Chickpeas

[Nugget]

Hi! I originally posted this question in the wrong folder- I have 6 hens (chickens) in a 48 sq ft coop with an attached 150 sq ft completely enclosed run. I have the opportunity to hatch a couple of peafowl eggs and thought it would be an interesting thing to add to my flock. I have 3 acres of treed property. Would I run into trouble if I introduced a couple of peas to my current setup? Could a peacock winter in a coop this size with my hens or would I need to build something new? If it foraged during the summer could it live on the layer pellets I feed my hens through the winter? Is it going to destroy my fenced veggie garden?

Thanks for any advice

 

[C-Bee-A-Pea]

Hi Nugget

!!!

From what I know about Peafowl, you should probably have at least 100 square feet of run space per a bird. I also do not believe that the 48 square feet of coop space will work for Peacocks, because they have such a long train when they get to be 2-3 years old. Having said that you could probably fit one Peahen in that space but it would be very tight and stressful for all of the birds. I also would not suggest you getting one Pea because Peafowl are a very sociable breed of bird and I guess you can say they become nuts when they do not have other peas around. As far as feeding layer pellets, I think the peas would be fine with it, but if you could provide the peas with a higher percentage of protein, something like a 24-25%, they will be better off.

Here is some more stuff you can read that will help you in your quest for peas

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"Sticky" Threads for the "Peafowl" forum:

• Peafowl - "Sticky" topics index

Hope this helps.

 

[Yoda]

Hi! I originally posted this question in the wrong folder- I have 6 hens (chickens) in a 48 sq ft coop with an attached 150 sq ft completely enclosed run. I have the opportunity to hatch a couple of peafowl eggs and thought it would be an interesting thing to add to my flock. I have 3 acres of treed property. Would I run into trouble if I introduced a couple of peas to my current setup? Could a peacock winter in a coop this size with my hens or would I need to build something new? If it foraged during the summer could it live on the layer pellets I feed my hens through the winter? Is it going to destroy my fenced veggie garden?

Thanks for any advice

You have pictures of the coop? Peas will not stay at the floor they will want to go up on something and the perch needs to be at least 5 feet high.

 

[msmolly]

Hi! I originally posted this question in the wrong folder- I have 6 hens (chickens) in a 48 sq ft coop with an attached 150 sq ft completely enclosed run. I have the opportunity to hatch a couple of peafowl eggs and thought it would be an interesting thing to add to my flock. I have 3 acres of treed property. Would I run into trouble if I introduced a couple of peas to my current setup? Could a peacock winter in a coop this size with my hens or would I need to build something new? If it foraged during the summer could it live on the layer pellets I feed my hens through the winter? Is it going to destroy my fenced veggie garden?

Thanks for any advice

My peafowl roost during the winter in the hen house with my chickens. Its definetely tight,and some body is usualy getting messed on, but they don't seem to mind. They are free to roost out in the pen where its pretty sheltered and I tarp the roof to keep the snow off part of the run. And they do come and go, (india blues are pretty winter hardy)during the day, but still choose the tight quarters at night. The highest perch in the hen house is only 4 feet high, but in the run its over 8 feet high. I can't say mine is the best situation, but its do-able. Peacocks drop their tail about September,(atleast mine do) so going into winter, the train isn't a concern in the hen house. By February, yes the train is starting to touch the floor. Its sounds like you have plenty of room, and they wouldn't be locked up in the hen house full time. As long as the snow isn't too deep, my peafowl like to free range even in winter. They don't range very far though, partialy, I think because they don't want to leave their chicken buddies. Chicken legs are just too short in snow! Good luck