HELP!!!

[Bobby The Gardener]

Hi folks.

I’m completely new to looking after peafowl. I work as an estate gardener in Scotland, and there are 15 free range peafowl that live in the grounds that have been mostly left to their own devices due to being left behind from previous owners. They have had a few chicks over the years but only one has ever survived due to stoats, foxes and the cold climate.

We’ve lost one or two adults this year, so when we found a hen sitting on 4 eggs we decided it would be best to protect them, so we put an small old wooden Wendy house that we had lying around, which is about 5x3ft, in our netted off vegetable area to move them into after they hatched, which was on Monday. Suddenly though we found another hen with 3 hatched chicks that we didn’t know anything, so we’ve moved them into there for protection as well.

Unfortunately the bigger hen has been pecking the other and she is hogging all the chicks. I was hoping they would settle after the stress of the move had subsided.

I have a large stone tool shed that is close by, that is about 8ft square which I have cleared and tried moving them into on Friday in the hopes that a bit more space would be better for them.

I put the chicks in a cardboard box inside the shed with the door open in the hopes that the chirping from the chicks would make the hens want to follow them inside, but they wouldn’t go near it and were getting too stressed so I put them back in the wooden Wendy house instead.

This evening I have gone to see them and the smaller hen has had all her crest feathers pulled out and about half of her neck feathers.

Should I try moving them into the stone shed again? I have some dog cages that I could try to trap in them if I place them outside the door as they come out. But i’m not sure if the stone shed will be warm enough for them anyway as the walls are quite thick and it is north facing.

Or should I give them a bit more time settle in the wooden Wendy house?

Or. should I just put the bullied hen out, as her three chicks are always with the other mother and chicks anyway? I can’t imagine she will just walk away from them given how stressed she was on Friday.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Bobby

 

[fldiver97]

I don’t know anything about pea fowl but if it were chickens I’d try to get them in the bigger area and rig some type of divider up to keep the hens from getting to each other but make sure it’s something like mesh or wire fencing so the can see each other. You can always try to remove the barrier after a few days to see if they are better. Again though.... just an idea as I know nothing about pea fowl

 

[slordaz]

will tag someone to help you as I have no experience with them.

@R2elk
@azygous

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I kicked my dominate female and her chicks out of the fly pen. She lost one but I think it helped her to learn to look after them closer.

 

[Bobby The Gardener]

Here’s an update.
So, this morning I put the dominant one outside, who got really worked up and stressed, so I let her come back in and put the other one out, who is a lot less stressed, but she’s not left the area and is looking in through the windows. Ideally i’d like to catch her three chicks and see if I can can coax her into the stone shed with them. Unfortunately I have no idea which 3 are hers! They all seem to be perfectly happy with the dominant one. Any ideas how I work out with 3 are hers? Should I just give her a random 3? Or should I just leave them all alone now and hope that she gets over it?

 

[KsKingBee]

If they won't co-mother give all the chicks to the dominant hen or put them all back outside preferable in an enclosed pen.

 

[Bobby The Gardener]

Thanks KsKingBee
The Wendy house is in an enclosed pen, it’s our vegetable area, with chicken wire around it and netting on top. We had a hen with 1 chick in there in the summer, but she didn’t use the Wendy house, and chick died. We think a stoat might have gotten in there.
I’ve been advised by a UK peafowl farm that chicks won’t survive outdoors in our climate until their feathers have developed for a couple in months, so unfortunately I think the dominant one will have to stay indoors with all 7 chicks. It’s heart breaking for the other hen, but I think it’s the best option we have just now.

 

[KsKingBee]

Part of a chick developing enough feathers to withstand the cold is being exposed to the natural climate. Chicks that are kept indoors under a heat lamp will not develop the feather insulation they need. By all means, listen to the local pea breeders but keep in mind that you can also cause harm by being overprotective.

 

[blesseddgh]

Part of a chick developing enough feathers to withstand the cold is being exposed to the natural climate. Chicks that are kept indoors under a heat lamp will not develop the feather insulation they need. By all means, listen to the local pea breeders but keep in mind that you can also cause harm by being overprotective.

 

[blesseddgh]

At what low temperature should you provide a heat lamp for feathered peachicks?