeah, we're coming, mom....".

And our peahens wait outside EVERY evening, for us to come, turn the barn lights on, and start supper for them. Even in bad weather. If we're late, they mill around outside the door, which turns the outside security light on, and then they stand in that pool of light, usually accompanied by Sweetpea's chicken pullet "children" and various other chickens. .

 

[chicknmania]

And usually I can herd ours where I want them to go if I say shoo, shoo, shoo, quietly, and I have a jacket or a a towel or anything I can sort of gently wave at them. But not always, it depends. I wish I could get ours tamer. The peacocks are pretty tame, they are friendly and used to us and at least will eat out of our hands. But the peahens will have none of that. No way. People are a necessary evil. We've had the peacocks over five years now, and the peahens..well, we've had Snap two years, and Sweetpea three. How do you get yours so tame, Zaz?

 

[zazouse]

Not having them follow you may be a blessing it is hard to get things done with them in the way

right now i have some babies from this years hatch that follow anything with legs

the AC guys were here putting in our unit to the new place and rains came as usual so i brought the unit in with the tractor and they had to walk back and forth to the trucks at the driveway cause it was to muddy to get up to the new place, i swear they walked back and forth all day long and those wee peas followed them every where

poor babies put themselves to roost very early for 2 days straight they were so tired.
We also have to be real careful we don't run any over as they will run under a moving auto or tractor or lock them in the house when we have left the doors open

found the little pied boy on the computer table yesterday when i came back in, he was just sleeping away silly boy.

 

[zazouse]

And usually I can herd ours where I want them to go if I say shoo, shoo, shoo, quietly, and I have a jacket or a a towel or anything I can sort of gently wave at them. But not always, it depends. I wish I could get ours tamer. The peacocks are pretty tame, they are friendly and used to us and at least will eat out of our hands. But the peahens will have none of that. No way. People are a necessary evil. We've had the peacocks over five years now, and the peahens..well, we've had Snap two years, and Sweetpea three. How do you get yours so tame, Zaz?

How many peas own you now?

Mine are tame cause hatched most all of them and my first ones i got at a young age but some of them took a year before they trusted me enough to eat out of my hands, plus i am around them every single day ,every day of the year, i am usually outside unless i am taking a break or the weather is real real bad, i even work in the summer rains i love it

 

[KsKingBee]

Not having them follow you may be a blessing it is hard to get things done with them in the way

right now i have some babies from this years hatch that follow anything with legs

the AC guys were here putting in our unit to the new place and rains came as usual so i brought the unit in with the tractor and they had to walk back and forth to the trucks at the driveway cause it was to muddy to get up to the new place, i swear they walked back and forth all day long and those wee peas followed them every where

poor babies put themselves to roost very early for 2 days straight they were so tired.
We also have to be real careful we don't run any over as they will run under a moving auto or tractor or lock them in the house when we have left the doors open

found the little pied boy on the computer table yesterday when i came back in, he was just sleeping away silly boy.

Yep, yep, so true, that. I was unloading firewood yesterday and every time I turned around to toss another piece of wood I had to be careful not to hit them. When using the skid loader they have to inspect every load. If the door is left open to the garage they want to come and see the babies in the brooder. Now they have to come in and make sure there aren't any inside or to roost on the gator.