Get ready for newbie questions.

[RoseT]

Hi y'all! I've been looking into peacocks for a while, but there are still some things I can't find concrete answers on. We have had chickens before, and we are actually going to try our hand at hatching some in the coming months, but honestly we are still pretty new to it all. Peacocks are my absolute favorite bird, and I would love to have some. We live on 5 or so acres, with 3 acres of it being fenced pasture. We are soon turning our feed room into a coop, and it's pretty good size. What would we need to make our place suitable for peacocks? I'm looking to let them free range during the day. I've heard you can clip their wings to help with the whole flying off problem, is this right? I would love to get them young and teach them to associate the new coop as their home as we have done with the chickens. We are also pretty far off from the major road. Would it be better to have a single one, or a m/f pair? Our three acres is fenced, with a miniature donkey and my mare. The fence is about 4 foot. With their wings clipped, can they easily get over this?
I really would love a pair, so if anyone has any way I could make this work without building a large pen, please share! I would love for them to free range the pasture during the day (or even the rest of the property), and stay in the coop with our chicks at night if at all possible.
So sorry about the amount of questions. Any answers at all are appreciated.

 

[Arbor]

Welcome to the pea-nuttery! The first place to look and check out is our "Stickies" section
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/389059/peafowl-sticky-topics-index

If you have any q's after that, don't be afraid to ask away on here. There are many knowledgeable individuals on here with lots of different experiences to answer them for you.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

I second Arbor's suggestions, and

, or at least the part we know as the Wonderful World O' Peas!


I would also like to add that it isn't such a good idea to clip the wings of free range peas, as they then have no way to get away from predators. And they can also easily jump a 4 foot fence (and higher!) even with clipped wings.

 

[zazouse]

I totally free range my peas and keeping them contained in a that small a fenced area is not likely to go well for you, clipping wings of free rangers is a big NO NO IMO they can hop over a 4 foot even 6 foot fence wings clipped no problem but they can not fly enough to escape predators.

In a free range situation they will follow wild critters right off your place in a mater of minutes if you are not there to stop them.

If you have close neighbors they most likely will go there if they see or hear something that catches there attention, they are very nosey.
They can be trained to stay in an area but they will test you on occasion so if you can't be there 24/7 you are running a risk of loosing them .

When laying season arrives hens will go place they have never gone in order to find the perfect laying place and there is a good chance you will never see them again if you do not find their nest, once you pull them eggs they will go to another place and this will last the entire breeding season, i know i went thew this with 7 -2 year olds last year.

I don't want to discouraged you but i have been learning the way of the free range peas almost 4 years now and it is like being a shepherd with sheep, i have dogs here to keep wild critters at bay but if the peas go to far on my land they are at risk so i make rounds with my daytime dogs threw out the day, the only day off i have is when it is raining.

I waited till i retired to get peas so i could be here to watch out for them, had i just gotten them before then and turned them loose i most likely wouldn't have any left, now i have over 40 free rangers.

Hope this helps answer your questions.

This is what Peas are famous for when they go visit the neighbors, it could be costly

 

[RoseT]

Maybe I'll just hold off then and get them sometime in the future, when I can actually build a suitable place for them! Thank you for all the help guys!

 

[zazouse]

I waited over 30 years but it was well worth it they are a joy to behold and i have learned so much about them.

 

[RoseT]

They are gorgeous! The white peas are my absolute favorite. Having a single male and raising it with my chickens wouldn't work, I assume? Sorry, sorry. I'm just hanging on by a thread here! Hopefully one day I'll get the chance to build an actual pen for some, but for now I guess I'll stick with my chickens!

 

[zazouse]

I don't think chickens would keep a pea home, i have chickens and they have absolutely nothing to do with them and some were hatched out and raised in a brooder together till they were big enough to turn a loose.

When i first started looking for wee peas i did not want white but the breeder gave me a white one my others as it was the last one, turns out she was my favorite and now i have 18 of them.

 

[Chicken Keith]

Sorry, sorry. I'm just hanging on by a thread here!

Rose T, the best thing I like about Zazouse is she will answer your questions without having you go "look it up in the stickies." Personally I find it irritating when I've searched in the stickies, only to have someone tell me to go "look at the stickies" because it basically says, "I don't have time for you." Everyone owns peafowl started out as beginners like you at one time or another. Zazouse makes the time for beginners like me and I greatly appreciate that. Thank you Zazouse. I also love her photos. If you cannot make time for your fellow man, how can you make time for your farm? My two cents.

 

[zazouse]

Aww thanks, some folks do well reading stickies and they are great for some but i myself have never even looked at them cause i can't stay still long enough most of the time to find stuff using them, plus i am a bit reader i rarely read anything word for word, it gets jumbled up in my head so i have to read a more simple way with key words, i can see a cut from a movie and tell you what the name of the show is when it comes on TV and i don't even watch TV just hear it, my DH thinks it is crazy but my Brian isn't wired like the normal folks are, i learn things in different ways..