Peachick orphan - suitable companions?

[Bizaadii]

Hello, and thank you in advance for reading this post.

In brief, we found 2 orphaned peachicks - their mother had been taken by a fox - on 4th August of 2018. One chick died (I'm still rather saddened by this) but the other has thrived and we're wondering what to do in the next few weeks.

The farm next to our own small farm used to keep peafowl, but decided they no longer wanted them and left them to go wild, and this is where the orphans' mother originated.

At present we're looking after Smoothy (a nickname that seems to have stuck!) in our house, but we're trying to get her used to the outdoors in a large hutch. However, as she hatched relatively late in the year, and the weather is definitely getting colder and colder, we're probably going to try to have the hutch in a barn until she's more developed feather-wise for the winter.

Although I used to keep chickens years ago, I have never had the pleasure of peafowl and know little about them. Would a single peahen be lonely? I suspect so. We're therefore wondering about suitable companions, such as chickens, pheasants or other peafowl. What type and age would be best? Any suggestions are enormously appreciated.

We think Smoothy was about one day old when we found her, so she's around the two-and-a-half month age. We're reasonably sure she's female based on the lack of barring on feathers and subtle green patching on her neck, when doing comparisons with other peachicks photographs on the Web.

The long term goal is to get her to a mature enough age so that she can join her free-ranging aunts and uncles. They spend most of their time on our farm.

We're based in the north Midlands of England, by the way.

Please feel free to correct any misunderstandings or wrong ideas I have.

Best regards,
Rich and Lesley

 

[red horse ranch]

Both of the peachicks I have raised have bonded very closely with chickens. But they were raised with the chickens as newborns. The peahen I bought when she was 5 months old never really bonded with any one member of my poultry family although she eventually accepted my peacock as mate. It is likely that your peahen has bonded with you and will always stay pretty close to you and your property. But I'm sure she would appreciate some chickens or guineas to live with once she is moved outside.

 

[Bizaadii]

Thank you for your reply.

I think Smoothy has bonded with me - she seems to think I am her mother, and follows me everywhere. Whenever I leave the room she is in, she makes a sort of yelping noise as if to say "Where are you?"

We'll try getting some chickens once she's moved outside.

 

[red horse ranch]

Thank you for your reply.

I think Smoothy has bonded with me - she seems to think I am her mother, and follows me everywhere. Whenever I leave the room she is in, she makes a sort of yelping noise as if to say "Where are you?"

We'll try getting some chickens once she's moved outside.

I know what you mean by the yelping noise. My 3 month old pea chick makes the same noise when she is separated from the chicken chicks she was raised with.

By the way, I forgot to say welcome to BYC. We're glad you joined us!