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Hello DylansMom I was told to seek you out as well, I actually seen that you have peas last night when I had an itch for something exotic and beautiful but wasn't sure if I should contact you until speaking to someone else about baby chicks and you were mentioned. So let me begin with besides knowing I can legally have them where I live and they seem to be harder to get successful baby's from I know nothing. With that being said I dont take on any living creature until I am comfortable that I wont do it more harm than good. I hope to educate myself and eventually have a pair or whatever works better since I know nothing. From what I have seen and read you might be a great spurce of emergence and knowledge for me oh btw my name is Tiki
 
toytika said:
Hello DylansMom I was told to seek you out as well, I actually seen that you have peas last night when I had an itch for something exotic and beautiful but wasn't sure if I should contact you until speaking to someone else about baby chicks and you were mentioned. So let me begin with besides knowing I can legally have them where I live and they seem to be harder to get successful baby's from I know nothing. With that being said I dont take on any living creature until I am comfortable that I wont do it more harm than good. I hope to educate myself and eventually have a pair or whatever works better since I know nothing. From what I have seen and read you might be a great spurce of emergence and knowledge for me oh btw my name is Tiki
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Hi Tiki! Very pleased to meet you. We are located in PA near Hanover and Gettysburg, not sure how far that is from Pasadena, MD? Anything I can help you with would be my pleasure. I love my birds and currently have 40 of them as well as some chicks.
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You as well! So some questions because I am very curious if I wanted to keep one or two is it best to have a mated pair or? I have read some things saying they are loud is that all the time or only at certain times? Do you keep yours all together, with your chickens, or separated by sex? Do they have to be separated? Could they stay with other birds or animals? I have read they can be aggressive is their a way to make them less likely to become that way? I have 6 kids and my little ones love taking part in caring for the chicks and koi. I def would only want to have an animal that could become one of the family. How long have you had yours? Where do you purchase yours from? Do you get them as eggs or babies? Is there any special care or diet that you have found better than what might be recommended? Thank you very much for any and all insight you might be able to give me. Btw I'm about an hour or so from Gettysburg so not too far!
Also since your up that way the guy cutting my grass today told me there's an auction up that way on Tuesdays have you ever heard of a place right by the md/pa line that does that and if yes have you ever had any dealings with them? Thanks again
 
@DylansMom I just came across your post on the 2015 season thread, I don't know you obviously, but couldn't help but come back to this to just let you know I will totally understand if you take your time answering my meaningless questions or don't answer them at all, I hope you and your family pull through your battle stronger and happier than before. I have had many ppl close to me battle some nasty illnesses. Staying positive and not giving up has sometimes been the best medicine they could hope for!
 
toytika said:
You as well! So some questions because I am very curious if I wanted to keep one or two is it best to have a mated pair or? I have read some things saying they are loud is that all the time or only at certain times? Do you keep yours all together, with your chickens, or separated by sex? Do they have to be separated? Could they stay with other birds or animals? I have read they can be aggressive is their a way to make them less likely to become that way? I have 6 kids and my little ones love taking part in caring for the chicks and koi. I def would only want to have an animal that could become one of the family. How long have you had yours? Where do you purchase yours from? Do you get them as eggs or babies? Is there any special care or diet that you have found better than what might be recommended? Thank you very much for any and all insight you might be able to give me. Btw I'm about an hour or so from Gettysburg so not too far!
Also since your up that way the guy cutting my grass today told me there's an auction up that way on Tuesdays have you ever heard of a place right by the md/pa line that does that and if yes have you ever had any dealings with them? Thanks again
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toytika said:
@DylansMom I just came across your post on the 2015 season thread, I don't know you obviously, but couldn't help but come back to this to just let you know I will totally understand if you take your time answering my meaningless questions or don't answer them at all, I hope you and your family pull through your battle stronger and happier than before. I have had many ppl close to me battle some nasty illnesses. Staying positive and not giving up has sometimes been the best medicine they could hope for!
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Hi Tiki, thanks so much for your kind words, they mean a lot. I fully intend to kick this thing and have already told my hubby that since this year is being cut short, he better be prepared for some SERIOUS hatching next year!
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I have a great support system and hubby and my mother who is 10 mins away are both on family leave from work, and my 10 yr. old son is off for the summer so he can keep me active. The computer can be a terrible or a wonderful thing and in this instance I am really glad we have them, it will allow me that human contact that I will miss out on while my immune system is down. All that said, lets answer some questions(never meaningless)!

I know the auction you are talking about, I have not gone, I'm always a little scared of auctions for Bio-security reasons and this year esp. with the Avian Flu, making it's way here. I have a friend who has gone and he says the selection of Peafowl is very small.

I would recommend a mated pair, or even trio. Keeping your male happy during breeding season will reduce his need to call in more ladies, and this is the main source of noise from Peas. They make mating calls from about April thru about Sept. the rest of the year you wouldn't even know I have 20 males here. They will respond to things like car horns, but nothing like breeding season.

