Advise please...

[LittleRock]

Hello BYC PeaPeople. I recently (two days ago) acquired two peacocks. At least I was told they are both males. One is white and the other I believe to be Indian Blue. Not 100% sure though. Some help with age and gender would be fantastic! I added dewormer to their water and have them on a gamebird/turkey starter mix (if my math is correct it should be about 20% protein). I am keeping them together but apart from my flock for precautionary reasons. Don't want to introduce any harmful bacteria/disease, to my chicken flock or to them. I was told the blue guy is just over a year old and the white one is just shy of a year. They are missing neck feathers, that's due to the previous owner having some kind of anti noise making band put on their neck. Those should grow back right? They were in the backyard of a resedential area and the noise became an issue. That's when I show up, the previous owner gave them to me, that's right for free, did have to drive about an hour for them but that's no bid deal, with the understanding that I would give them a better home. I completely plan to. They are currently in a 15 x 20 coop. I plan to build them each a 25 x 20 coop and get them each a mate. Almost forgot, my coops are 10 feet tall. Would that be enough room for them? Should I rethink my plans? If they are both males, would they fight with each other? I have turkeys & chickens & I would love to free range the peas with them but I'm only on an acre and a half. Is that not possible? Sorry for all the questions.
Also any advice is more than appreciated. I'll include some pictures. Please, if you notice something wrong with them, don't hesitate to tell me. I want to make sure I keep them happy and healthy. Thank you all so much!

These are my first peafowl and I am uber excited. Didn't plan on getting some, at least not yet, but things have a funny way of working out.

 

[thndrdancr]

Welcome to the pea forum!
As far as their neck feathers growing back, they should but it might take awhile, unless they were rubbed so raw as to cause permanent damage. Once they go through their molt I think they should grow back nicely.

I think you have two males, good luck and welcome to peaworld! They will win your heart.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello fellow SoCal!
Pretty birds!!!

I'm not sure where you are, but I'm a bit worried about whether your wire is sufficient to keep out predators.
Does this wire work for protecting your chickens and turkeys?

 

[zazouse]

Pretty boys.
were they raised together?
I do not keep my birds in pens but my male fight and are able to get away and hide if they get hurt.
perhaps another member can chime in on penned birds.
your pen plans sounds great

 

[LittleRock]

Thank you all for such kind words and for being so helpful.
The white one seems to be more "active" than the blue one. When I went to pick them up I witnessed the white one attempting to evade the previous owner in his attempt to remove the neck band. In his struggle he did loose a lot of his neck feathers. I can actually see skin at times, pending the angle and the lighting. I don't see any "damage", just looks like a loss of feathers. I really do hope they grow back.
Hey new 2 pfowl you're in California too! Awesome! I have had zero issues with the wire I use. It has it's pros and cons. I like it because my hand fits through the openings (I often pet my birds when they are in the coop) but that also means spearows fit through it. I have seen "wild" house cats & coyotes around, but my dogs do not let them near. I have lost zero animals to predators to date.
Zazouse those are some amazing pictures! WOW! I am not sure if they were raised together but they were living together at the previous owners place. I completely blanked and forgot to ask how long they owned them for. Darn! Do they fight for territory or for the ladies, or both?

Also, what is too cold & too hot for them? Is what I am feeding them ok? Will they get larger? The white one is missing the top halo thing, will that grow back? How old do they appear?

Sorry, I know I have a lot of questions. I just want to make sure I do things right. Just as I felt I was graduating out of newbie class with chickens & turkeys, I quickly get scheduled into newbie peafowl class. I do love to learn though.

Once again, thank you all for your advice, help, support & time. I honestly do appreciate it.

 

[KsKingBee]

It appears to me that the birds are a bit older than you were told. The IB has eye feathers, I've never seen eyes on tail feathers on a yearling, I think he is two at least. The white has a pretty well-developed tail as well, and at the very least be going on two this spring.

As long as they are immature they are not likely to fight. Last breeding season I had yearling cocks in with the dominant breeding cock in my pens and there was no fighting. I like your plan and size of the pens you are going to build, they should work very well.

If you are thinking of free-ranging you better have some very understanding neighbors.

The two by four inch wire you are using is penetrable by skunks, they can walk right through it.

The crest feathers will be growing back soon.

The feed requirements for laying hens and cocks that are growing trains is higher than 20% protein, but you should be alright as the young birds you have now are not growing mature trains.

I doubt that you will need an enclosed coop in So Cal. You will need a covered area for shade and to get out of the rain, snow, ice, oh, wait, you are in Co Cal..... Shade and a high roost would be nice and the height of your pen is good.

 

[KsKingBee]

Your IB is also split to either white or pied. There are some white flight feathers on the wing.

 

[zazouse]

Littlerock.
No need to apologize for asking questions that is what keeps this group going, new folks new questions new ideas, so just ask away we all been new just like you

Great that you use dogs to protect your flocks, i do also i love dogs

pups in training







Elia he is a big ol lug but nothing gets his babies







Annie trying to scare off the parked tree triming truck when the peas were honking at it

 

[Garden Peas]

I love your pens, and I think your proposed dimensions are great!

I'm really worried about the size of the openings in the wire. I dunno what your dogs are like and what your predator situation is. The problem that I see is that big pea heads will easily fit through those spaces to reach for a bug, a leaf, a tasty tidbit... and if your dogs happen to see it, and they behave like MY dogs (not like Zaz's dogs), the dog will whack off a pea head like it was candy...

And if you get to the point of having chicks, they will pop right through those openings.

I have chicken wire wrapped around the bottom of my pens to keep pea heads inside, dog heads outside. Don't want no headless peas round here

 

[LittleRock]

KsKingBee, are the eye feathers the blue oval/circlcular shaped items on the feathers? Just want to get familiar with the pea terminology. Since they are older, would it be best to acquire older peahens or should I aim for peahens younger than a year? That's if I do decide to get peahens, but given the rate they are growing on me, I am almost positive I'll be getting at least two peahens. I don't really have skunk/squirrel/gopher/rodent problems, thankfully. It seems like acquiring a peahen each & building each pair their own coop/run would solve any current or future sparring issues. Bieng that my neighbors neighbor has peas (I don't really know them) I don't want to free range in case his peahens attract my peacocks. I'm just going to keep them in their respective coops/runs & make sure they have sun/rain protection. I'm also glad to hear their crest feathers will grow back. Hahaha, being the newbie I am I called it a halo.

Zazouse, your animals are gorgeous. I love all the green on your property too. Thank you so much for sharing. we are currently looking for a place with more land in an effort to achieve something similar to what you got going on.

By split, do you mean mixed? As in it may not be a "pure" Indian Blue? Is that known by white on the flight feathers? Is it common to have split/mixed or is it more common to have "pure" IB? Are white peafowl considered rare?

Thanks again!