I need info on Peacocks! ASAP

[momof247371]

i hope this is the right forum for this but... My DH informed me that we are going to be gettin a trio of "special" peacocks on sunday! i guess they have a poofy thing on their head or something. Im ok with it but a little surprised since he always tells me that i have a horrible hatching habbit lol anyways im going to list some questions i need answer if possible, hopefully someone can help! he we go:
1.) Will they be ok to have with my chickens, ducks, turkeys,& goats?

2.)Will they fly away if i dont keep them covered or keep wings clipped?

3)do they eat what my chickens eat or will i have to buy special feed?

Any advice and info would be greatly appreciated! AND if im not in the right forum, will someone please point me in the right direction!

thanks so much in advance!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

We raise ours with chickens, ducks, turkeys and have had no problems. The Pea's actually rule the roost. Ours eat the same thing as the other birds, 16 % layer, free choice, whole corn in the afternoons, we boil back all the extra eggs and feed them, fresh greens and all the bugs etc they can eat from foraging.

When we got our first pair I was scared to death they would fly the coop and never be seen again. We put them in a covered pen for 2 weeks and when we let them out of that we clipped wings and moved them to a open chicken pen. It took awhile for their wing feathers to grow back enough to jump that 6 foot fence. When they did they stayed right in the area. Now they come and go as they please, they will range out into the fields around our house but that's it. They don't go more than a 100 yards or so out.

We do pen them up during breeding season, it's better for breeding and fertility plus you can find the eggs. Pea's need to be wormed more often that other birds. Pea chicks can be touchy to raise (even more so than turkeys) but once you get the hang of it it's no big deal. The pea chicks can fly/jump high at an early age - they need a covered brooder after about a week.

Deerman on here has quite a few, he's a good source of info and i'm sure he will jump in

We just put our first couple pea eggs in the incubator yesterday.

Steve in NC

 

[momof247371]

Do you think they would harm my bantams? I have about 13 bantams and they are in a LARGE pen, about 20 ft. wide by 30 ft. long. so im thinking about puttin them in there. do you think that would be sufficient space for them until they get used to our place enough that i can turn them out with the chickens, goats, ducks, etc? Or should i just go for it and put them out with the bigger animals? My goats might try to eat their feathers..lol..
Need any and all advice i can get..also, how good are these kinds of peacocks around kids?????

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

When we got our first pair the pen we put them in was about 30 foot square. We had chickens in with them and they got along ok, It took the pea's a few days to get settled in anyway. They didn't hurt anybody. I would keep a close eye on them just to make sure though.

One thing about pea's to remember is they are very strong for their size, specially the legs. I have a nice scar on my side from a cut from one of their toe nails. And when you handle them keep their butt pointed away from you, when they get scared or handled they tend to poop.

I wouldn't recommend just turning them out, we had a friend of ours that bought some and payed quite a bit for them. She took them home and turned them loose and the last they were seen was running down the street.

The pea's tend to keep their distance from people, we have one or two that will eat corn out of my hand, the others hang back. As long as the kids don't chase or corner them all should be well.

Steve

 

[chickenzoo]

Hi, welcome to the world of peafowl! LOL
My pea's eat layer, catfish chow, wild bird seed,dood food, turkey grower, nuts, fruits etc....... They aren't too picky. I worm my with safe guard goat wormer 1cc per 10lbs bird. Other than extra worming, adult peas are pretty easy to care for. I would be cautious about keeping them with bantam fowl until you know their personality, they can be bossy. My peafowl like to chase my emu - too funny. I normally keep them penned up for a few weeks also when I first get them, they can jump high even with clipped wings. After that they pretty much know the routine and return there at night. I also keep them penned during breeding season. Most of mine I hand raised so they are not afraid of people and follow us around. They will nip if they are being ignored or curious about what you have, but I've never had mine be aggressive to anyone, even kids, but I watch out for the eyes, my emu and peafowl can be attracted to those watery blues, he he.

Slim Jim my IB

Cosmos my IB Pied

And one of my white peahens, Snow flake

 

[momof247371]

When is "breeding season" for them?

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Ours have just started laying the last week, they like the warmer weather

Steve

 

[momof247371]

im sorry i have those kind of peacocks. Infact mine have been laying also. i should have specified, this guy told me the ones he had had puffy things on thier heads. but i assumed all peacock were the same when it comes to food and mating. lol. its been a few days since i read the posts but i have an update on them also: I told my dh we werent going to be leaving with them cause when we went to c them, they werent "special" peacocks at all, they looked like guineas with a poofy thing on thier head. And they seemed a little aggressive(not good for my kids)I dont know what they were but im pretty sure we would have to had a permit to keep them and i dont have any animals i have to get permits for...the man told me he got them from an exotic auction about a year ago..

Thanks for all the info though, by the way does anyone know what the "special" peacocks would have been? any info on those would be great...

 

[deerman]

Sorry missed this thread, is this the ones if so I would take them.
they do need heat in the northern winters.


http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Guineas/BRKGuttera.html

 

[arlee453]

Maybe they were Java's?

http://www.castlebury.net/greenpeafowl.htm

Javas have a different type of crown feathers than standard peafowl - instead of the fan of small feathers going front to back like in chickenzoo's pic, they have more of a standup type of feathers.

They are also harder to handle/raise than 'regular' peafowl - they are much less hardy and susceptable to cold, etc.

We have purple black shoulder pieds - you can see our guy on my webcam (link in my signature below) but he's not dancing as much as normal these days because both his hens are in the shelter brooding 12 eggs between the two of them.

I have two yearlings from last years' eggs in my growout pen - they've been housed with full grown chicken roosters as well as I have this years chicks in there (about 16 of them, 6 weeks or so) and they do fine - they mostly ignore the chickens...

-S