Colorado

[PirateGirl]

@uzisuzuki what are peacocks used for? I feel like I have known some to be loud, like they might be good at sounding the alarm if the flock is in danger so everyone can run for cover, but I don't know if people get them for this reason. Do people eat them? I just don't know! Are they just pets like a parrot or a songbird?

I left the ducklings outside last night since the low was only supposed to be 45 which is about as good as it gets around here. I felt nervous when I woke up to frost and the temp was 33, but the seem fine, so they might be outdoors for good! They have been out for 2 days ALL day and the drake seems to be ignoring them now as well, so hopefully this is really helping with eventual integration.

 

[kandyg_99]

$5 per egg. The male is an India Blue and the females are a Spalding Cameo Split Pied and a Spalding Purple Black Shoulder.


My dad built them out of a bunch of metal poles his friend had. It definitely has improved the stability of the little aviary! The wind would wreck it every time until we got them up.

I don't know what I'll do with them! Last year, I sold all the eggs I didn't have in the incubator, so I didn't have to think about it. I'm not big on eating eggs, so I'm not sure I'd be the best to compare. LOL I would like to hatch and sell the peachicks, but I'm not set up right now for any leftovers that don't get sold. Right now, I've got the adult male terrorizing everyone because he *really* would like to breed and the hens are pretty much done with it. He had my tiny yearling peacock stuffed into one of the chicken nesting boxes last night, and is now currently segregated to the outside of the pens for the safety of all the other birds.

I'm so glad they seem to get the crazy breeding hormones out of their system pretty early on. I don't know if I could handle it from March to August straight through.

My Husband & I May Be Headed That Way Next Week Where Are You Located ?

 

[uzisuzuki]

@uzisuzuki what are peacocks used for? I feel like I have known some to be loud, like they might be good at sounding the alarm if the flock is in danger so everyone can run for cover, but I don't know if people get them for this reason. Do people eat them? I just don't know! Are they just pets like a parrot or a songbird?

I left the ducklings outside last night since the low was only supposed to be 45 which is about as good as it gets around here. I felt nervous when I woke up to frost and the temp was 33, but the seem fine, so they might be outdoors for good! They have been out for 2 days ALL day and the drake seems to be ignoring them now as well, so hopefully this is really helping with eventual integration.

I think they're a mostly ornamental bird. They are very good at notifying the flock if something is off, and they are pretty territorial when strangers (animals or humans) show up. The breeding calls are extremely loud. For the most part, though, they don't make a lot of noise compared to roosters or dogs. I guess people could eat them, but that would be a really expensive meal for a 10-20lb bird (depending on what kind of peafowl it is).

In all honesty, I pretty much just house and feed them. The adult trio are completely hands off and are just now letting me get less than a foot away from them because the three yearlings aren't shy about coming up to people. The yearlings, while they will come up to people and try to take off with anything you have in your hands, also don't like to be picked up and handled.

My Husband & I May Be Headed That Way Next Week Where Are You Located ?

I'm in Brighton. Please DM me if you are interested!

I caught Mim trying to mimic his sire, Damien, this morning. It's so adorable. When he tries to make breeding calls, he's all puberty sounding.

Syrax is a female yearling from my adult Spalding Purple black Shoulder.

Fin Fang Foom (top) and Mad Mim (bottom) are from my adult Spalding Cameo Split Pied. They both have a scaling neck/chest pattern that is pretty interesting. I don't know if they will keep that as they grow older - their dam doesn't have it.

I think they're fun birds to have around. As yearlings, they're a handful because they want to runaway from home and find new places (especially Mim), but they're very entertaining to have. They're extremely nosy and want to check everything out. Fin likes to carefully peck the dirt off my hands and fingers. Sy likes to tug at my shirt so I pay attention to her. Mim is still my baby, even though he's trying to play like he's too big for that now. I'm pretty glad that their sire decided to adopt me 3 years ago.

