Brand NewPeafowl owner adopter

[sasglm]

Hello, brand new here so please excuse and intrusion.

My Wife for years has wanted one/two peafowl(peacocks) for our property. We discussed and thought that it would be better not to at the time with a growing family and not enough time.

Well that was many years ago and as things go, my mother-in-law who live on a small farm near us with suburbia moving in around her discovered a Male hanging around her property last week, and after 3-4 days of him being around and not being afraid of one of our boys and eating her tomatoes she decided it was time for him to leave. So we got him into a large cage and brought him back to our 8ac in the woods of central NC.

When we first let him out he walked away, but we were able to corral him and walk him back. We now have him in a 6x6 pen on the ground outside and bring him into the garage at night.

So we have no idea where he came from, but it looks like he was treated well and is used to people. Maybe in the ~2yo range with only 12" tail feathers at this time, but the colors on his neck and back are bold and colorful.

We have been feeding him, chicken feed, cat food, some fruit(grapes and blue berries) and bread(he loves the wheat bread).

We would like to get him used to us and let him free range our area. Lots of trees, a pond, and a little bit of cleared area. Not a lot of tall weeds, but Black Snakes, foxes, Coyotes, hawks, and Owls. We thought keeping him in the pen during the day he would get used to the area as he paces the edges of the pen all day looking and inspecting everything. I suppose the highest part of the area would be our roof top for roosting, but I do have a 2 story barn under construction that's open and has some shelter from the wind and rain.

So I guess my question is am I doing anything wrong here? Before I go and build a more permanent pen, I'd like to see if he's going to stick around once we open his door. I've read 1wk to 3wk in a pen to get them used to the people/area.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello there! Congratulations on your new friend and



It's probably a good idea to keep him in for a while if you want him to learn where home is; others with experience can give you a better idea of how long he should stay penned. Peas need at least 100 square feet of pen to be comfortable, is there any way to expand his pen in the meantime?

As far as roosting, what kind of trees do you have? Peas seem to prefer to roost in trees.

And, he would definitely be happier with a (girl)friend! Peas are really social. Not having any pea friend might make him wander in search of one...

Have you taken a look at the Peafowl Stickies? There might be some helpful info there, too:

"Sticky" Threads for the "Peafowl" forum:

• Peafowl - "Sticky" topics index

 

[sasglm]

Trees, we have 80' Southern Yellow Pine trees and some 60' 50yo Oak trees mostly.

I hope to get him in something more comfortable this weekend.

thanks

 

[new 2 pfowl]

He'll love those trees! It's a treat to see them fly down in the morning, too.

Please keep us posted with your progress, and good luck!

 

[KsKingBee]

Have you made any attempt to find the owner who lost him?

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Have you made any attempt to find the owner who lost him?

X 2!
Very good point and thanks for asking that, KsKingBee!
I usually ask, since I have experience with looking for a lost bird (luckily found through the kindness of a persistent stranger).

 

[DylansMom]

Hello, brand new here so please excuse and intrusion.

My Wife for years has wanted one/two peafowl(peacocks) for our property. We discussed and thought that it would be better not to at the time with a growing family and not enough time.

Well that was many years ago and as things go, my mother-in-law who live on a small farm near us with suburbia moving in around her discovered a Male hanging around her property last week, and after 3-4 days of him being around and not being afraid of one of our boys and eating her tomatoes she decided it was time for him to leave. So we got him into a large cage and brought him back to our 8ac in the woods of central NC.

When we first let him out he walked away, but we were able to corral him and walk him back. We now have him in a 6x6 pen on the ground outside and bring him into the garage at night.

So we have no idea where he came from, but it looks like he was treated well and is used to people. Maybe in the ~2yo range with only 12" tail feathers at this time, but the colors on his neck and back are bold and colorful.

We have been feeding him, chicken feed, cat food, some fruit(grapes and blue berries) and bread(he loves the wheat bread).

We would like to get him used to us and let him free range our area. Lots of trees, a pond, and a little bit of cleared area. Not a lot of tall weeds, but Black Snakes, foxes, Coyotes, hawks, and Owls. We thought keeping him in the pen during the day he would get used to the area as he paces the edges of the pen all day looking and inspecting everything. I suppose the highest part of the area would be our roof top for roosting, but I do have a 2 story barn under construction that's open and has some shelter from the wind and rain.

So I guess my question is am I doing anything wrong here? Before I go and build a more permanent pen, I'd like to see if he's going to stick around once we open his door. I've read 1wk to 3wk in a pen to get them used to the people/area.

