Lonesome Peachick

[featherhead]

What? 45 degrees and chicks on the ground with no heat? If she doesn't fix that, they will be dead tomorrow.

I never had the urge to incubate; all the fun was in watching the hens raise their chicks. Nesting hens were penned inside the barn in individual 3'x4' stalls. The little family stayed there until the chicks were nearly 3 months old, then I opened the pen door. The family had access to the barn interior only (and the loft - fun to watch the chicks try to follow their mom up there) until the babies were 4 months old. After that, they were free to leave the barn and explore the aviary. The absolute coolest part was watching them sleep on one of the taller perches, about 10' high. All these fuzzy little babies jockeyed for space next to Mom and the kid-fights were hilarious. She spread her wings out as far as she could, until she almost lost her balance trying to keep them all warm. Somehow, she succeeded every time. We have too many predators to have free-range birds, especially nesting hens. Plus, I'm over-protective. So we built really large aviaries to compensate for locking them up. We had a drought year too. And speaking of predators, I got the coolest email video of an owl flying to the trainer's glove. Scary stuff to see those enormous talons. Even scarier if you were a tiny little peachick!

I posted my 2 new chicks on the UPA forum if you'd like to take a peek. They're under Photos. I knew you'd enjoy talking with Doug M. Everybody does.

It took me 6 years to get the nerve to eat a pea egg. Don't ask why, 'cause I can't explain it. But I do use them in brownies and cakes and corn muffins every now and then. That's weird, because we had peafowl before we got chickens and we got the chickens for their eggs. Oh well...

I love hearing about your adventures in peafowl.

 

[deerman]

big heck yes ...for Doug was a big help to me.....alway ready to help. Very wise on peafowl, and other birds

 

[bdfive]

Featherhead, the lady emailed she wanted to purchase my 1 month old chick, when could she pick it up. That's when I really started asking the questions. Turns out her peachicks that she told me were the same age are 2 months old so she intended to put my baby in with 2 larger birds. ALSO....she doesn't live on the acreage yet. Their house is on the market and as soon as it sells they will start building. AND their are large dogs she needs to keep separate from the birds. Other problems ..... so many I forget them all. The only reason she told me all this was because I told her I would have to take my peachick there and inspect to make sure it would be ok. NO, my baby is staying here safe with me. I'm not knocking the woman. She is very thankful for the advice I'm giving her and asked if she could stay in touch to ask questions. I have her address so next time I'm in the area I may visit. She says she's on the property a lot and has family members that live there and take care of the miniature donkeys. She intended to purchase a heat lamp when she got off work to use last night which is colder then night before (around 40).

I let my peahens incubate and raise chicks if possible. Last year it was not a problem on our property but drought had predators so desperate I had to pull eggs this year. Finally penned my 3 IB hens to keep them safe. Couldn't get the street smart male in the pen so even tho they kept laying, the eggs weren't fertile. My intention is to add on to the safe 30' by 42' enclosure that can be left as one or divided into 4 pens by shutting gates. I don't want my peafowl loose during mating season. My Java hen left her eggs to pace the wire divider between her and 4 chicks in the brooder built up off the ground. Wondering if she thought they were her chicks crying for her, LOL!!! Only one of those eggs made it in the incubator and I feel blessed to have one male Java that is 3 month old. I prefer the peahens raise their own. I smile from ear to ear looking at my Spalding with her wings stretched out over her 4 children that are getting pretty big now. My goodness, how wonderful it is to share my life with these wonderful creatures.

Sounds like you have a great set up. Do you have a website with pictures? I've seen some videos on youtube of owls. I'd sure hate to see one diving at me with those talons ready to dig in. Not sure how to get to picture on the forum but will look later. Baby monitor woke me...I checked and birds are all ok. I think one of them will have a nightmare, start sqawking and the rest follow. I go out saying something like "It's ok, shhhhhhhhh". I sure hope my neighbors have well insulated thick walls. In the quiet of the night it's loud.

 

[bdfive]

Quote:
Deerman, from what I see on BYC it looks like you help a lot of pea owners too. I don't understand teenagers not wanting to excel from the advice of elders with life experiences. Heck, I will beg for needed information so I can do it right the first time. I've seen indications you've been ill. If so are you alright now? You have my prayers.