If hen raises peachicks will they stay close to her or take off?

[Tootsie]

1) I have a hen raising a peachick and a few more hens setting on pea eggs. Some of these hens live in a coop where they free range during the day in a 2 acre pasture. Would peas take off when older and fly over the fence?

2) Also how long is desirable to keep them confined if they are going to free range during the day?

3) How long would new peas perhaps already grown need to be confined before free ranging them so they know where they belong?

Thanks.

 

[Kedreeva]

More than one month, apparently. We bought a cheap year old male at a bird swap ($20!) and we thought about a month, a little over, would be fine for him to get some ranging in.... he stuck around, even came back inside the barn a couple times at night, and after about 2 weeks, he took off across the road and we have not seen him since

We have gone looking and notified our neighbors, but so far none of them have seen anything

Should have left him in the pen longer!

I am trying again by raising them as babies this time.

 

[Kev]

Having hens raise the chicks is excellent way to have peafowl that stick around because peachicks form very strong bonds and will stick with the hen for a very long time, a full year, if the hen 'lets' them(hens usually start getting aggressive or avoiding their babies once they start laying again or go broody).

I used to do this every year, was always much less worrying than letting brooder raised ones loose, because the brooder chicks don't have any 'leader/teacher' so sometimes they will go where they are not supposed to while still very young.. Just doesn't happen with chicks following a hen.

It is best to keep hen and babies confined for the babies' protection because they are very vulnerable to hawks or creatures that like to eat small animals. Survival is way improved if they are let loose once they are past the size of those predators. I often kept mine confined 2-3 months before opening the door.

Depends generally on the age of new peafowl, younger birds take to new place easier and faster than older birds.. full mature adults are the hardest. 1-2 months for birds year old or younger, 3-4 months for 2-3 yrs and 6 months or more for mature peafowl. They are never strictly consistent.. some will still disappear, some matures will stay around forever even if they were simply tossed over the fence upon arrival.. so regard those as generalizations.

Also not good idea to bring in new adult male if there are adult males already on property, especially during breeding season. the best time is after they have shed their tails, when their aggression is at a low point.

 

[Tootsie]

Gee thanks so much I sure appreciate the input. I was only planning on taking some new females if available.

My Turken raising the peachick usually lives in with the pea pair. So how many months before I put her and peachick back in there? They ahve an enclosed run. I was hoping if it was a girl I could eventually put it in with my white lone male peacock in a different area since there would be no relation? Otherwise Turken lives with it's biological parents.

 

[Kev]

If the pea pen is peachick proof(alliteration!) and is not crowded, you can wait a couple weeks until the peachick is strong, agile enough to keep out of the adult peafowl's way.

Peachicks fly really well at just a week of age, so if the sides are something like chicken/hardware along the bottom 2' and much wider spaced above this(like chain link or 1" by 2" wire), there is a very real risk of the peachick flying high enough to get through the wider spaced wire and get stuck outside. Also have to remove buckets and containers that hold water, in case they fly in and drown. Basically as long as there's lots of room and it's proofed they will be fine going in there in 2 or 3 weeks. Can do it sooner, but some adults get too excited and want to mess with her and the chick. If they ignore her and the chick, so much the better.. still would wait if there are a lot of other birds in it.

p.s. turkens rule! have a turken taking care of 5 whites, one BS opal, 3 javas

 

[Tootsie]

Thanks Kev. It was peaproof but the 12 chickens in there dig so I will reinforce before putting them back in there. My turken, well she is part something else since she has feathered feet but she is a great mom and so sweet! My other Turken has not gone broody. They are the dearset little sweeties! I will try and post pictures of the run when I can. Most is hardware cloth.