Hi 
I have been thinking of getting Pea's 'someday' for some time now... so I have done some general research on this site in the past.... unfortunately our internet connection out here at our new place in the country just isen't good enough for me to go searching page by page to double check everything... so I hope you all can forgive me for being a bit repetitive while I ask some questions in a single place
The wild Peacock, King Henry, hasn't come up to us yet.. for those who may remember my last thread.. but we are still trying and he is getting a bit closer
We have found someone selling peachicks near us, so we are going to try to pick some up
I think we are going to get some Black Shoulder India Blue, a White, and a Java Green (those are the colors available).... I wish there were Purples!!!! Oh well, we will have to get those later
I remember reading that Java Green are a different species, and have a slightly different personality. That they can become fearful or aggressive?
As far as housing, we have a temporary pen to use, an extra large welded dog exercise pen we can cover the top of..... and then we have a lot of welded wire on hand, some wood.. and several good places to choose from to build a nice pen. The fencing around here is all covered with the welded no climb wire.. we were particularly looking at an area near the house to build the pen in... as the smaller horse paddocks have a devider type of area in them, about 50 feet wide? which is fenced and wired on 3 sides already and a rather wasted space.... that would make the job of building the pen more than half done.
The only thing with that area is there IS a big Armadillio that has a tunnel in that area, we see him walking by on the same little path in the evenings ( I actually think hes cute)..... anyway, I have no idea what Armadillos even eat! LOL! Do they eat meat and would they be a problem for the birds?
We also have a barn owl (the barn is right by us)... who roosts in the barn and is a brave fellow... he swoops by us a lot in the evenings, so beautiful..... so I know we are going to have to be very careful when it comes to the tops of the pens.....
I haven't seen so much as a sign of a snake, which has surprised me considering the remoteness of this area... I wonder if the owl maybe eats them? But there are mice in the barn, and squirrels abound.. although they are the smaller friendly squirrels. There are also crows, bald Eagles, wild turkeys, pheasants... pretty much every kind of bird, LOL!
Still haven't seen any Raccoons or Possums... there are coyotes we hear in the distance in the forest but they would have to get through many neighbors horse pastures with the no climb wire and our back pasture with the no clmb wire before they made it up here.. where there is a street lamp/ night lamp that comes on at dusk right over the area we are thinking (the owl likes to perch under the lamp on the fence)....
So now that I've described our area, does anyone have any suggestions for how we should arrange things maybe? We can also keep the temporary dog pen with the Peachicks in the barn, as there are available spaces for that... but that is the owls territory too, LOL.
For the other aspects to raising Peachicks, are there other things we need to keep in mind? We have raised chicken chicks, silkies and cochins, last year.. so feeder/waterer check.. heat lamp, check.. although it's a hundred degreed here right now (do they need a fan to keep cool in this heat?) ... they get some kinf of game bird starter right? Medicated?
Thanks so much for any help or advice!
I have been thinking of getting Pea's 'someday' for some time now... so I have done some general research on this site in the past.... unfortunately our internet connection out here at our new place in the country just isen't good enough for me to go searching page by page to double check everything... so I hope you all can forgive me for being a bit repetitive while I ask some questions in a single place
The wild Peacock, King Henry, hasn't come up to us yet.. for those who may remember my last thread.. but we are still trying and he is getting a bit closer
We have found someone selling peachicks near us, so we are going to try to pick some up
I think we are going to get some Black Shoulder India Blue, a White, and a Java Green (those are the colors available).... I wish there were Purples!!!! Oh well, we will have to get those later
I remember reading that Java Green are a different species, and have a slightly different personality. That they can become fearful or aggressive?
As far as housing, we have a temporary pen to use, an extra large welded dog exercise pen we can cover the top of..... and then we have a lot of welded wire on hand, some wood.. and several good places to choose from to build a nice pen. The fencing around here is all covered with the welded no climb wire.. we were particularly looking at an area near the house to build the pen in... as the smaller horse paddocks have a devider type of area in them, about 50 feet wide? which is fenced and wired on 3 sides already and a rather wasted space.... that would make the job of building the pen more than half done.
The only thing with that area is there IS a big Armadillio that has a tunnel in that area, we see him walking by on the same little path in the evenings ( I actually think hes cute)..... anyway, I have no idea what Armadillos even eat! LOL! Do they eat meat and would they be a problem for the birds?
We also have a barn owl (the barn is right by us)... who roosts in the barn and is a brave fellow... he swoops by us a lot in the evenings, so beautiful..... so I know we are going to have to be very careful when it comes to the tops of the pens.....
I haven't seen so much as a sign of a snake, which has surprised me considering the remoteness of this area... I wonder if the owl maybe eats them? But there are mice in the barn, and squirrels abound.. although they are the smaller friendly squirrels. There are also crows, bald Eagles, wild turkeys, pheasants... pretty much every kind of bird, LOL!
Still haven't seen any Raccoons or Possums... there are coyotes we hear in the distance in the forest but they would have to get through many neighbors horse pastures with the no climb wire and our back pasture with the no clmb wire before they made it up here.. where there is a street lamp/ night lamp that comes on at dusk right over the area we are thinking (the owl likes to perch under the lamp on the fence)....
So now that I've described our area, does anyone have any suggestions for how we should arrange things maybe? We can also keep the temporary dog pen with the Peachicks in the barn, as there are available spaces for that... but that is the owls territory too, LOL.
For the other aspects to raising Peachicks, are there other things we need to keep in mind? We have raised chicken chicks, silkies and cochins, last year.. so feeder/waterer check.. heat lamp, check.. although it's a hundred degreed here right now (do they need a fan to keep cool in this heat?) ... they get some kinf of game bird starter right? Medicated?
Thanks so much for any help or advice!
