Our 12 yo pie-bald male is now aggressive toward my husband

[doudini2]

Hello all,

TLDR: 12 yo hand raised male peacock aggressive the ast two years, progressively worse, towards my husband.
Is there hormone therapy, or behavioral training?

We have had Henri since a chick and although he has a big personality, he never used to attack us. He would only attack objects, that we were carrying, like laundry, vacuums, brooms, and bags. So we knew what are his enemies and avoid triggering him.

Need to mention that Henri is a home pet and lives indoors and goes outside when the weather is nice. Currently, it is winter and he hates cold so he is house bound. But it used to never be an issue before. We spend a lot of time with him and he hangs out in my office. He is not free-range and is always contained even outside.

We moved to a new house 2 years ago. By all means, it is an upgrade for Henri. In the old house, he could only be in a cage, as the deck was hot and boring, but here, he can be on the nice big deck all summer long and also in his cage, digging holes. We even take him for walks around the house and to meet neighbors' chickens. The living room is large and sunny with all glass windows so he can observe things.

He goes to sleep at 9:20 and released around 8. Is this wrong? Should he be put to bed at 6 with sun and released earlier?

Also, I used to pet him all over, mostly head though but I stopped hearing that touching birds on shoulders can make them more hormonal.

It started happening slowly, he would attack my husband, with no provocation or no offending object involved. Because I read here from some owners that you must "put them in their place", some even saying smacking them with a shovel, my husband tried the tactic of dominating him back, like covering him with blanket, yelling, hissing, pushing him down, or even smacking him with a pillow. Well, soon I put a stop to it, because the next day, he would be even more fearful and aggressive so we realized that it is not like with dog. You cannot punish a bird, as they only remember the bad parts, but not that they should not do it again. Unfortunately, several times, because he truly injured my husband, he got very upset and fought back, whilst I was basically crying, because for me domestic violence is a trigger. To be very clear, my husband is very calm person otherwise, loves Henri, but Henri cut his scalp, his face, his legs and arms, several times now. There was a lot of blood. So at that point he simply was at wits end.

Now I worry henri lost all trust and they are open enemies.

Then we tried putting him in time out in his sleeping room. We still do it, to avoid further confrontation. That did nothing either. He comes back remembering all the bad stuff anyway. When he gets going he will not stop, unless the person leaves the room, and the he screams pleadingly. He will also chase and we have to put barriers in his way like chairs.

My husband wroks int he basement and even just coming for lunch is a big deal now as Henri won't leave him alone. What can we do immediately during an attack?

Because he just molted he seemed a bit calmer past 2 months and was very social, but he would stand near my husband and stalk him. he can also stand next to him and be nice and be petted. But soon it turns into him pecking.

Now, he stalks him anytime they are on the same floor, comes very close, and even though he might take food from my husband's hand, the next thing, he will jump him.

He is very hungry during growing and so we make sure he has variety of food.

We took to me protecting my husband, when I am around. I tried hissing and making myself taller, and sometimes it works. I run him into a corner on his perch and he kinda forgets and starts preening. He alos still hasn't jumped me so the female part helps I think. But past couple days when I tried to pushe him away, he started posturing toward me.

I strongly believe he thinks I am his female and my husband is the outsider.

The bad times now outweigh the good times.

I am so scared and not sure how to save this relationship. He is my "12 year old son" and we do not have children. I am over 40 and we always planned to have Henri. I cannot even imagine we would have to give him to some zoo or a farm. I prob would be depressed forever.

Thank you all
Kat

 

[doudini2]

Edit: Henri has had an arthritic leg since childhood and he is visibly in pain and limps. Since he cannot tell us how much it hurts I also worry his pain may be getting worse over the last decade and that is why he is more frustrated. he is prescribed Novox but it is not making any difference.

 

[Midnightman14]

He's hand raised, he was going to be aggressive sooner or later. There's no "putting them in their place" peafowl don't have that kind of social hierarchy. You can pen him or try to rehome him but once they start they do not stop.

 

[WallyG74]

 

[Isadora]

I'm not familiar with peacocks at all but I don't see a solution other than putting him outside in a proper enclosure. It's not fair to your husband that this has gone on as long as it has. I understand you're attached to Henri but for the sanity and peace of everyone, he needs to live outside in his own pen.

 

[SourRoses]

I don't see a solution other than putting him outside in a proper enclosure.

X 2

He needs to live a more species appropriate lifestyle. A little distance would be healthier for everyone.

 

[Reave]

It's possible that the moving has made him feel like the new "territory" he has been moved into is now much more open to debate than growing up in his previous home, that he may have felt was more of you & your husband's territory.

Unfortunately, though it makes them more personable, raising almost any animal from infancy as a single baby makes them treat the people raising them like they would members of their own species; this brings in bad behaviors along with making them more friendly when they are younger, as you have unfortunately seen.

