Getting peafowl

[nfrost]

Just wondering how long i should keep them in the barn before i let them free range, is 2 weeks enough? can they eat nonmedicated chicken feed, and corn? Anything else i should know, besided for noise cause i know there noisey!

 

[Glenmar]

Mine were in the barn 6-8 weeks. I think 6 weeks is the minimum. I feed mine gamebird pellets, corn, and some cat food.

 

[Kedreeva]

Before you let them out, just bear in mind that they have feathers where their brains should be. Sometimes you can pen them for a short period and they stay forever, sometimes you can pen them for a long time or hand raise them and they still leave when released... Glen's right, in that 6 weeks minimum is a good starting point. If your birds are in the barn only, with no access to view the territory they will own when released, they may not recognize where home is, or be so excited to be outside that they take off and forget where they started from.

They can eat non-medicated food, but the chicken food usually lacks the protein they need. You may try offering them cat food (that is what we do), just the dry kibble... ours love it. They are jerks and pick through their feed bin eating all the kibble first.

 

[Tikkajazz94]

I would 6 weeks min. I have had mine in the pen since I moved here (about Mid may). I've been trying to train them to come and stuff. but they seem to be to old and wild.

 

[nfrost]

If i open the door, (big sliding barn door) so the peafowl can see outside will not being able to get out will that help at all? And they are really friendly now! not wild at all and there 2!

 

[KalikoFarms]

I have 1 bs peacock and 2 peahens, we kept them up for a while and when we decided to let them out (few weeks later) one of the females took off and was gone for 5 days. We have a coyote problem so we just figured that they got a reaaaaalllllly nice meal, woke up and there she was. So now they stay in their fenced area that we made for them. The people we got them from said that they used to feed the male by hand and he would come up to you but I just dont see it. When I feed them they stand there and wait for me to leave before they eat anything (like picking out the kitty food)

 

[Tikkajazz94]

Quote:
Agreed!

 

[Kedreeva]

Quote:
If they can't get out when you open the doors, that might be a good idea. If it were me, I would put their feed and water in that area so they can see the outside while eating- hopefully they would learn to associate their food with the location.