Free ranging Peafowl

[JordanFamily]

Just wondering if anyone free ranges their peafowl and then put them in a coup at night? How do you get them to go back in at night? I live on a farm and was wanting to get a couple to have around the farm but don't know how to train them to not wonder off and how to go back into the barn at night? Or is there no way they will go back in the barn??? Will they just fly away for good???

 

[TinkleTurkey]

Let ours out for a bit, they don't MEAN to run away, but they dont get the concept of fences as boundaries. I look out one day and they're all out in the neighbors yard, so I had to go round em up.

But yah, they do prefer to return to the same place every night to sleep, if you leave the door open they will likely return there when the sun starts going down.

Might work if you have a really big property and their roosting area is right in the middle.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Our oldest IB cock comes out of the pens and ranges all day long. They have a roost inside the pen and he goes back inside every night. We didn't train him at all, at first when he started jumping out I was clipping his wings trying to get him to stay in but even with wings clipped he could still jump the 6 foot fence so I just let him go now. When you first get them you will have to keep them penned up for awhile anyway and once they call your place home they will stay. Here is their roost, it's about 10 - 12 feet high between two trees.

Here is "Mr P" trying to figure out how to open the back door. lol

Steve

 

[slc]

We raised our turkey poults with a few chicks, then incorporated the chicks and poults into the whole flock. Now the turkeys stay with the chickens when they are let out to range and follow them back to the coop at night. Could peafowl also bond to chicks and take on the roosting habit this way?

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I don't know if they would follow other birds or not. Ours stick togther with the other peas and don't really pay much attention to anybody else.

Steve

 

[Kev]

My experience- chicks raised together can be buddies, staying together for first several months then the peafowl just seem to drift apart together away from the other species.

Had only one exception, a white that was raised by a hen as only peachick with other chicks. I did not have any other free range peafowl while he grew up. He would not breed with peahens, only paid attention to chickens. Tried penning him him with just peahens but he became aggressive, beating the peahens up. Gave him as a lone peafowl to a chicken and guinea only flock..

 

[zazouse]

I started out with peachicks sept of last year,when i turned um loose i started this thread about them and how they are doing.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=421848&p=

 

[slc]

One of the chicks raised with the poults became a rooster and he gets on the turkey hen every chance he gets. I haven't seen him pay any attention to the chicken hens yet. He really has a thing for that turkey hen though.

 

[NateinFL]

It works well for me, I let them out an hour after sunrise and herd them in an hour before sunset with bread. If it starts getting towards sunset and you don't have them in, they will start flying into trees and on your roof. When I let them out too early, they seem to wander farther. Hope this helps.