I have 2 mature white males who live together year round they are 7 now and have never been with hens, they get along fine, however if hens were added that would change and they would fight for breeding rights. I actually have 14 separate pens, no more that one mature breeder male per pen, to prevent cock fighting. I have several pens with multiple younger birds as they seem fine for the first 2-3 years, before the testosterone really gets flowing. My chickens, turkey, and guineas are 100% free range and when I let the "trustworthy" Peas out to roam there can be some sparring, but my rooster is mellow, and my guineas give up pretty fast when they realize how much bigger the Peas are. I do not house the different species together, again for Bio-security, I am constantly worming the free-rangers, Peas I do twice a year, as they have less exposure.

I got my first Peas 20 years ago, and grow more addicted all the time, they are the least aggressive birds I have. Guineas will bite hard when caught, I've never been so much as pecked by a Pea. However when people incubate and hand raise they can imprint on humans and then they grow up thinking you are equals. They are very friendly and cute when young, but when the males hit maturity and that testosterone kicks in they will see human beings as either potential mates or potential rivals, and this is where you find cases of aggression. You want chicks that were handled a lot when young, but not imprinted. I like to get mine as 1-3 day old chicks or as eggs, older birds can come with baggage like the aggression issues and you may not know it until they are mature. We sell hatching eggs by the way, a lot this year since I am done hatching already. I also have some chicks available right now. If you get some we'll talk feed, Game bird is recommended for the higher protein, but I don't like high protein until they are at least 6 months and then there are add-ins for protein, game bird costs a small fortune and Peas are very wasteful eaters, it is one of their biggest drawbacks IMO, they throw more on eth ground then they actually eat.

Gotta run and get a shower, but please don't hesitate to message me, I am still feeling pretty good, so this is great for me! Take care, Mindy
 
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I'm certain it will get tougher on you especially since it seems like you might be a ball of energy under normal conditions. It sounds like you have alot of help though and that's always a plus. My mother passed away about 4 years ago because she was stubborn and didn't listen when the doctors told her long before that to quit smoking, with that being said it was a very long battle of mostly her unwillingness to take care of herself and listen. Sadly she was pretty young to pass away from something more self inflicted than anything. I know firsthand that being positive and having a fighting desire to pull through means a lot and it sounds like you have an absolute need to get past this so I really wish you the very best and quickest recovery!

Thank you for the insight, so if I was going to keep them I would be safest with a pair. I don't have a huge amount of land so I can't foresee me ever having more than a few at most. Can I ask what the major concern is with keeping them with other birds as far as bio security? Like passing different life threatening diseases or worms etc? I think I had imagined a barn with a bunch of different types of birds but obviously if that is foolish I defy wouldn't want to endanger any animals. Is their a better time of the year to get them starting out? What about winter time care such as do they get kept the same or similar to chickens?

I am seriously inexperienced with even chickens. I have had ducks and geese but this is my first year of having anything else so in comparison to chickens is the care and needs similar or very different? Do you sell chicks also? I hope I don't sound like a total idiot but I don't even know what a guinea is or looks like lol(guess I have to do some homework on that one) is their some sort of feed that would be high in protein? Do you feed them live birds? I am certain its necessary I'm just surprised someone hasn't tried to bag it or turn it into big money biz somehow by making a pellet or something.. as far as their coop is it similar to a chicken coop? Any big differences? You don't eat the eggs of peas right? That just seems wrong to me but what do I know! Are they like chickens as far as producing eggs everyday or no? Are yours good with your son? Well I think I have asked enough questions for now. Hopefully you are feeling ok today and enjoying the beautiful weather and birds!
 
toytika said:
I'm certain it will get tougher on you especially since it seems like you might be a ball of energy under normal conditions. It sounds like you have alot of help though and that's always a plus. My mother passed away about 4 years ago because she was stubborn and didn't listen when the doctors told her long before that to quit smoking, with that being said it was a very long battle of mostly her unwillingness to take care of herself and listen. Sadly she was pretty young to pass away from something more self inflicted than anything. I know firsthand that being positive and having a fighting desire to pull through means a lot and it sounds like you have an absolute need to get past this so I really wish you the very best and quickest recovery!

Thank you for the insight, so if I was going to keep them I would be safest with a pair. I don't have a huge amount of land so I can't foresee me ever having more than a few at most. Can I ask what the major concern is with keeping them with other birds as far as bio security? Like passing different life threatening diseases or worms etc? I think I had imagined a barn with a bunch of different types of birds but obviously if that is foolish I defy wouldn't want to endanger any animals. Is their a better time of the year to get them starting out? What about winter time care such as do they get kept the same or similar to chickens?

