BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

Menopausal pea fowl? I had no idea!

In peafowl, the male feathering forms in absence of estrogen. When the ovary stops functioning, the estrogen can drop so low the feathers start to form male coloring in response.

The male-colored peahens don't change in behavior.. they don't dance or court like the peacocks do. while the tail feathers grow and look the same as on peacocks(lacy feathers along the shaft, complete eye pattern at the tip), they don;t get really long or full.

I should have taken pictures of her change.. her neck has already molted out mostly bluish.. her body is still mostly female with the male feathers peppered throughout, but yesterday I noticed she massively shed her tail(actually train, on lower back towards the real tail) feathers like the males do- the females don;t do this massive, all at once molt of the back feathers. Need to take pics soon!
 
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Sigh.... looks like the start of an official Cocci out-break for us. Lost one of our two Spitzhauben. The second seems to have bloody stool already. Since they were in with the Sulmtalers, I have everyone on Corid 20% soluble at 1 teaspoon / gallon. :/ I'm really bummed. I've been raising poultry since I was a child, and I don't think I've dealt with disease like this (I could have been shielded from it by my grandparents, but I think I would've been alerted to it...), I'm really, REALLY hoping our Sulmtalers and Turkeys are spared.



Anywho, I did bring everyone in from the brooder over to the office-shed for their weekly weighings, everyone is just shy of 5 weeks and all 6 have hit their first pound! (except for my silver non-conformist.... 15oz....)

Here's the gang;
Cockerel #1 (Nickname; "Red" )

Cockerel #2;

Cockerel #3;

Cockerel #4 ( Nickname - "Silver" )

Pullet #1 (Nickname "Ginger" )


No one seems too down in the dumps... I did notice crops were empty today when I weighed, considering they eat like pigs, and they seemed a bit droopy, I'm going to monitor them very closely for cocci.... :/

I'm so sorry to hear this is happening to you. Hopefully the birds you still have will come out of this okay.
fl.gif
 
Yesterday was the 1 week old weigh-in for my last hatch and this little guy:








... Yeah, this one's blowing me away. He hatched out at only 1.16 ounces but after one week has grown by a whopping 207% and now weighs 3.56 ounces. I'm 98% certain this is a cockerel based not only appearance, but also on behavior. This was the first bird to come from my big boy, Monty, and I'm very pleased so far with the results.
 
Yesterday was the 1 week old weigh-in for my last hatch and this little guy:








... Yeah, this one's blowing me away. He hatched out at only 1.16 ounces but after one week has grown by a whopping 207% and now weighs 3.56 ounces. I'm 98% certain this is a cockerel based not only appearance, but also on behavior. This was the first bird to come from my big boy, Monty, and I'm very pleased so far with the results.

Honestly, that last photo convinced me of cockerel too!!!


And thank you for your warm wishes. We're hoping once everyone is officially in bigger pens, away from each other, any possible jumping cocci cases will stop and our losses will be whatever we've already lost (I'm still pulling for our last little Apenzeller)
 
Yesterday was the 1 week old weigh-in for my last hatch and this little guy:








... Yeah, this one's blowing me away. He hatched out at only 1.16 ounces but after one week has grown by a whopping 207% and now weighs 3.56 ounces. I'm 98% certain this is a cockerel based not only appearance, but also on behavior. This was the first bird to come from my big boy, Monty, and I'm very pleased so far with the results.

I'm not a betting person, but I would bet on this one being alllll boy
 
Honestly, that last photo convinced me of cockerel too!!!


And thank you for your warm wishes. We're hoping once everyone is officially in bigger pens, away from each other, any possible jumping cocci cases will stop and our losses will be whatever we've already lost (I'm still pulling for our last little Apenzeller)


I'm not a betting person, but I would bet on this one being alllll boy

He's pretty full of himself, isn't he? LOL!
lau.gif


His daddy was the biggest non-CX that I've ever hatched out, and I think he may put daddy to shame.

Monty, the proud papa:
 
Yesterday was the 1 week old weigh-in for my last hatch and this little guy:




... Yeah, this one's blowing me away. He hatched out at only 1.16 ounces but after one week has grown by a whopping 207% and now weighs 3.56 ounces. I'm 98% certain this is a cockerel based not only appearance, but also on behavior. This was the first bird to come from my big boy, Monty, and I'm very pleased so far with the results.
Great looking little guy - I'd guess boy just from his legs/feet alone!!!
thumbsup.gif


- Ant Farm
 

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