Colorado

[uzisuzuki]

Gosh Uzi, you are just a bird magnet! Started with a little rooster and now you've graduated to pea cocks! Better watch out... next thing you know there will be strange ostriches hanging out looking for handouts

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to keep him. Finders keepers.

Yeah, this all felt really familiar, almost like it had happened before... He's still here, so I guess I'll continue to feed & worm him. If he sticks around, I'll figure out how to house him for the winter.

I like that I've been turning down chickens because I wanted to make sure I had enough room for the ones I already had through winter, and then this dude shows up. He's like all of my chickens, plus about 10 more, put together. I do feel bad for him, though. He was eating their food like he hadn't had a decent base food in awhile. This is why he landed here. They all known I'll end up feeding them instead of myself. I'm a total pushover.

 

[maggiemo]

Uzi, That is crazy. How much room does a peacock need to roost? Can he live with your chickens?

 

[suncatcher]

Wow, congrats Uzi!!! If you do advertise him as found, make sure whoever claims him is his rightful owner, and not sure how you can do that???? All the more reason to keep him and care for him properly! I also doubt he traveled very far....... unless someone dropped him off in your area???? Mine lived with my chickens, but they do need a sturdy roost with lots of room for the males tail feathers.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Wow, congrats Uzi!!! If you do advertise him as found, make sure whoever claims him is his rightful owner, and not sure how you can do that???? All the more reason to keep him and care for him properly!  I also doubt he traveled very far.......  unless someone dropped him off in your area????   Mine lived with my chickens, but they do need a sturdy roost with lots of room for the males tail feathers.

I'm pretty sure he's the peacock that showed up in our neighbour's backyard last month, so he's been making his way around the area for a bit & no one has claimed him yet. The way people dump dogs around here, it wouldn't surprise me if someone did that to a peacock.

I read on the peafowl section here that they can commingle but I just need to make sure the chickens don't pass anything on to him. If he sticks around, I'll probably build him something with a tall roost in the extended chicken pen. They seemed to free range just fine with each other, only one Polish girl started & ended some stuff with him. That was funny to watch, tiny Polish hen pushing this gigantic peacock around.

 

[oshun55555]

I got a surprise this evening when I got home from work:



Anyone near Brighton missing a peacock this summer? I'm pretty sure this is the dude that's been hoboing around the neighbourhood. I don't know what to do with him.

Looks like the universe likes you, sent you another present to help you along. In history, myth, legend and lore, the Peacock symbolism carries portents of: Nobility, Holiness, Guidance, Protection and Watchfulness.

 

[Travinara]

Thinking about that Mareks article, if vaccinated chooks are "shedding" Mareks into their environments all the time, would that not put all of us in the same situation as Ashdoes? @dretd do you have any information about that?

I'm a full-time student, and while I'm no expert, the vaccination debate in humans opened a lot of discussions in class last term. The short answer is yes, if you are mixing unvaccinated with those who received a leaky vaccine - the risk of the unvaccinated animals contracting a stronger strain of the virus is extremely high.

My understanding of leaky vaccines is that you basically infect the animal, but the vaccine has the proper elements to prevent it from killing the host. However, that partial immunity leads to stronger strains in the long term. This is why we strive so hard for 'perfect' vaccines in humans, why vaccination research takes so long, and why we don't generally use 'live virus' vaccines in humans anymore. Our perfect vaccines aren't totally perfect, and usually someone who has recently been vaccinated will be actively shedding a doubly weakened version of the virus used in the vaccine for a while. Our population depends on this shedding to provide a 'herd immunity' to those who are unable to be vaccinated (though there's a lot of scientific debate on that point). Viruses and bacteria are constantly mutating and evolving, different strains at different rates. They can get 'sick' like humans do, and when they do they divide and replicate with slightly altered genetics that usually have a resistance the previous generation didn't. One of the easiest examples to understand this is MRSA, which is bacterial, but it's a direct result of overusing antibiotics and sanitizing wipes/gels. The bacteria has evolved to a point where our best drugs can't touch it.

I appreciate that this may not apply to chickens as completely as humans, and again I am no expert. But everything I've looked into so far seems to indicate I've got the general concept correct.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I got a surprise this evening when I got home from work:



Anyone near Brighton missing a peacock this summer? I'm pretty sure this is the dude that's been hoboing around the neighbourhood. I don't know what to do with him.

Super neat to have him find you. I think you should love him and hug him and call him George. (Loony toons reference lol)
He is a handsome fellow.

 

[alebuela]

only one Polish girl started & ended some stuff with him. That was funny to watch, tiny Polish hen pushing this gigantic peacock around.[/quote]

Uzi, I love that these marvelous creatures are finding you - it's like cosmic therapy for your accident and its aftermath.

 

[alebuela]

Thanks, @Travinara, for your up-to-date and well informed comment. What are you studying in school?

 

[uzisuzuki]

Super neat to have him find you. I think you should love him and hug him and call him George. (Loony toons reference lol)
He is a handsome fellow.

LOL my family loves to use that quote! Some of my best memories with my grandpa are watching Looney Toons with him (his fav is Wylie E Coyote, mine is Gossemer the red monster).

only one Polish girl started & ended some stuff with him. That was funny to watch, tiny Polish hen pushing this gigantic peacock around.
Uzi, I love that these marvelous creatures are finding you - it's like cosmic therapy for your accident and its aftermath.

Well, he's still hanging out so I might be taking care of him for a spell. He still doesn't trust me enough to let me catch him, but I'm working on it. I'm really surprised he didn't wander off during the day since the flock was locked up until around 4. He did smash my pumpkin plant pretty good laying in it waiting for the flock to come out.

I'll just go day-by-day for now with him since my flock dynamics are having some major shifts happening between Odysseus, Memnoch & the last 3 pullets getting ready to start laying eggs. It's been a little rough.