Chickens and peacocks/peahens question

[eggcited2]

We have 5-6 acres that our chickens, muscovys, and guineas free range on (plus they also spill over to adjacent acreages). We have a 30 X 40 barn with an attached chicken house of 18 X 9, and the birds roost in both, which ever one they want.

Would it be ok to put a pair of peacocks and peahens in the same area? I am thinking of one peacock and one or two peahens.

I have been seeing peacocks and peahens for sale. All kinds of ages, and colors. Several different farms and growers in a 50 mile (or more) radius of us.

 

[Kessel23]

Yes it would probably be alright to add a pair of peafowl. The main concern with raising chickens with peafowl is blackhead. Blackhead is a single celled protozoa that is carried by several different insects. Chickens can get black head and it will usually go unnoticed because it rarely affects them. Ducks can also get black head and it never affects them, they are immune. Guineas can also get black head and it will kill them sometimes. Turkeys and peafowl can also get black head, it will kill them nearly 100% of the time if not treated. Once a bird gets black head it will start to spread it through poop and drinking water, so if a chicken, duck, or guinea fowl got black head and survived then they will spread it to other birds. If you are not sure if your chickens and ducks are carrying black head then you could buy a few turkeys to test them.

I was not sure if my chickens were carrying it so I got 3 BBB turkeys to see if they got infected, they did not. You probably do not have black head around if you have maintained a healthy flock of guinea fowl, if your chickens and ducks did have it they would have spread it to the guinea fowl and you would have a lot more deaths than usual. Of course there is always a chance that your flock could be infected at any time if one of the birds eats an infected insect but that is uncommon, the most common way they get it is from another bird. If you do get peafowl do not release them immediately, they might wander off the property and never return.

 

[red horse ranch]

I have chickens, guineas and a pair of peafowl all living in the same building. Most of the time they all get along fine together. The only problem I have had has been the peacock and one of my male guineas fighting during breeding season. I didn't know until this summer that peafowl and guineas have been known to crossbreed. I think my alpha male guinea has been trying to protect his hens from the peacock. Most of their fighting has just been chasing and flying up at each other. Neither of them has been hurt.
Now that breeding season is over they are all peacefully free range grazing next to each other and sleeping together at night.

 

[Dany12]

Free ranging .... unthinkable?

 

[red horse ranch]

Free ranging .... unthinkable?

It's not unthinkable for me. All my poultry are turned loose in the morning. The guineas can cover 30 to 40 acres of ground in the summer. The peafowl won't go quite that far but they do like to follow the guineas around. They ALL go back to the henhouse at night.

 

[tameraf]

Mine roost with the chickens as well. I got them as chicks. I locked them in for the first month or so, and started letting them out a little at a time, while supervising them. When I felt comfortable that they would stay home, I would leave the coop door open for a few hours a day. Now they come in and out with the chickens. They are still pretty young.

 

[Midnightman14]

The concern here would be are you able to worm ALL of these birds. If you do not worm everyone regularly and thoroughly sooner or later the peafowl WILL get blackhead or worms.