color identification and breeding questions

[seabreeze]

We have two cocks, one India Blue and one Purple. We were told the purple was a black shoudered purple. He seems to be the only one who breeds and chases off the India Blue who is the younger of the two cocks.

We have one white hen and I don't know the color of the other hen. Here she is.


At first we thought this hen was the mom of the yearling bird we have because he had no white and now has white so most likely his mom was the white hen? Our peafowl are free range so its hard to capture them.

Here is the yearling that was incubated by the white and he follows her around. At first we thought it was a hen LOL…but too much color! Goes to show how novice we really are!
sorry for pic quality, cell phone from the car

so what color is he considered?

Thank you! Oops forgot to ask….when do the mature hens start to lay eggs? We live in Oregon where its pretty cool with a few sunny days so far. thanks!

 

[DylansMom]

We have two cocks, one India Blue and one Purple. We were told the purple was a black shoudered purple. He seems to be the only one who breeds and chases off the India Blue who is the younger of the two cocks.

We have one white hen and I don't know the color of the other hen. Here she is.


At first we thought this hen was the mom of the yearling bird we have because he had no white and now has white so most likely his mom was the white hen? Our peafowl are free range so its hard to capture them.

Here is the yearling that was incubated by the white and he follows her around. At first we thought it was a hen LOL…but too much color! Goes to show how novice we really are!
sorry for pic quality, cell phone from the car

so what color is he considered?

Thank you! Oops forgot to ask….when do the mature hens start to lay eggs? We live in Oregon where its pretty cool with a few sunny days so far. thanks!

First off, your Purple is a Purple Barred Wing, he is not a Purple Black Shoulder. A Black Shoulder would not have any striped feathers on his wings/shoulders. Your yearling is a Barred Wing as well, and the white you are seeing appears to be juvenile plumage, which will go away as he matures. I would guess the colored hen is his mother, but I really cannot tell if she is India Blue or Purple Barred Wing. If she is India blue then the yearling will be an India Blue no matter which male fathered him, if she is Purple then the yearling could be a Purple Barred wing also if he was fathered by the Purple Barred Wing male. I got my first egg yesterday, so any time now!

Maybe @KsKingBee can post a good picture of his Purple Black Shoulder so you can see the difference.

 

[KsKingBee]

 

[DylansMom]

Thank you!

 

[seabreeze]

Thank you for the correction on the purple black shoulder, much appreciated!!

are the pea babies considered juvenile at 1 yr of age?

Our white peahen is laying again so I am guessing she is the mom of the juvenile. The other one (colored) has not been seen laying yet so that is why we are guessing the yearling is the white hen's offspring.

Thanks again!!

 

[DylansMom]

Thank you for the correction on the purple black shoulder, much appreciated!!

are the pea babies considered juvenile at 1 yr of age?

Our white peahen is laying again so I am guessing she is the mom of the juvenile. The other one (colored) has not been seen laying yet so that is why we are guessing the yearling is the white hen's offspring.

Thanks again!!

Yes, they are juveniles until 2-3 years of age. With many it will take until 3 years until all the juvenile feathers are replaced by adult plumage. Normally if a Pea has a colored parent and a white parent we say they are split to/for white, and usually a split to white bird will have white flight feathers on its wings. Like these. This is why I doubted your yearling had a white mom, however like most things it is not 100%, it is possible to have a split to white bird that shows no white feathers, so really we can just give our "best guess" in a situation like yours. They are all gorgeous though! We are finally getting eggs from a couple of our hens.

 

[seabreeze]

Thanks Much!! Our white hen has definitely started laying and we know they are hers!! Last year we were not sure if the colored hen was laying or not.

 

[seabreeze]

Here is another pic of our hen and hope you can tell us what her color/s is/are? thanks!

 

[DylansMom]

Here is another pic of our hen and hope you can tell us what her color/s is/are? thanks!

In this pic, I would say she looks India Blue, no outward indication she is carrying anything else, but we can't always see splits. I have learned to love surprises!