 

[PirateGirl]

@uzisuzuki thanks for sharing! They really are spectacular birds. I know they are ornamental and kept as pets and prized in gardens, I just wasn't sure if they were used or bred for other purposes as well.

Some of my outdoor seeds have started to sprout, so we'll see here in a few more weeks if my new planting technique worked this year. I'm typically a failure growing things from seed because they don't survive my transition from indoors to outdoors, so this year I planted all my seeds outdoors from the beginning and figured they will just grow when they are ready to grow. We'll see what survives.

 

[PirateGirl]

Also it was like 35 degrees and raining last night and the ducklings seemed just fine this morning, so I think they are staying out for good! Spent a few hours cleaning out the spare room where they were brooded in my house yesterday and really don't want them back in there!

 

[uzisuzuki]

@uzisuzuki thanks for sharing! They really are spectacular birds. I know they are ornamental and kept as pets and prized in gardens, I just wasn't sure if they were used or bred for other purposes as well.

Some of my outdoor seeds have started to sprout, so we'll see here in a few more weeks if my new planting technique worked this year. I'm typically a failure growing things from seed because they don't survive my transition from indoors to outdoors, so this year I planted all my seeds outdoors from the beginning and figured they will just grow when they are ready to grow. We'll see what survives.

There might be other purposes for peafowl. I’m pretty ignorant on them (and chickens, for that matter). I literally fell into peafowl and chickens because I was adopted by an abandoned rooster and peacock. I’m still trying to learn about them how to take care of them and all that.

 

[lomine]

Your peas look gorgeous @uzisuzuki The little ones have gotten so big.

I’ve had a crazy few days. The buck that’s been staying with me started acting odd on Friday. He went blind and couldn’t walk well. Long story short, he got goat polio. It’s basically a thiamine deficiency. Seems that it can kill them really fast if not caught and treated early. Luckily it happened on the day I work from home. With some vitamin B shots he recovered quickly and is back to normal. Based on what I’ve read I can’t figure out what caused it.

Unfortuently my good luck seems to have turned around again. I came home to 4 dead chickens. I knew it could happen with free randging so I expected it. But the worst thing is that whatever killed them (thinking dog) didn’t eat any of them. Looks like it was all for sport. I can’t fault a wild animal for being hungry but just killing is such a waste of life. And of course 3 were among my favorites. The prettiest of my flock. I’m just glad that it didn’t go in the coop. There’s a lot of chicks and ducklings in there right now.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Your peas look gorgeous @uzisuzuki The little ones have gotten so big.

I’ve had a crazy few days. The buck that’s been staying with me started acting odd on Friday. He went blind and couldn’t walk well. Long story short, he got goat polio. It’s basically a thiamine deficiency. Seems that it can kill them really fast if not caught and treated early. Luckily it happened on the day I work from home. With some vitamin B shots he recovered quickly and is back to normal. Based on what I’ve read I can’t figure out what caused it.

Unfortuently my good luck seems to have turned around again. I came home to 4 dead chickens. I knew it could happen with free randging so I expected it. But the worst thing is that whatever killed them (thinking dog) didn’t eat any of them. Looks like it was all for sport. I can’t fault a wild animal for being hungry but just killing is such a waste of life. And of course 3 were among my favorites. The prettiest of my flock. I’m just glad that it didn’t go in the coop. There’s a lot of chicks and ducklings in there right now.

Thank you! They are getting big, especially the girls. I love them so much, it's ridiculous. I'm so sorry to hear about your birds. The predators are coming out with the heat, it seems. We just had a big fox sneaking around the coops this morning before it killed one of the feral mom rabbits in our barn. :/

 

[PirateGirl]

My husband and I were watching TV and debating if the sound of the coyotes was outside or sound effects on the show because they were in the NM desert. Opened the window and sure enough the coyotes were here. I feel like this summer has been the worst for coyotes since I lived in this house.

 

[lomine]

What do you do to deter the coyotes? Just really secure coops and runs?