However! All is not lost, he just really needs to be treated more like a peacock and less like a house pet. I agree it is probably best for everyone's well being if he lives in a more species appropriate enclosure outdoors, but that should be done when the weather will be nice for a week or so in order for him to acclimate to the difference in temperature. In the meantime, he should be confined in the house so he can't chase, attack and harass either of you. This might involve getting a temporary screen door to make a room of the house "his" or otherwise gating him into a section of office or something, so he can still see you but not perform any of his more offensive behaviors. I can't offer a one-size fits all solution there, I don't know your house layout, but that will allow everyone to settle down a bit and not interact solely when emotions are high. Perhaps in a temporary enclosure in the garage, supplied with some heating until the weather gets better if there is no space in the house?

Once he is in his new set-up, it might benefit both of them if your husband could take over Henri's care for a little bit in order to try & repair their relationship. If Henri physically cannot attack him because he is confined, he may become less confrontational with some work. Spend time around his enclosure, both so he doesn't get lonely & to show him that he simply cannot do anything about you and your husband spending time together and must cope with this change in his life.

When he is moved outside, I'm not sure it would be wise to get Henri some female company of his own or not. At his age, it is uncertain if he would even recognize them as his own species and may react violently. But with that said, he may be a little less lonely outside if he has something to watch-- even if their pens must remain beside each other and not allowing them to interact directly. If they were never going to interact, he may like to watch a few chickens, since he has been over to see your neighbor's.

You can still visit him outside yourselves of course! Putting him outside isn't damning him to life never seeing you again. You can put a chair either inside his pen if he continues to like interacting with you directly, or outside his pen if he becomes protective of it, and just set up his pen with ease of caretaking if he doesn't want you in there often in mind when you create it.

edit; I have no good advice for his potential pain, though I wish I did. Pain can certainly make animals more aggressive or otherwise change their behavior. If he has a vet, I would talk to them about it. Bird pain management and arthritis care is different than it is in mammals is about as specific as I can get.

 

[KsKingBee]

Showing dominance can be a strong deterrent to aggressive behavior. He sees your husband as an equal and a threat to his territory. He still needs his area but hubby needs to be 'above' him.

 

[KsKingBee]

By the way, many people think that if they are giving the aggressive bird a 'time out' by setting them in their lap is just confounding the bird. By allowing a bird to be on top of you, you are giving dominance to him, he is the 'top dog' and higher in the hierarchy and now has little fear of you and other humans.

The most common outcome of an imprinted bird is being sweet to its human but will see any other person coming into his territory as a threat to be driven off. It is rare for them to be nice to everyone but possible, and some will turn vicious toward everyone. They are like your kids, they all have different personalities. If you want an imprinted bird use a hen. She will be mean to other birds ruling the roost but nice to you and most other humans.

 

[doudini2]

Oh wow! I did not see all these replies until now. Thank you all for the advice. I will read through it and see what I can adopt. One thing is, he is simply not an outside pet, and we have cold winters so there is no way I will transition him to fully outside in his lifetime.

But here are my updates and the steps we took to try to adjust his behavior and that worked so far 90%:

Thinking about territory: I was thinking back at what changed that could have affected him and realized he got used to being everywhere: my office, the kitchen, etc. Because once he stops dancing and molts, he is more curious, lucid, and interactive so he tends to roam more. Also, his hunger is insatiable so he begs nonstop as he is regrowing feathers. And, I thought it would be nice to spend time together while I was working. But then, whenever my husband entered birds new "expanded" territory, like the kitchen is when the issue really escalated.

Anyway so, I set up a strict barrier to just keep him in his regular area. This was annoying because it consisted of me using lot of my dining chairs and had to move them anytime I wanted to eter the kitchen. He fumed and begged for a week or two but then he calmed down. He also still had it in for my husband trying to crane over the barriers.

He also is not allowed to visit my office area at all.

He took to sleeping under the dining table, which was his way of appearing sad and poor...It was really funny. He looked like a beaten dog who never ate. One time I wanted to coral him to go to sleep and he hid under the table again. new tricks.

I also put all his food bowls in the old area, far corner away from kitchen or dining.

We also stopped petting him overly, or giving him treats, especially if he begged. He did not get any unless he was very calm and I would surprise him with treats instead, in one area only. After the "territory" transition time, he changed his behavior a lot.

He stopped almost completely with the stalking or posturing. He was instead more gentle and sociable. He now gets very angry only if he gets previously aggravated by an event like cleaning or much noise.

I believe that behavior is heavily influenced by boundaries and so we are keeping up with it. He learned to keep to his space and so I no longer use the chair barrier but will restart if I need to. he now never gets petter unless he is completely calm.

Will update if any other changes happen.