Damsel is still nesting...EDIT: Very bad news graphic pics

[greenbird]

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Really? We have replaced eggs with chicks under chickens and ducks just fine, I didn't think peafowl would be that much less accepting if it's done at night. I assume you're speaking from experience and not supposition?

edit: I ask out of curiosity, because this is something I would have considered doing (since we HAVE with other species, it's one of the ways we break broodies of being broody... because sometimes even if we take the eggs they still want to sit on that nest until they hatch SOMEthing), but if others have had experience failing this method with peafowl I'd like to know.

I've done the same thing with chickens with no problems.

I've never put new chicks under a setting peahen, but I have peahens accept chicks that weren't hers; a couple of days after her own chicks hatched. I have two adult peahens, and this year they hatched chicks at the same time (They nested in completely different spots). One of the hens ended up stealing one of the others chick. She was completely accepting of it, never tried to kill it.

It's not the exact same situation, but pretty similar ide say: a peahen accepting a chick that wasn't hers.

On a side note. The peahen that stole the chick ending up loosing her chicks to a dog. A sort of weird thing happened. She joined up with the other peahen and her chick. So now it's two peahens taking care of one chick. The peahens get along perfectly, and the chick gets the benefit of having 2 pairs of eyes looking out for it.

 

[Kedreeva]

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Yeah, that's been our experience with both chickens and ducks. If we put it under them and night and remove the eggs, they get up in the morning and decide oh. They must be mine because the eggs are gone! YAY I HATCHED SOMETHING.

Now granted, we've had some chickens who literally just want to hatch something, and once the chicks are in the nest they leave. But I haven't yet had a hen turn on the chicks and outright kill them

 

[DMFarm]

Kedreeva
I am speaking from years of experience on raising wild fowl. Chicken and the ducks you are talking about are all domestic breeds when you get in to wild breeds of birds it totaly different. First thing you don't go in a pen at night the birds get spook easy and fly straight up I guess you never seen a peacock or peahen break they neck at night from being spook off the roost I have that why you don't go in pens at night. A peahen when you try to take her eggs she going to get off the nest and when she come back and there chicks she not going to accept them because she know she didn't hatch them. When a peahen hatches her eggs sometimes you can put a few more chicks with them and she will accept them sometime they will not. I see this in wild waterfowl also I have mandarins and wood ducks lay in the same nest and have seen the wood duck hen throw out the mandarins eggs when she start setting I had wood duck hen kill other wood duck chicks because they got to close to her babies. If you want a peahen to raise chicks let her hatch them they do a good job hatching and raising them. If you want to take the chance on loosing several peachicks go for it but don't tell someone else to try it.

 

[Kedreeva]

Settle down there cowboy, no need to come in guns blazing at me for asking clarification. I go into my coop and they don't panic at night, I assumed others act the same- I guess mine are more calm. Don't get snippy with me about not knowing, especially when my experiences are the only thing I had to go off of.

 

[Exotics R Us]

I just ran across this forum and after reading some of these post thought I would put my two cents worth in. I will have to agree with DMFarm, we have been raising peafowl and other wild fowl for many years (15) and still learning. I don't like telling other people how to raise there birds because what works for you may not work for them, if I were to tell someone its OK to go in there peafowl pen at night to swap chicks for eggs and there hen shot straight up and broke there neck what will you tell them then? "OH we do it all the time". I didn't see anything wrong with the other persons post you asked they replied and I guess you took it the wrong way if you don't want to know don't ask. We have lost many peafowl and pheasants over the years because they fly straight up in the barn hit the roof broken neck loose a few 400.00 or 500.00 peafowl and you won't do it again next time you will wait til they are ALL outside.

What everyone needs to remember is you are now working with peafowl and pheasants not as easy or the same as raising chickens any Tom, Dick or Harry can raise chickens only some can raise peafowl and do it right. I know my very first post and already made everyone mad, but like I said I'm still learning myself and I too need to call someone like Leggs Peafowl once in a while to ask questions.

Just remember to have fun with anything you raise.

Ricky
Exotics R Us

 

[Kedreeva]

Oh, I'm not mad, Exotics. Just a little put out to be addressed so unkindly when asking for further information. It's just as easy to give information politely as it is to snap at someone

 

[greenbird]

Just sayin': I've also had peacocks for years, and honestly I've never had any of them fly strait up at night, and I go in their pen almost every night. I suppose it just depends on the bird.

 

[NateinFL]

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Same here...I had 2 nesting hens on 2 different occassions get kicked off the nest at night, one by a crazed goose, and one by my dog scuffling with an armadillo. Both walked back to the nest with the help of my flashlight. In my experience they are very good mothers.

 

[6littlechickies]

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Please don't feel put out over the posts. Sometimes the items applied to certain fowl will not transfer over. I think that DM was just trying to set everyone straight with the risk here. He is a very experienced and credible peafowl and exotic fowl breeder in my opinion. Peas are not like chickens and have the set laying season and don't wait all year for chicks, they have a more wild instinct to them and in the wild it is protect your turf and young or don't survive. I would agree with DM that the night time entry into the pea pen has to be eliminated or performed very carefully. I have had several of my docile birds shoot straight up and I mean straight up when I spooked them at night. If I enter at night it is usually at just before dusk and I am not messing near the birds, just walking by pens checking for late eggs. Many of them are still not roosting. I have stopped the midnight let me check them out routine because they spook then. During the day they can see you and fly/maneuver around you or over you but at night they react by instinct and go straight up. When you get enough birds you learn these lessons. It only takes once to end in disaster for the bird. The great thing here is its all about the birds and we're ALL still learning and having a good time

 

[Kedreeva]

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See, it can be said nicely. Thank you Chickies. I mean, I understand the concept he was trying to get across- and I would never purposely advise someone to do something that I knew would hurt their birds... or even thought it MIGHT hurt their birds. That would be silly and rude and horrible. If your birds shoot straight up in the air at night when you visit, then of course don't visit then. Mine don't, and I didn't know others did or I wouldn't have said anything