new 4 chicks questions

[sasglm]

Hello all

we have 4 almost 4weeks chicks and they all looking great.
we keep them in a 2'x2'x4' cage and we also have 2 Guineas also that are 2 weeks older.
They all get good eating and drinking. The Guineas are the leaders, but a few of the Pea's give the Guineas a run for the money.

We've been feeding them the chicks feed and just now week I've given them some green grass, and they go for that like they haven't eaten before.

Question 1: when can I put them on the grass yard?
we have 4 chickens that are 2 months old, but they stay in their cage mostly.

Question 2: can the Guineas and Pea's stay in the same cages for several months/years?

 

[sasglm]

we took some pictures after I put some leg bands on them to track their progress/sex
we have
green
red
yellow
and white(or no band)
After 4weeks of age, my bet right now is that white is a female and the rest look like males. Stay tuned...

 

[Midnightman14]

Sex can't be accurately determined visually until about 3 months of age for peas. You can give them grass, small fruit like blueberries, and a few mealworms as treats but don't put them on grass or earth until a couple months have gone by. Putting them on ground can be fatal to them if they are young. As for the room and board situation they can live together when each are several months of age but as the peas start to reach sexual maturity it is likely they will have to be separated to prevent fighting. Keep the peas and chickens away from each other as chickens can carry and transmit diseases that will kill peafowl. Best of luck to you, hope this was helpful.

 

[sasglm]

oh I also added the Wazine dewormer to their water from day 1.
don't know if that will help with the Blackhead issue or not.

thanks
gary

 

[Midnightman14]

corrid is better, wazine is just a wormer.

 

[casportpony]

oh I also added the Wazine dewormer to their water from day 1.
don't know if that will help with the Blackhead issue or not.

thanks
gary

Wazine only treats roundworms, it should not be given for more than 24 hours, and there is no need to give it to young chicks!

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

corrid is better, wazine is just a wormer.

Corid won't help with blackhead either.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Sex can't be accurately determined visually until about 3 months of age for peas. You can give them grass, small fruit like blueberries, and a few mealworms as treats but don't put them on grass or earth until a couple months have gone by. Putting them on ground can be fatal to them if they are young. As for the room and board situation they can live together when each are several months of age but as the peas start to reach sexual maturity it is likely they will have to be separated to prevent fighting. Keep the peas and chickens away from each other as chickens can carry and transmit diseases that will kill peafowl. Best of luck to you, hope this was helpful.

Not necessarily true.

I have one that hatched 5-5-2016 and I've known for several weeks that it's male.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Five weeks old and clearly female:


-Kathy

 

[sasglm]

yea, just by looking at the wing banding or lack there of it looks female.
Ours are now almost 5 weeks and 1 for sure looks female and one has lots of banding. The other 2 are undetermined yet.

i've been pulling white clover heads for them, and they eat those like it's candy. i wish i could let them loose in my yard and save me a step.

So my next question:
How do i go about raising them to be less afraid of me(us). i try to pick them up every day one at a time and hold them and talk to them and rub them. They often start calling the other bird very loudly in 1-2 minutes.

thanks
gary