natural or artificial peachick care?

[faizan]

my peahen layed 4 eggs and hatched 3 of them. she is still young i-e 2 years old , and it is her 1st clutch ever. should i keep peachicks with her or keep them with me? which one is better?
the other question is that can i pen her with adult peacock ... will he harm peachicks...
as these r my first peachicks, so what diet do u recommend?
in last but not the least, sorry for so many questions as i m still new...

 

[Kedreeva]

I personally would take them away from her to give them a better chance. It is my understanding that peachicks left with parents have a 50% survival rate vs. a rate of 80%+ with raised by people peachicks. As for which is better... who can tell, really. If you are looking for a more tame peacock, then hand raising it is probably better. If you just want them hanging out around your place with more natural learned behaviors, then mom can probably do that better.

I also wouldn't keep the chicks with any males for a while, or anyone but mom. I don't know if this is what others would recommend, just what I know I would do if I were in your situation. Other birds are unpredictable around babies and there's no sense lowering survival chances in any way if you haven't got to.

As for the diet, they probably need medicated chick starter just like chicken babies because they are susceptible to the same diseases- perhaps even moreso. I am raising my first two ever right now, and I started them on a mix of medicated starter and gamebird starter, and daily offered them a wet mash of egg yolk, yogurt (plain greek style), oatmeal (not instant), medicated chick starter and pedialyte (unflavored). I added vitamins and pedialyte to their water source.

And you should always ask questions if you have them- better to ask and get advice if you don't know, rather than make a mistake that could have been avoided.
Good luck with them!

 

[faizan]

Quote:
thank u so much.,,
actually i want them to be with their mother.... jus hope they all r goin 2 be f9...