Containment For Peafowl

[goosemama]

Received 2 young male India Blue peacocks this Fall and have been frantically reading all I can about their care etc. Learning of their tendency to roam and go feral, we have them housed alone in a small chicken coop with tall roosts from which they can view their new fenced yard from the 3 windows. They have a heated water & a heat lamp, and I am feeding 20% poutry pellets and once a week dry catfood as we heard they love that. Have about an acre surrounded by 4ft.fencing and pond which my 16 chickens, 3 geese and 8 ducks share, but I fear this may not be enough reading of how they can roost in tall trees. Am now afraid as Spring approaches to let them out in this area, yet I have seen photos of others with peacocks on their decks, strolling their lawns etc. To keep peacocks does one have to contain them behind high fencing with wire ceilings, or can they roam? Does anyone have any info on this to share? I'm eager to hear others stories abour rearing peacocks. Many thanks!

 

[CoopCrazy]

I ma not an expert.. But from what I have heard once they establish their "home" they will stick around.. I would expect them to sleep in the trees though as they like to be as high up as possible..

 

[goosemama]

Thank you Brooder Boss for your input. I was afraid I would have to build big containment pens completely wired - even over the top in order to keep them home. We do have big tall trees located within the 4 foot fenced area so will not worry if when they come out in the Spring they roost in the trees. I was afraid if they were not shut up at night they might get picked off by a raccoon or coyote if they should climb the fence. I am reading every article I can find on their care, behavior etc but suppose its like most other things - live with them and learn from experience.

 

[vtfarma]

How young were they when you got them? Also, ours roosted in the trees... as the mom had for years before and we ended up with one of our 9 month old males losing a foot to frostbite, of course we are in Northern Vermont. You need to provide an area that they can roost on something that is 1 x 6 or 1 x 4. You can actually make a heated roost for the really cold days. Can't remember where I read about it, but they took a heat tape and tacked it to a board 1 x 4, covered it with carpet and plugged it in when it was really cold to keep their feet warm. What you are looking for with these birds is that they can get their feet tucked under their breast / feathers to keep them from being frostbit. The other aspect is that if you are in an area of a lot of owls your peafowl will want to roost in an evergreen probably. That is a good thing, it helps to keep the snow and ice off them in the winter. Our Mom and 2 daughters now roost on our back deck with the wide board. It seems that the Mom learned from her son having frostbite. The "chicklets" (5 babies that are 8 months old) are all sleeping in the peackok area - a trellis roost and a building area to hang out in to keep warm. They are free range though. They sometimes find a tree too.

We got some adult birds that high tailed it out of here even though we kept them penned for 8 months and others that stayed with just a short confinement. We got the chicklets when they were 2-1/2" months old and they stayed penned for about 4 months. They think they own the place now. They used the pen as their security blanket.

Laurie

 

[goosemama]

Thank you VTFARMA for your peacock input. We bought these two males quite unexpectedly at a local livestock auction. We couldn't resist them. From reading we think the one is about 2 to 3 years old as his train is very long and full while the other one's train is half that size. So they were probably extra males someone had. We know of a Vet in our area who raises them as a hobby so may be able to buy two females locally. Ads on Craigslist have brought no responses so far.

I did see that plan for a heated roost on the web and printed a copy for future use. We have them housed just the two together in a small henhouse w/heat lamp over their roost it doesn't get that cold in there and we put 2x4's over the roost so they would have a flat area and be able to cover their feet with their bodies for it is cold here in Western NY - similar to Vermont. Have read that frostbite is certainly a worry. After replacing the round chicken roost with a 2x4, my husband extended the top roost along the width of the building, connecting it to a 2x4 along the length and then to the other width, so they have almost a 2nd story they can walk around the 3 sides and look out the windows. They hop off the roosts to the floor, bedded with thick wood shavings where we have a feeder and a heated dog bowl as a waterer. They seem ok and very calm although shy of us.

If they stick around this summer, we will house them in with our chickens in the large henhouse - it has room for tall roosts for them and is heated with a gas wall heater so they won't get frostbite. We'd like to find a prefab type of greenhouse to erect beside the henhouse and then the ducks and geese can use that for winter shelter if they need it. It would be possible to hook it to the gas line too if needed. Think we'll see how they adapt to free range in our fenced area - they may be content with the other birds there and tall trees to roost in for the summer. We haven't a lot of money invested in them as we bought the both for $25 so if they take off we'll be sad but not out a ton of money. I would love to see them roaming our back area this summer - they'd probably be up on our deck as well (as our chickens do) so guess we'll wait and just hope for the best.
Thanks again for your info!

 

[vtfarma]

We got one or 2 very nice birds from Norm Johnson at Ithaca College (University?) Anyway, here is his email address - he may have some ladies for you...
[email protected]

He also has been a pretty good base for knowledge with ours. He comes to VT a few times a year and brings his ladies and gents with him. His son lives in Tunbridge. The other thing if you ever get out here we a lady in Hinesburg, VT who has beautiful birds - but they will most likely be young. So your older male may end up bored. With as many as we have they are a blast to watch. They jump over each other and hop on the roof, running from one end to the other. I love it. The midnight warning sirens when something is wrong I could probably do without but it serves a purpose. Good luck with your boys.

You are right it is much easier to lose them if they are cheaper than if you had to pay mucho $$$ from someplace like McMurray. Norm sold us those 2 and it was a fair price for an adult pair.

 

[connerhills]

PTWOODY.. I might suggest you get a hen or two and keep them in the pen.. you will have less problem with the cocks wanting to wander off. I have had 15 or so males stay in five acres but kept all of the hens in pens.. connerhills P. S. Norm has some good birds..