I am seriously inexperienced with even chickens. I have had ducks and geese but this is my first year of having anything else so in comparison to chickens is the care and needs similar or very different? Do you sell chicks also? I hope I don't sound like a total idiot but I don't even know what a guinea is or looks like lol(guess I have to do some homework on that one) is their some sort of feed that would be high in protein? Do you feed them live birds? I am certain its necessary I'm just surprised someone hasn't tried to bag it or turn it into big money biz somehow by making a pellet or something.. as far as their coop is it similar to a chicken coop? Any big differences? You don't eat the eggs of peas right? That just seems wrong to me but what do I know! Are they like chickens as far as producing eggs everyday or no? Are yours good with your son? Well I think I have asked enough questions for now. Hopefully you are feeling ok today and enjoying the beautiful weather and birds!
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Thanks Tiki. I am so sorry to hear about your mother. I too smoked when I was younger, but I did manage to quit some years ago. If anyone ever tells you the universe does not have an ironic sense of humor, trust me they are wrong, I'm told my cancer is not one of the types usually associated with smoking, more likely a genetic fluke or possibly Radon exposure at some point. My mother even now is still smoking like a proverbial "stack".
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As far as your birds, many people keep multiple species in a single enclosure, it simply takes more research and a more militant worming and medication regimen. Each species canbe more susceptible to certain things than others, Cocci for example may pose no problem to a 6 week old chicken chick, but could kill a 6 week Peachick in 2 days. As long as you are willing to research the strengths and weaknesses of each species and keep them disease and parasite free thru preventative medication it can work just fine. For myself, I know my free range chickens are exposed every single day, and it is the price they pay for freedom that they get a lot of awful medicine squirted down their throats fairly often. With 40 Peas (a lot harder to catch and medicate), it would be a real chore to medicate this often and if the chickens were allowed to mingle, I would need to.

I take it you are not planning on free ranging your Peas? With limited land it doesn't usually work well to free range, they end up at the neighbors making trouble for themselves. I always like to get my young ones in the spring, that way they are plenty old enough to handle the winter cold. I will attach some pics of our barn and pens.

Game bird crumble has the higher protein, but is very costly. I have 20 year old Peas that have never had Game bird and are doing just great, they've always had regular poultry feed with a side dressing of dry cat food (which is like candy to them) to raise that protein. I do not advise feeding any live worms, unless they are mealworms from the pet store which I believe are supposed to be disease free. Live worms can carry Blackhead, which will kill Peas and turkeys. I cringe when it rains a lot because the worms are all over the ground, but my adults usually do not even look at them. Peahens lay eggs every 2-3 days around here, and only from approx. April - August, they are not nearly as prolific as chickens. I have 2 young hens in with a 2 year-old male this year and he has proven to not be fertile yet. The girls are laying and he is mating, but all eggs have been clears so we are eating those eggs. Just like a chicken egg, but huge. My son loves Pea dippy eggs, 2 slices of toast per egg. My birds have always been fine with my son and they were here 10 years before him, so they were around him as a toddler. Hope this helps, and yes I do sell chicks, have a couple right now, but we cut the hatching short because of my cancer, so these will be the last for this year unless any of the hens want to do it themselves. Take care, Mindy




 
YW, Sadly we weren't talking when she passed and the thing that bothers me is that she could have chosen to take better care of herself and should have especially knowing that she had grandbabies that were just babies when she passed and my youngest wasn't even born yet, I hope I don't sound selfish but to me six grandbabies should be plenty reason to want to live, unfortunately she just gave up it seemed. I only have ever known her and my siblings so I guess I feel a little ripped off that they might feel the same way I did growing up. My husbands mother passed away a long time ago and my father in law just passed this past February. So I sometimes worry what they must feel like when they see other kids interacting with family beyond their parents. But anyway enough with my family issues! Radon is some really nasty stuff do you know if you were ever exposed or that's what the doctors believe could be a possibility? Yes it is often very ironic what happens in life. I hope that your mother is at least good about going to the doctor for at least a physical and bloodwork at least once a year especially if it could be genetic.


Nice set up , I had no idea you could eat peachick eggs so I first need to apologize to you if I came across in a ignorant way, I am ignorant to many things that have to do with farm life. I do believe deep down I loved my old farm house for a reason the minute I laid eyes on it but I am learning as I go. I was meant to live on a farm! That's actually really cool though. What color eggs do they lay or does it depend on the color they are? Can I ask how much land you have? Your barn alone tells me you must have a good amount! Yes I couldn't let them free range my neighbor that lives in what used to be the garage for my property is a total jerk to the point we had cats come up missing cause he was trapping them with food and taking them to the pound, last week I caught him trying to get my dog to come over to him, and I can only imagine why he was doing that, he's a very hateful person. If he wasn't their I wouldn't be as concerned. I actually have a huge wooded area that just sits and we don't do anything at all with besides put brush and compost that I'm thinking of cleaning up. Tomorrow I am getting a few ducks from someone and hopefully some more chicks. I have to say so far from what you have told me and I have read elsewhere, peas don't seem to be too hard to raise. I will definitely have to start planning on getting them a place to live that they would like, what do you use for bedding for all of your birds? Ya know I thought originally that I would like the dark ones but the white peas really have caught my eye! The color don't determine the sex of the bird like a duck right?
 

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