Are peahens quieter than boys?

[pbj0206]

My hens call often. Not as much as the males, but they sure do make noise. I hear them on a daily basis all through the day. During breeding season that is. During the winter months you really don't even know they are there. The chickens make a lot more noise.

I tend to prefer the black shoulder variety of all the colors over the barred wing. But...when it comes right down to it...I love every one of the colors. They are a wonderful bird. I personally couldn't have just a peahen without a peacock. I would think she would be lonely for someone of her own kind. If you are going to have a hen, why not have the male...peafowl are such beautiful birds.

 

[Barrdwing]

I'm just remembering the expression on our hen's face, the day one of the young roosters propositioned her. She took off yelling in outrage.

Yes, she's much happier having a peacock around!

 

[zazouse]

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I can just picture the poor peahen

 

[Larkspur88]

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Cecal worms? Talking about worms or cocci? I've actually had cocci trouble here so if that's a problem then that definitely rules out ever having one here. I had the strain of cocci that causes bloody stools and had several chickens die about a month ago. Took in stool samples to my work (I work at a vet) and sure enough they had ton of the parasites. Just simple bad luck because conditions here are perfect in my area. (damp, warm,humid) I keep corid around now and bleach out their night boxes every other day and add new stuffing. (the coop isn't quite done. We have to put up the fencing)

 

[Barrdwing]

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It was cecal worms, not cocci. The biggest problem with cecal worms is that they often carry in turn a protozoal disease called histomoniasis (blackhead). A bird that picks up infected cecal worms gets the double whammy. Histomoniasis attacks the ceca and the liver, and it's contagious to chickens, turkeys, and peafowl. Chickens are somewhat vulnerable--mortality can reach 30%. With turkeys, it can kill 70-100% of the flock. Peafowl fall somewhere in the middle. So it's a nasty bug. Incidentally, it's been shown that coccidia makes it much easier for histomoniasis to reach the liver in chickens, so there is a link there!

I don't think any strains of chicken coccidia are contagious to other fowl. Coccidia tends to be really host-specific, so as far as anyone knows it can't infect a new host species. (That's about the only nice thing anyone has to say about it, too.) In the US, there are at least seven species of coccidia found in chickens, seven found in turkeys, thirteen in ducks, and they're still arguing about how many in geese. Pigeons have some species as well. I can't find any info currently on peafowl coccidia species, but I'm sure they exist! It's a nasty little parasite, that's for sure.

 

[SunBaked]

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