Free ranging on small acreage

[RuzichFamily]

Hi guys, currently I have my 3 peas (almost a year old) in my 20'x50' netted aviary. I've raised them since they were a day or two old and they have been in the aviary since I took them outside. I have 2 acres and live in a small (10 houses) village out in the middle of nowhere plus there is farmground and some woods that my neighbor wouldn't care if they picked for bugs on. My place is fenced in and I have no problems keeping my turkeys in the yard but I didn't know if the peas will stay in the area as well or if they'll bug out and just be completely gone. I would love to get the peas out of the aviary but I didn't know what the odds would be of keeping them close to the house. Surely by now, my little homestead is "home" to them right? Is it too hopeful to think that they may wonder a little during the day but would basically stay close and always come back to roost?

 

[zazouse]

Peafowls idea of close is as far as their pea brains take them, it is nothing for mine to cover 25 acres a day as there are no dogs to chase them and the neighbors in the village won't freak out if they get on their cares and other things high up they should be ok, they will not go very far at first but as time goes by and they become more confident and bold they will range farther away and harass things that they deem as a trespasser which can at times lead them far away if you are not there to stop them.

This is what happens when i cut down a tree, any time we do something like move dirt, stump grind cut trees tear something down they go to come see what is going on, they can be real pest but we love them .But your neighbors may not like them getting in the way .












Tear something down here they come






Trespasser at the pond they are the first to set off the alarm and cause the dogs to come see what is wrong, in this case there was a pair of geese that dropped in on the duck pond, Annie came to the rescue and ran them off.

 

[connerhills]

If you decide to let them free range, let one of the males out first and observe him for a few days and then put him back in the pen and let out another peafowl and do the same thing then put it back in and let out the last one for a while and see what it does .. You did not say what sex they are as this will make a difference. If they are all males ,in the breeding season they might go looking .. you know how men are.

You might repeat this action with the birds .. If one is a female the other 2 will stay around good .. If they are females they will go off and lay somewhere and may get eaten while on the nest

Hope this helps ,,, connerhills

 

[RuzichFamily]

Right now I have 1 hen and 2 cocks but I have the brother to the hen up for sale and I don't see him being at my home much longer as I've had several inquires. I have no intention on having more than a pair. I don't think that the neighbors would mind them just passing through unless they got on a car or caused damage to something like that. I'm pretty wary of letting them range for that reason. I think it's probably a bad idea, no so much for the pea's safety but for peace in the hamlet of Martinsburg...

 

[MinxFox]

It is always hard to say what they will do.

Just talking to local peafowl breeders I have found a big difference in how their peafowl free-range. One of the most interesting examples locally is a guy named Glen. He pens some varieties for breeding such as cameos and pieds but the majority of his peafowl are free-ranging in his fenced in backyard which is 1 acre or less probably. His yard is surrounded by woods. He does have close neighbors. They aren't visible from the backyard where his peafowl hang out and I somewhat doubt that the peafowl venture over to the neighbors. The reason why his peafowl stay within the fenced in backyard is because it is their safe zone. Beyond the fenced in backyard the coyotes, raccoons, etc would kill them. Glen lost several white peafowl that he turned lose to free-range because they left the safety of the backyard and were eaten. This danger is what keeps them from venturing too far. His peahens will even nest right under a scrap pile of tin, under the feed barn, up against the fence of an aviary, basically they nest in somewhat plain sight right there in the backyard. I consider this a very lucky situation that his birds are always in sight. Just recently my Dad told me his friend's free-range peafowl will go off for sometimes a week at a time and then come back home. I once saw a situation at a parrot rescue where a group of 3 or 4 adult peacocks (no peahens at all) were free-ranging in around an acre with houses all around.