I think people, in general, should quit humanizing birds, I am not saying you are but we tend to think they need what we need to be comfortable. We want to enclose them, heat a room for them, give them heated roosts, and on and on. Greens and high Spauldings do need more protection than IB type but I will save that for another discussion. IB's do quite well free-ranging in most of the USA, in the far reaches of the north they do need more protection and many people will coop them for six months...
The best thing you can do when raising peachicks is to get them on the ground asap, treat them for cocci and worms, provide the largest pen possible, and let them acclimate to the weather at the youngest age possible. And feeding high protein feed when they hit the ground.
Peafowl does not do well in small confined quarters, they have evolved in large open lands. They are meant to be big lanky and lean birds with good flight muscles to evade predators. Just as in all young, they need good nutrition and exercise to develop into strong healthy adult birds.
What works well for us here at Spring Creek Peafowl, we start our chicks out in warm stack brooders and move them to the outside open-air brooders by six weeks of age. There they begin the 28% gamebird pellets and is weaned off of the heat lamp. By the time they are eight to ten weeks of age, they are in large flight pens with an open-air coop.
Most of the enjoyment for me while watching the young birds flying back and forth is knowing they are getting stronger every day and developing into strong healthy birds. As for medications we treat for cocci and worms once a month until the snow flies. We like Toltrazuril because it actually kills cocci not just deprive the birds of vitamins the cocci need to live on and the birds need as well. In our large pens with many birds, we use Valbazen as it is water-soluble and actually works very well.
Please, never trim a Pea's wings, it is dangerous for them.
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We will most likely make some sort of dog door on the side of the barn and attach there old kennel so they can be outside as well. Should I clip there wings? Let them free range a little before winter? Suggestions feedback greatly appreciated.
