New to Peafowl

[RedBrush Farm]

I was told that I need to get my peafowl as soon after hatching as possible so they would "imprint" on me and my family. If I get them that young how do I know if I have all peahens or peacocks? If I have to "add" another to the group at an older age will they "like" each other? I know these are odd questions, but I want to do this correctly or not at all.

Thanks,
B.K.

 

[Kedreeva]

They're right in that you want them as close to hatching as possible- hatch them yourself if you can. The birds I've hatched are a complete 180 in personality from even the ones I've bought as young as 3 weeks- 3 weeks sounds young, but it wasn't young enough to keep them friendly. The difference between a pea you've hatched and raised and a pea you've bought from someone, even at a young age, can be the difference between night and day.

You technically won't be able to tell whether they are hens or cocks til they are about 3-4 months old. I've currently got a few guesses out on some two week old chicks (because I believe I may have found a method for telling IB hens from cocks at two weeks by their saddle feathers). If you want friendlier birds, honestly, you're better off getting a group as young as possible and then selling the ones you don't want or need when you know the genders, rather than buying adults.

Like adding any bird to any group of birds, you run the risk of someone not getting along. Adding males to other males is probably not a very good idea (if they are penned separately that's different, or if they free range with more than enough space to get away from one another). Hens are typically less crabby about more hens, but sometimes you just get a bird your group doesn't "like" for whatever reason.

Here's my favorite hatched-by-me hen:

 

[jm93030]

Quote:
I just saw your video on you tube
Very tame bird i like it

I just got some peafowl egg on the mail today

any tips you can give me ?
I am new to hatch t his

 

[Kedreeva]

Best thing you can do is follow the guidelines for hatching peafowl eggs for temp and humidity, and make sure they get turned often enough. A lot of people recommend keeping the eggs on their sides and hand turning (as opposed to sticking them in an automatic turner). They are very big eggs (as I'm sure you've seen) so the auto-turners don't always shift them enough to keep embryos from sticking to the shell inside.

If you've never hatched shipped eggs, bear in mind that often times in the summer, incubation can start while they are in the package still. Thus, many people stick the eggs into the incubator immediately upon arrival, rather than letting them "settle" like you would in spring or fall. If you do this, don't turn the eggs for the first day- this allows the air cell to settle into place and allows the chalazae (the spiral bits that suspend the yolk to keep the yolk from getting mashed when the egg moves) time to "unwind" from the stress of shipping. When it comes time to hatch, you may want to be ready to help your chicks... in nature of course it is a bad idea to help a bird hatch from the egg, but there's little natural about shipping eggs and hatching them in incubators. Shipping can (and often does) dislodge some of the membranes and/or the air cell, which can allow a chick to grow too large to turn properly in an egg (thus hindering its ability to pip and/or zip when it hatches). There are also many factors of incubation that can go wrong- for instance, too low of a humidity at hatch time can cause the membranes inside the egg to stick to the chick and basically shrink wrap it in place until it dies.

Do as much reading on the forums as you possibly can, both here in the peafowl section as well as in the egg hatching section and raising chick section. You'll have 28-30 days of incubation time to read and learn.

 

[jm93030]

Do you do hand turning yourself?

I made this to my turner what do you think?

 

[Kedreeva]

I haven't done hand turning myself, as I am away for much too long during the day. I do not know if that will work, can you lay the eggs on their sides in that? It looks more secure than mine did XD

 

[jm93030]

yes I can set them on the side

 

[Kedreeva]

That's probably best then. Good luck with your hatch, let us know how it goes!