Charcoal Peahen

[chicknmania]

So my three year old Charcoal peahen has been laying eggs. I'm not exactly thrilled because I bought her specifically because I did not want another
broody peahen and I don't want any more peachicks. She is beautiful and entertaining and funny and I have no desire to get rid of her, but I am disappointed. I have not seen her breeding with our IB peacock but I would not be surprised if she has. I know the egg I found today is hers because our other peahen is broody. What is the likelihood of our Charcoal hen going broody...will she be less likely to go broody because she is supposed to be sterile, or does it make any difference? If she does
go broody, what will the chicks look like since our IB cock would be the father?

 

[Dany12]

Infertility linked to food .... I have a doubt!
This is how wild peacocks live in the Thar desert ... Pakistan side!
What do we see ...,
Sand .... sand .... sand!

 

[Midnightman14]

You're entitled to your opinion i suppose. I was very familiar with my IB hen's habits and i knew her for ten years. I dont think those were her eggs. Anyway she was tragically killed ladt month in a dog attack so we will see what happens with my charcoal hen going forward as she is now the only hen i have and probably will be the only mature hen i have for a few years.

It's not an opinion it's fact based on 40 years of sterile charcoal hens. There is no reason to believe that they would start now. I will believe it when proof is presented and not a moment sooner. That's how science works.

 

[KsKingBee]

Is that the hen you got from me? If she truly did lay an egg you should be singing from the rooftop as there have not been any known Charcoal hens lay that were not Spaulding. No one can answer your question about her brooding eggs as there have been none to date.

 

[Dany12]

We can still say that the chicks will be blue split Charcoal!
Are there pictures of this hen?
Is it ringed 'Spring creek peafowl'? a farm band?
A Charcoal spalding peahen would have laid eggs ... is that 100% true?

 

[chicknmania]

It certainly looks like a pea egg, did you find a bullseye on the yolk?

No, thank goodness, I didn't. We ate the egg, and yeah defintely a peahen egg.

 

[chicknmania]

So I'll let you know going forward if she goes broody. Gawd I hope not. I have enough broody problems with my IB hen, lol. Although it might be interesting to incubate any future eggs in an incubator just to see how the chick turns out.

 

[chicknmania]

If it's laying it's not a charcoal. dozens if not hundreds have been bred and the few that are vigorous enough to stagger their way to adulthood have never laid even if you can side step the blindness, destructive inbreeding that plagues the color, and poor vigor. I'll believe it when I see it come out of the hen in good enough light that there is no doubt.

Nobody's asking if you believe it or not. I know she did. We only had two hens at the time, and our other hen was already setting and had been for a few weeks. She wouldn't get off her nest, go somewhere else, lay eggs and then abandon them to go back to her nest. I've had enough peahens, I know what peahen eggs look like. I bought our Charcoal hen from a reputable breeder that I trust. Yes, she is a Charcoal. Maybe it was a fluke, idk. She's never shown any interest in broodiness. She's always been a beautiful, healthy hen and we've had her for five years, since she was a young bird, so maybe you haven't been looking in the right places, if you're looking.

 

[chicknmania]

Sounds like the other hen was the one laying and the charcoal was just along for the ride. Egg dumping is a big part of peafowl behavior and that is likely what happened. The charcoal hens' maternal instincts are intact they just don't lay. It's been almost 40 years since charcoal appeared and no one has been able to put up that they have hens that laid. Until irrefutable proof is presented it's all he said she said. One bigger breeder has claimed that spalding charcoals of high enough percentage can lay but again no proof and said breeder is not known for their honesty. Phil Phillips at one point had probably the highest percentage spalding charcoals in the US and all those years of breeding them never yielded a single fertile charcoal hen. I'm not holding my breath that it's going to change.

You're entitled to your opinion i suppose. I was very familiar with my IB hen's habits and i knew her for ten years. I dont think those were her eggs. Anyway she was tragically killed ladt month in a dog attack so we will see what happens with my charcoal hen going forward as she is now the only hen i have and probably will be the only mature hen i have for a few years.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@casportpony