Advice on Free Range Peafowl

[LittleRedShed]

We have had Oscar a month, and have started letting him out in increments. Last week, 15 mins. He is building his "play time"... But tonight he got up on the roost we made him. That way when he gets his tail feathers they will be off the ground. So far he is doing great at returning to the pen when we heard him in. He likes his chickens. He was on display last night for the hens.

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[LittleRedShed]

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[LittleRedShed]

 

[mother hen 13]

Hi Could you tell me; How old is Oscar ?
He looks about the same as the younger mail I am feeding Ie still spotted tummy and no eyes on tail. The other one has blue front and a short tail, just a few eyes so I think hes older?
Glade Oscar is going in his run when you want him to, it must be nice to know he is safe at night.

 

[LittleRedShed]

Oscar is one year old - we purchased him last month

 

[LittleRedShed]

@mother hen 13 well, Oscar is doing great free ranging. Keep in mind, I only have one peacock. All others are chickens and two guineas. He is like the "rooster" of our flock right now. Thankfully he is sticking close to the pen, and he is staying on our property. I do, frequently, check on him throughout the day. I left him out the longest today - almost 7 hours, and when I came home he was right where I left him. I am trying to keep the birds on a routine. Every morning they're let out, fed, watered and checked in on from time to time. In the evening they're fed, watered, and locked up for the night in their run. Throughout the day I'm giving them little treats. Bread, corn on the cob, cantaloupe, etc. So far it seems to be working out nicely. Oscar did chase after my cat today lol. I assume he will continue to investigate our property. But we are really trying to make his territory the run and the personal roost we built for him. Hopefully he agrees that this is his territory.

 

[JoeCole]

I've had 2 of my peafowl for over a year and added 4 more making a total of six, 3 peacocks and 3 peahens on 10 acres with an 8 foot fence all around to keep the coyotes out. They stay within the fenced area, however, a month ago one of the hens flew over the fence to nest in the woods, but then we had a flood and she never returned to her nest. I am hoping that she will try laying eggs again. The breading process is so slow, the poor peacock spends so much effort to show off his beautiful feathers, and the peahens just seem to ignore him. However I did catch him breeding with one of the hens once in early April.

A week ago I took all the peafowl outside the fenced area so they could feed on the wild berry's out in the woods, and left them there. At the end of the day they all flew back over the fence and roosted in their favorite pecan tree. The next day, I took them out to the woods to feed on berry's again, however, this time only 2 of them flew over the fence while the other 4 stayed close to the fence. A few hours had gone by and all was a bit too quiet outside; I decided to look for the pea's and could not find them. Thinking that maybe they were over with the sheep, I didn't think anymore about it. Later that day, around 3pm, I took my tractor and cart down the road to dig up some pine mulch, but then spotted a familiar sight, all 6 of my peafowl were over at the neighbors house, some 2000 feet from my house.

The neighbor was so excited that she ran to her fathers house 500 feet away to get him; she was ready to adopt all 6 pea's right then and there. I was sure there was no way they could figure how to get back to my house through the thick woods that separated our two homes, but 3 hours later, Cordon Blue, my peacock was honking to let me know that he was home again with all the rest of the pea's. So, I guess they're smarter then I thought they were; they know where the hand that feeds them lives.

Today I notice the peacock chasing the peahen; she'd be running around a tree, and he was in hot pursuit. This went on for an hour, they must have gone around every tree. I finally lost interest, it was making me disy just watching the two.

By the way, I've never seen the peacock chase the hen like that; was that some pre mating ritual, does any one out there know what they were up to?

 

[LittleRedShed]

I feel bad for my Oscar. We don't plan to get a peahen bc I've heard they are the ones who usually wonder off. So will this cause any hardship down the road?

 

[DylansMom]

I feel bad for my Oscar. We don't plan to get a peahen bc I've heard they are the ones who usually wonder off. So will this cause any hardship down the road?

It has been my experience that free range peahens do not wander off. They nest on the ground, lay their eggs and are then killed by predators or the neighbor's dogs. The lonely widowed males are the ones who usually wander off in search of a new mate. I am heading south several counties tomorrow to try to corral one such wandering Romeo. I get no less than 3 calls like this each spring/summer, never has it been a peahen.

 

[LittleRedShed]

It has been my experience that free range peahens do not wander off. They nest on the ground, lay their eggs and are then killed by predators or the neighbor's dogs. The lonely widowed males are the ones who usually wander off in search of a new mate. I am heading south several counties tomorrow to try to corral one such wandering Romeo. I get no less than 3 calls like this each spring/summer, never has it been a peahen.

Are you saying your Romeo wandered counties?!