broody peahen

[chicknmania]

Sweetpea has been setting, her eggs will be due to hatch June 7. HER eggs will. Thing is, she's setting on five eggs...two of hers and three chicken eggs. This should be interesting.....

the chicken eggs will probably hatch this weekend. Any guesses on what she will do? I'm pretty sure the chicken eggs will be fertile, not sure about hers. And she won't get off long enough for me to candle them.

 

[zazouse]

Congratulations.
you did put them chicken eggs under her after the pea eggs right?
I candle my peahens eggs, i just push them sideways off the nest do what i gotta do and leave, they are cool with it, kinda offended looking as they scoot back over the eggs.

These are goose eggs i replaced with the peahens eggs, it will be intresting to see what the peahen does with the goslings when they hatch, but i figure the geese will steal them away from the peahen

 

[chicks4kids]

Yeah, good question zazouse...chicken eggs are 21 days to hatch and peafowl are 28.

What if the chicken eggs hatch at day 21 and she abandons the peafowl eggs??? Which in my experience, (only last year) my peahen pushed an egg over 15 feet away out of a nest after 24 hours of her others hatching...She completely took that unhatched egg out of the equation...

 

[chicknmania]

I didn't put the chicken eggs under her...the chickens laid them in the same nest, either when she was off taking a break, or before she decided that
was a good place to set. Although I would love to have peachicks, I'm not worried if we don't have any, because then I have to find a home for them., AND
catch them and their mother..

I guess we'll just have to see. She might decide she doesn't like the chicken chicks, and abandon them.....who can say. If they hatch, they are due today.
Zazouse, I don't like to mess with the broody peas, because I think that might be why we lost Princess. She would stay on her infertile eggs long past hatch time..weeks.
I would get concerned and try to catch her to put her in a pen to break her broody cycle, I was afraid she'd get sick from setting so long. The next time she'd go
broody, she'd try to find a better place, where I couldn't find her. I always wondered if maybe she finally went broody outside...and coyotes got her.
Although we never found any evidence of that, not even a feather.

Anyway, I'm hoping that if I don't mess with Sweetpea, she'll go back to the same nest
box next time. I can easily keep an eye on her there, and she's safe. I have never seen her breed with either peacock, I know they can be secretive, but would
they be that secretive? The hens always try to avoid the cocks, that i've seen, and they just stay together, the two hens. SO I'll be surprised if her eggs are viable.

 

[chicknmania]

Love that white peahen, she is pretty!