Kevin the PeaChick NEEDS HELP ASAP!!!

[ConstanceR]

He may be - I'm not sure what breed of peachick he is. The egg was given to me by a man up the road who said they migrated to his farm 45 years ago and have been there ever since (generation after generation). He has three males and three females - and 11 peachicks right now. The males are beautiful blue coloring and the females are beautiful - mostly white. I raise chickens and I can usually tell a rooster right away from the way he acts - I see the same male dominance in Kevin - so he might be! Here's Kevin's story:

For the past four years I have been driving past a farm on the country roads where I live and slowing to get a glimpse of the beautiful peacocks they have. I thought that I would stop and ask the owner about the peacocks if I should ever see him or her, but I never have, until yesterday (June 28, 2016)...
I saw a man mowing his lawn and stopped in to introduce myself. He said I had come on the perfect day regarding the peacocks, as all three of his peahens had hatched babies recently, some as early as that morning. He said I could have one, but I would have to get it myself because he tried several years ago and got beat up by the female and was left with two black eyes!
Then he said he noticed that one of the peahens had left her nest early that morning and went out with her four new peachicks and didn't go back. The nest still had three eggs in it, but he was sure they were spoiled. However, he went and got the three eggs and told me I could have them if I wanted them - "Who knows, there might be a baby in one."
Well I know Who knows!! So I happily took the three eggs and rushed home to incubate them - something I have never done before! And then I prayed like crazy! I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

 

[ConstanceR]

 

[EyeKeyYou]

Yeah your above description is of Blackshoulder adults.

 

[ConstanceR]

That's so cool! Do you know anything else about them? Here's a feather I picked up while on the farm where I got Kevin...

 

[EyeKeyYou]

They are born white and develop their color during their first 2 years. You can see Kevin's flight feathers changing color now. If the tail feathers turn dark rather than just off-white he is definitely a male and color changes are just beginning. If he is a male the last thing to change color will be his head so blackshoulder definitely go through an ugly duckling stage but eventually their pure black wings with no barring make them very striking. Tail feathers are the same as india blues only difference in males is the wings. Females are that speckled white you saw. BS is recessive so you need to have the BS gene on both sides.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

And you can always browse the BYC Peachick Chart for some comparison peababies!
http://peafowlimagedatabase.weebly.com/peachick-chart.html

 

[ConstanceR]

WOW! I'm learning so much Thank you so much for all the great info. I definitely see the change in Kevin's wings, especially underneath - they are quite dark. I will watch his tail feathers I'm hoping he is a male, but either is fine with me - they are such beautiful birds and I am very blessed to hold such a lovely and soon to be stately creature in my hands!

Today Kevin was really silly all day and was in such a playful mood - he even decided to take a full bath in his water!! It ended up being a good thing in the end, because he had gotten quite stinky scooting around on his belly! Now he is fluffy and very clean and he even flew to the top of his box and surprised me - with his hobble on!

About 1:00 p.m. (July 5), I will be removing Kevin's hobble after wearing it for 24 hours straight. I'm really hoping it will have solved the leg issue for him. I will then have to work on his feet as his outside toes are curled back under his feet, but I think that will be an easier fix than his legs??? Hopefully

Thank you again for all your great insight!!!

Constance

 

[ConstanceR]

Okay - at 1:00 today I took the hobble off of Kevin's legs. It has been 24 hours. There is some improvement. He can walk now, but falls all over the place - backwards, forwards, rolls. He cannot stand up and stand still at the same time. I think it may be due to his toes still being curled. They had straightened out pretty nicely before I put the hobble on, but now they are curled again. Here are some pictures if you would like to offer some more advice.

This is the spacing of his legs now:


Verses what it was 24 hours ago:



And here is his right foot:



and his left:



So my questions are:

Should I go back to the hobble? If so, how long?

Should I take care of the toes now or wait till I have the hobble portion under control?

Thank you again for all of your input! It is absolutely invaluable for Kevin!!!

Constance

 

[casportpony]

How is he now? @ConstanceR

-Kathy

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Yes, how is the poor little guy??

If you haven't already, you will probably want to make him toe straightening boots right away (or it will be too late).
@casportpony provided an excellent demonstration, see the BYC Peafowl Image Database:
http://peafowlimagedatabase.weebly.com/chicks-straightening-crooked-toes.html
Be sure to use tape that isn't too sticky, or use cloth bandaids as @KsKingBee does.
And there also threads that describe this process.