Trying to find his original owner would be my first suggestion. Peas can get spooked and fly too far away from home to find their way back. They also have a tendency to wander in search of a mate if they are lonely, someone may be missing him. If you cannot find his owner and you want him to stay I would recommend penning for at least 3 months, it was fall when I got my first pair many, many years ago and I penned them up for the winter, let them out in the spring and they stayed on our property for many years until passing away. He is a mature male from the looks of it, he has already shed out his big train feathers for the year( he will regrow and molt them each year) which means breeding season is over for him. I would definitely advise a hen as a companion, this is a good time of year to look for one, let them get used to each other over the winter before breeding season starts again next April. Sounds like you are feeding him appropriately, ours get poultry crumble and dry cat food, as well as a bunch of mix-ins and fresh fruit and veggies. Black snakes will only be a problem for eggs and chicks, but coyotes, fox, large owls, raccoons, eagles, bobcats, and stray dogs can and will kill them. I don't know that I've ever heard of a hawk going after a full grown Pea. If you let him loose right after getting him, you are very lucky you got him penned back up, most people who do that never see them again. They are territorial and they need time(3 months or more) to forget that they had a territory somewhere else, otherwise they will try to find their way back to it. He is an India Blue by the way, and he seems to have a bit of green on his shoulders so he could be split to Black Shoulder.

 

[sasglm]

Have you made any attempt to find the owner who lost him?

My Mother-in-law who originally discovered him has lived on that property for 50+ years and knows everyone around her that's lived there more than 5yrs. And she asked everyone that would know if anyone was raising Peafowls. Problem is they are build new houses like crazy all around her. There is one area that has a huge India population and my thought was that someone got him as a chick to raise and when he got too big for there tiny yard they didn't want him anymore. Everyone in that area knows my Mother-in-law and so if someone was looking for him they would know just who to go ask.
I've check craigslist for any postings and saw nothing.

Over the weekend he seams to defiantly settled in more to use and is sitting a lot more instead of walking the edge of his pen over and over. He's eating well and has made fewer of those real low cluck-cluck-cluck noises when we approach him. Does anyone know what those sounds are... Scared or affection or something? They are very low and you can hardly hear them. But he even makes them as he's coming over to eat the bread I throw in for him.

 

[DylansMom]

My Mother-in-law who originally discovered him has lived on that property for 50+ years and knows everyone around her that's lived there more than 5yrs. And she asked everyone that would know if anyone was raising Peafowls. Problem is they are build new houses like crazy all around her. There is one area that has a huge India population and my thought was that someone got him as a chick to raise and when he got too big for there tiny yard they didn't want him anymore. Everyone in that area knows my Mother-in-law and so if someone was looking for him they would know just who to go ask.
I've check craigslist for any postings and saw nothing.

Over the weekend he seams to defiantly settled in more to use and is sitting a lot more instead of walking the edge of his pen over and over. He's eating well and has made fewer of those real low cluck-cluck-cluck noises when we approach him. Does anyone know what those sounds are... Scared or affection or something? They are very low and you can hardly hear them. But he even makes them as he's coming over to eat the bread I throw in for him.

The low clucks are a sign of nervousness, my incubator hatched peas who are imprinted and think I am their mom do not make that noise when I approach, the rest do.

 

[KsKingBee]

My Mother-in-law who originally discovered him has lived on that property for 50+ years and knows everyone around her that's lived there more than 5yrs. And she asked everyone that would know if anyone was raising Peafowls. Problem is they are build new houses like crazy all around her. There is one area that has a huge India population and my thought was that someone got him as a chick to raise and when he got too big for there tiny yard they didn't want him anymore. Everyone in that area knows my Mother-in-law and so if someone was looking for him they would know just who to go ask.
I've check craigslist for any postings and saw nothing.

Over the weekend he seams to defiantly settled in more to use and is sitting a lot more instead of walking the edge of his pen over and over. He's eating well and has made fewer of those real low cluck-cluck-cluck noises when we approach him. Does anyone know what those sounds are... Scared or affection or something? They are very low and you can hardly hear them. But he even makes them as he's coming over to eat the bread I throw in for him.

Feed stores, humane society, local pound, coop, animal control, Craig's list are all good places to check unless you are comfortable with benefiting at someone else's loss. They may be desperately looking for their lost pet. Sorry to press the issue but it is what everyone here is thinking if not saying it.