How to Safely Catch and Treat and/or Medicate Peafowl

[Garden Peas]

Step 1: Ponder the need to catch and treat. Procrastinate for a week.
Step 2: Ponder that you really need to catch and treat. Drink for a couple of hours for courage. Procrastinate for another week.
Steps 3 to whenever the NPIP inspection time comes: Drink for a couple of hours in anticipation of the NPIP inspector for courage. Note: When acquiring favorite alcoholic beverage be sure to buy enough to have ample supplies for post catching drinking.
Step 4: Using a very large diameter hooped net made from very soft small diameter hole netting, chase pea and cover with net.
Step 5: While in the net and pinned to ground pick up bird and net together at the wings and rotate them to their side or upside down (they quit moving if upside down).
Step 6: While upside down with wings and body restrained with one hand grab upper part of both legs and tail feathers. Legs will now be in flying position. Release from net.
Step 7: You can now reposition the bird. Always keep the tail feathers and legs together. If you do you cannot put the legs in a position to damage them. You can either cradle the bird upside down in one arm this way (for NPIP blood draw or chest injection) or place him on a solid surface (neck injection or tube to mouth)..
Step 8: Do whatever it was you needed to do and gently release bird.
Step 9 though say 100: Repeat steps 4 through 8. Note: After steps 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 ,40, 45, 50 ,55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, etc.. Remove any blood from your arms, body or face from you failing to perform Steps 5-7 correctly. Remove any really stinky pea poop from your clothing, hands, mouth, hair or other body parts. Take a drink remembering Note in Step 3.

OMG I have never made it past step 1, but I'm gonna get onto step 2 immediately

 

[MinxFox]

Also, when I have tried to catch my birds (other than getting them to walk into the cage), I have been afraid that they were going to hurt themselves in their panic to get away, and I have been worried about damaging wings when trying to catch them by hand.

I am always afraid of hurting them when I have to catch them so catching them is never fun. You just have to go for it. I try to catch them quickly, but at the same time I take my time to wait for the right opportunity to grab them. It is kind of like deer hunting. A big buck walks out and you don't just quickly lift up your gun and shoot at him. You slowly get into position and you watch him until you get just the right area lined up in your sight and then you shoot. I let them do a little running around in the small pen and corner them a few times before I grab them. They get tired a little bit by letting them do this. I think they are very tough birds, but I do still worry that one will get hurt the way they fling themselves into the fence and flap all around.

Has anyone mentioned that stressed pea poop is NOT normal poop? Its toxic on a whole other level. And they do it every time! So yes, be prepared for scratches and throwing your clothes off and showering asap after catching said peas!

I have gotten really lucky I guess. When I catch mine they don't poop and they don't poop on me. I might get a little poop on me if they have it on their feet, but usually I am not that dirty after catching them. Getting a wing to the face is normal though! I guess mine can't be that stressed if they don't poop all over me or at least I hope they aren't too stressed. I do remember when I bought Alto as a yearling peacock and he pooped all over the dog box that we transported him in. It was so nasty to clean out! Since then we line the dog box with newspapers.

 

[birdman55]

Birdman, did you get the SOFT netting or the STIFF netting on your Cutler net? The nets come both ways...

i think I got the stiff heavy duty netting...it feels alittle stiff but is very flexible....not sure tho...hope this helps

 

[thndrdancr]

Also if they roost in an area where its not so high, its much easier to wrap that blanket around them after they go to bed. That's how I moved my wary peacock, I had a pen with a low roost and usually just left it open and put food in so he was used to going in and out. Then when I saw him go in I shut the door and waited for night to grab him up. Nice to have a partner for any of these techniques.

 

[zazouse]

The imprinted peas can be caught just by bending over and picking them up
I simple open a pen and let them walk inside and close the gate after a bunch have entered.





The ones that hard to catch are herded to this area and i pen them down strattle them while i am on my knees keeping their wings between my legs and my rear end keeps them nice and snug, then do what needs to be done.

 

[birdman55]

I see imprinted all the time what does this mean?

 

[casportpony]

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[DylansMom]

I see imprinted all the time what does this mean?

When a bird hatches it will usually "imprint" on the first living creature it sees. Usually this is it's mother, but when we incubate and hatch eggs the chicks will often imprint on the human hatching them. It means they think you are their Mom and they are people like you or you are a bird like them. Imprinted Peas are very docile when young, they trust you will not harm them because you are "mom", therefore we can pet them and pick them up and they do not freak out. The downside to imprinting occurs when imprinted males reach maturity, at that time some become very aggressive toward humans, because they view you as either a potential mate or a potential rival. This seems more prevalent in greens, but it definitely occurs in the blue varieties as well. This is one of my imprinted spaldings, he will be 2 this spring, no aggression so far.

 

[birdman55]

wow so amazing I can handle the pheasants and chickens very well eat out of hand as everyone has seen pics but not the peafowl yet....almost had two yesterday eat sunflowers...thinking there going to trust me soon...beautiful birds btw....well I ll let everyone get back to what this thread was intended for...catching / dosing...sorry for that...I shall post pics when I handle the birds...

 

[cajunfowl0]

The only time I can catch mine is either at night time when they're roosting or when it's raining because they'll go into the barn making it easier I always hold them by the wings ,feet away from me