Free Ranging with other game birds

[entropy]

I Iive on 20 acres in N. CA and really want some peacocks. I have free range turkeys and guineas that I LOVE and was hoping I could eventually let some peafowl range with them. My birds are all fairly tame....they follow me everywhere and some of the turkeys and guineas I can pet and hold. If I ride my horse around the property, my "trail turkeys" follow. Do you think peafowl would do ok in this situation? I can pen them up and will for some months to acclimate them to the area. However, I really enjoy my birds free and think they would have a better life if they could. I feed everyone twice daily and they all come running for feeding time. They know the chow schedule and come when called.
Thanks,
Laura

 

[casportpony]

When we were on 14 acres I let my free range, but I did worry about coyotes.

-Kathy

 

[zazouse]

I have free range guineas, geese, ducks, chickens and peafowl and they do fine but the only time the peas get around my other birds is at roosting time, rest time, dust time and feeding time other than that they go off by themselves in a group or groups as I have around 40 peafowl running around .

 

[zazouse]

When we were on 14 acres I let my free range, but I did worry about coyotes.

-Kathy

Yea ya got to be careful, I have a lone coyote here that stalks my birds but my dogs and I keep him in check.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello fellow Californian!! and...

, or at least the corner where We Love Peas!

Although predators are a big concern, I'm guessing that if you already free range turkeys and guineas you must already know your predator situation.
As Zazouse will tell you, no matter how much land you have it's hard to keep a curious pea from wandering.
With that in mind, what's beyond your 20 acres?
Are you close to any roads?
Do you have any unfriendly neighbors?
These are the kind of things you might want to consider.

BTW, if you do decide you'd like to free range peas, we're a bit overpopulated down here...please let me know!

 

[entropy]

Thanks for all the info. We are lucky in that our 20 acres are in the middle of another's 140 acres so we don't have any close neighbors. Our turkeys did wander over to our neighbor's place when they were building their house and the construction crew thought they were great. The turkeys and guineas serenaded the crew for the day and the men told me they took a lot of pictures of the birds and couldn't believe they were so tame. We did have to go get them but as soon as they saw us they greeted us happily and followed us home. I don't know if they have wandered that far lately but they have always been back for dinnertime.
As far as predators go, we have lost some birds but that is mainly when the hens go off to nest in the Spring. I have been trying to get them to stay close to home but it doesn't always work. We raise boer goats as well so we have a LGD that will guard the birds that stay close to home.
I think I want to try some peafowl. Does it matter if start with young chicks or will older birds do ok in this situation if they are in a pen for several months?

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Sounds like an ideal situation for peas!
Others will probably have experiences to share, but I think that any age peas would be fine as long as they are given a chance to learn where their food/home is.
The fact that you have your birds on a regular feeding schedule is likely to help keep them nearby, too.

 

[zazouse]

Thanks for all the info. We are lucky in that our 20 acres are in the middle of another's 140 acres so we don't have any close neighbors. Our turkeys did wander over to our neighbor's place when they were building their house and the construction crew thought they were great. The turkeys and guineas serenaded the crew for the day and the men told me they took a lot of pictures of the birds and couldn't believe they were so tame. We did have to go get them but as soon as they saw us they greeted us happily and followed us home. I don't know if they have wandered that far lately but they have always been back for dinnertime.
As far as predators go, we have lost some birds but that is mainly when the hens go off to nest in the Spring. I have been trying to get them to stay close to home but it doesn't always work. We raise boer goats as well so we have a LGD that will guard the birds that stay close to home.
I think I want to try some peafowl. Does it matter if start with young chicks or will older birds do ok in this situation if they are in a pen for several months?

Sounds like you are good to go , I would start out with babies, turn um loos when they hit 4 months, they will coop back up for a bit and stay close to their area for a month or two and if you add more babies the next year you will find that they will leave the confort area much faster with older peas around to show them the ropes, but you will still have to teach the new batch where not to go .

 

[MinxFox]

Wow Zazouse I didn't realize you have around 40 peas now!
I definitely agree with Zazouse about starting off with peachicks. When you start with peachicks you can take them outside and walk them around so they get used to your yard. My first peafowl I got were from the zoo. They were an adult pair accustomed to free-range life at the zoo. Needless to say a month in a pen for two adult birds was not long enough. The pair stayed for a month then a few days before Christmas the peacock flew the coop. A few days later the peahen left to go find the peacock. We were able to catch the peahen in someone's backyard but the peacock was always gone by the time we got to the places he was last seen in. We gave up on getting him back. Now I keep all my peafowl penned up mainly because I don't live at the place I keep them so it is just easier for them to stay penned since I can't be there to always watch them.

Sometimes you might have to herd them back to your yard. I know of a lady who has a lot of free-range peafowl and she said when someone down the road mows the grass around their pecan trees it chops up all the pecans and her peafowl go down the road to eat up all the chopped pecans and they will be gone for a few days staying over there to eat. She also said sometimes other people's peafowl come and visit hers. Some days she counts more peafowl than what she owns!

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Anyways the real fun part is deciding what varieties you want. There are about 225 peafowl varieties to choose from. You could get several peachicks of different varieties like pieds, whites, black shoulder, India Blue, silver pied, etc. Zazouse has a nice mix of different varieties in her free-range group.

 

[zazouse]

I kept alota girls from this years hatch to make some trios or have extra hens to sell cause that seems to be what folks want besides hatching eggs