I bought a Peacock and 2 Peahens.....I thought

[Notachicken]

Turns out at least one of the hens is a cock. The other one appears to be a female, but does "show" sometimes. One cock is full grown. Other appears to be a 2 year old. Hen....young I think. ANother question....do both sexes have spurs??

 

[chickenzoo]

Are they Indian Blues? If they are Indian blues it is easy to sex them, even from chicks. Males will have burnt sienna(red/brown) flight feathers, females have a darker Chocolate brown. Females display also, but do not get the long back feathers or trains. Males of course are Blue/Black/green where females are green/brown/black. Sounds like you may have other colors if it is hard to tell on aged birds.

 

[Whispering Winds]

My 8 year old is dying for peacocks, (o.k., so am I) and was wondering if they are difficult to raise? We would have to keep them contained, as we have dogs running loose, and I don't even think our two would be good with any kind of fowl, because one is crazy and the other one is 20#'s and thinks he is 100#'s . . .but I think they are the most graceful lovely birds. I know they scream, and its not pleasant, but other than that are they difficult? Do they eat alot? Anything anyone has to tell me would be a great help.

 

[Kev]

Helps to know what color they are.

At this point, it should be easy to sex them. Females look identical to the adult hens of same color as they are by the time they are 6 months old.

Males look different.. in most Indian color varieties, the males show strong barring on the wings, back and their necks should be mostly colored out.

Displaying is NO indicator of sex at all. Females can and do display. Some females are very 'vigorous displayers'. Often said to be a terror ital thing but honestly I;ve seen them do it many times for no apparent reason at all other than 'just because they can/feel like it'.

Both sexes can get spurs.. however spurs on males should be much larger, rounder/oval shaped and very blunt.. if a female gets spurs, normally it is thin and has a very sharp point.

 

[Kev]

Quote:
They do fine fully contained. Most of mine are, to keep colors separate for breeding. Try to give them as large pen/run as you can give them, even if you just want a pair. They are big birds and love having more room. Males tails spread out 10 feet wide, so you get the idea.. a run at least 10 x 30 is good idea for a pair. Bigger or longer is even better.

Once they are several months old and no longer needing heat, they are pretty easy to keep. They eat FAR less than chickens.. but young, growing birds do eat relatively a lot.. once they mature, they seem to 'barely eat'.

 

[chicktwit]

Mine must be piggies because they do eat but truly not as much as a chicken. They like game bird breeder, cat food treats, hen scratch, & love greens. I cuizinart boiled eggs with the older veggies & on sale greens & veggies & they love it. You don't want them running loose because they love to perch in large trees & usually the preferred spot is over your car or truck. Coyotes love them a little too much & for the wrong reason. I'm told there can be trouble with 2 roos & 1 hen because they will fight over her. If frightened they can jump straight up & have been know to kill themselves that way hitting a cross member or the roof. I work around mine a little slower (nothing sudden or loud). Beautiful creatures. Strange. Pretty tough can tolerate some fairly low temps. Here low is in the 20's & that usually doesn't last long. They can wail like a woman or make the oddest wierd honk. Do I luv em? Yes!

 

[deerman]

If you could post , could sex them for you, pure white are hard to sex, most other colors easy after 3 months.

Pic of pr. of purples, 3 months old note the barring on the male on the left. No barring on the hen shoulder feathers.