Java Peahen with White feathers?

[featherhead]

Here's an article written by a livestock nutritionist, Dr. Kelcey Swyers. She spent a long time studying nutritional requirements for peafowl, and quite a few breeders use her formula. It's not radically different from other commercial feeds but she specifically formulated this for peafowl. She spoke at the UPA meeting a couple of years ago and wrote this article for the UPA magazine.
http://www.upaforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1588

I finally found a feed store that will order Mazuri game bird feed for me. I've wanted to switch to this feed for a few years but couldn't find a store to order it for me. The best part is that my birds LOVE these pellets. Gobble them up. With my old feed, which I mixed myself, they would pick out the tasty stuff and leave the pellets for last. (It's weird though - my chickens hate this feed.) I thought I had a label in my file and was going to search for any vitamin K additive, but can't find the label. Will get one so you can compare.

 

[bdfive]

Are you using Mazuri Feed now exclusively? I bought one bag going on a year ago and they didn't care for it. It didn't smell like other feed....had a chemical odor to it. I'm willing to try it again. We do have a feed store that will order it for me. Does the contents meet the requirements of Dr. Kelcey Swyers? It's expensive but to have an easy process of them getting fed properly is worth every cent. Do you feed one percentage of protein or switch between what available depending on time of year and age of peafowl? Thanks featherhead! Hahahahahaha, don't get me wrong, I'm not calling you a feather head.

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[AquaEyes]

I've never heard of vitamin K issues with gamebirds. I'm not saying they don't exist, I'm saying I wasn't aware. I do know that some species of parrots that require higher amounts of vitamin K are prone to hemorrhages if they are deficient. The nutrient is involved in clotting (the "K" comes from the German word Koagulationsvitamin), and in many species, adequate amounts are synthesized by gut bacteria. Some foods that are good sources of vitamin K are cabbage-family vegetables (including broccoli, kale, mustard greens, etc), some other dark leafy greens, and alfalfa meal.

I'd like to read the article about nutrition, but the link you provided requires a log-in to view the page.

 

[featherhead]

Here's the Mazuri info:
Crude protein 12%
Crude fat 2.5%
Crude fiber 10%
Ash max 7%
From Dr. Swyers' article, it's not only what's in the feed but how easy those nutrients are to digest. In example, whole corn is tasty but difficult to digest, and I've heard veterinarians say that by the time a peafowl digests whole corn, they've used up all the energy just to digest it.

AquaEyes, sorry about the link. I forgot it's in the Members Section, which is reserved for UPA members. Darlene, I've switched to Mazuri almost exclusively 'cause I can't afford to ship Dr. Swyers' feed from CO. With under a dozen birds, it's cost-prohibitive. Supplements and treats include fruit, veggies, bird seed, fish-flavored cat chow (cat chow no more than once a week) and oyster shell. Every month, vitamins and electrolytes are added to the water for 5 days. During breeding season, breeders appear to keep tight control over the birds' feed and don't give many treats during those months. And hey - among the poultry people here, the term "featherhead" is a compliment. It's a nickname that's earned, and I'm honored that the local featherheads accept me as one of the group. So I decided to use it as my nickname.

 

[DMFarm]

Darlene
I don't think the white feather are from your feed I fed the Mazuri feed for 7 or 8 years and still had some white feathers come in on the greens. When Mazuri change bag size from 50 to 40 lb is when I quit buying it.I have some greens that has never has a white feather and some that do if it was the feed it look like all would have this problem That why I say no one know for sure what is causing it.

 

[Dany12]

Friedrich Esser ( green peacock afficionado ) is a German living in Thailand in Chiang Mai. Here is what he wrote on a French forum:
' I saw some peacocks feather in nature have the white.
it was almost always females.Often there is a deficiency '
http://kickingthorn.com/v-web/gallery/Operation-EverGreen
http://i75.servimg.com/u/f75/14/25/15/98/epista10.jpg

 

[Bigcreekpeafowl]

I am considering drawing blood and taking it to my vet to run a CBC with electrolytes on our hen. I am interested in what the results would be and he agreed this may reveal if there is some deficiency.

 

[featherhead]

Is there a benchmark to indicate normal levels of vitamin K in peafowl?

 

[bdfive]

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I'm assuming it's offspring may or may not have white feathers. I've decided to return her for another but wonder if I'm making a mistake. I feel horrible, this is her home now and I hate getting that net out. Just left you a message with my phone numbers regarding any month old peachicks you may have available.

 

[connerhills]

I am not sure of the connection if there is any ,but I had an older nice Muticus hen start to turn white feathers the last year she layed and the next year she developed a long train and did not lay again and in two years she had died.. Maybe when they loose estergon (sp) the life time may decline as she was an older
Rodney M. bird.. connerhills