Hi everyone. Felt I should introduce myself and my pea

[BenAndPea]

hi everybody, just signed on and decided on quickly introducing myself and our lovely boy, pea, or 'pea the poo' as I've began to endearingly call him. I thought Id post a few questions along the way as I have a few and I would love to get people's opinions on a few things.

We got Pea from the flock at a friend's place when he was a few weeks old, there they roam free, disappear into to bush to breed at their own free will so the mortality rate for chicks is unfortunately pretty high. Eventually there was one left and he had a bad leg and would likely not have made it, since even healthy ones rarely do. So we decided to take him in and look after him with the intention of returning him once he was healed, it didn't take long but we decided to keep him.
He's grown up more like a family dog than a garden bird, took him many months to even begin walking around outside on his own and spent more or less 100% of his time on the verandas around the house.
Eventually he matured a bit and finally developed a bit of independence, he will go for walks around outside and spends the night high up in a tall mahogany tree outside. He even tried socializing and displaying for (but occasionally ends in a fight) some wild Australian scrub fowl that have began living around the garden (think a sleek, black/brown, comb-less chicken). It's been great seeing him grow-up and become a handsome young man but he still loves human company and is our pal

So to the reason I ended up here, I've been thinking about some kind of supplement to add to his food and wonder what you all think. Is it worth getting him things like garlic pellets, apple-cider vinegar, hemp seeds etc? I would love to see him stay nice and healthy,

I'm also curious as to what people use as treats for their peas. Ours has become a bit fussy. Does anyone find their pea getting a real hankering for bugs and insects instead of their seed mix? sometimes he will pick his one or two favorite seeds out of the mix and leave it to go look for bugs. I have a feeling it might be for the fun of hunting something as much as it is about food.

I've never been able to get him eating much fruit or vegetable matter, but he does like to nip at plants around the garden, some of which i dont think would be good things to eat so Im hoping somebody knows of some good plant based foods peas enjoy that I can try, and any tricks that might make him more susceptible to eating them, he got a bit spoiled when he was young on as many big juicy termites as he could eat so I worry he mightn't be getting a balanced diet.

I think that's about it, although I am thinking of getting a a friend as he is the only pea we have but im cautious as he's never really learnt any flock social skills and can be a bit erratic so I'm not sure how it would go. He's often putting on a display at other birds, even tiny doves on the lawn so I would love to see him get more confident with a girlfriend to impress I think it would go a long way to his emotional development, which I hope it isnt too late (he's got proper colour down his neck and a little on his back but he' hasnt grown a big impressive tail so im assuming he hasnt reached full maturity)

Thanks for reading Im looking forward to chatting with everybody here.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello Ben and Pea, and...



Our gang loves mealworms, live or dried, but it is really in their nature to go bug hunting.
They also love blueberries and lettuce.
Especially my most spoiled boy Peggy, who is very fond of organic baby arugula...

Glad you came, feel free to ask more questions!!

 

[DylansMom]

Hi there and

!!!! Our Peas love watermelon and cantaloupe as well as blueberries, dry cat food and potato bread. Dandelion leaves are a favorite when they are out foraging.

 

[KsKingBee]

A local farm sells watermelons for fifteen cents per pound. DW has me cut out the center for us and the peas get the rest.

 

[DylansMom]

A local farm sells watermelons for fifteen cents per pound. DW has me cut out the center for us and the peas get the rest.

That's exactly what we do!

 

[Birdrain92]

Welcome to BYC. My peafowl as a treat would be anything like bread, corn, and tomatoes. Tomatoes is Colbolt and Thora's favorite. May likes corn.

My Indian Blue Black Shoulder peahen, May, 3 months

My Indian Blue peacock, Colbolt, 3 years old.

My Spalding Split to White peahen, Thora, yearling.

 

[AnimalsRmyLife]

You have a lovely Pea!!

 

[BenAndPea]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! ill try some of the suggestions. i tried watermelon, grape, corn (straight off the cob aswel as dried in a mix) and alfalfa sprouts which were the only one of the lot he was willing to try. Is there a good way getting them used to new foods? All i can think of is to stop giving him his favourites and only dish out something better for him, i know he'll ignore it and go looking around the garden instead but hopefully he'll get hungry enough to try some new foods, fingers crossed.
btw all your peas look so handsome and in such good health, they're gorgeous

 

[zazouse]

 

[ChicksnMore]

Mine like mealworms, cat food and chopped boiled egg for protein treats. For veggies, they get dried alphalfa , especially the stuff with lots of loose leaves and blossoms in it, watermelon, broccoli, etc. Mine seem to like just about any kitchen scrap veggies, but the dried alphalfa seems to be their favorite. My edible garden weeds like lambs quarter, red root, horse purslane etc all go to the pets as well and the peas always eat at least some of that.

I use my other poultry to introduce new foods...but for your guy that doesn't sound like it'd help, and all the tricks I know from working with parrots would be hard to do with a free range bird. I think I'd just keep offering them mixed into their regular food and also as hand fed treats.