Hi everyone. I had a very sad experience with chickens several years ago and I got wonderful help on backyard chickens, which I really appreciate. Now I have a problem with one of my peacocks and I'd be so grateful if anyone can help.
He was completely normal yesterday and is suddenly limping today. He is using the lame foot to balance and hobble around but he won't put any weight on it. When he's standing still he holds the leg up. He is eating normally and seems quite well otherwise. He is able to fly up to a high perch and back down again. He seems to be spending a lot of time sitting down but I'm really hoping that he's just resting because of being in pain rather than being ill. He can get up and move around but he's obviously less active than normal. As I said, his appetite seems to be fine.
He is in an aviary with another peacock, two peahens and five chickens. The rest of the birds are all fine and well. The other peacock is his brother and they were raised from the same clutch. They have always been reasonably happy with each other for the most part and we have never seen them fight. During the breeding season each year they can get a bit less friendly towards each other but it has never become particularly aggressive. Outside of the breeding season they are always calm and seem to be good friends. They are about six years old now and we have noticed that the other peacock seems to become a bit more dominant with each year that goes by. Although there haven't been any proper fights, the dominant one has been pecking the other one a bit and chasing him away from the best perch and from the peahens. I would hate to think that he has hurt his brother but I wonder if it is a possibility.
It's very difficult to get a close look to examine him. The peafowl are friendly but we don't handle them. They come to us when they know we have food but they generally don't come closer than about a metre away. The only thing we have been able to check is the underside of his foot as we can see it when he's holding it up and there doesn't seem to be anything unusual there.
Does anyone have any advice about what to look for in terms of diagnosing where the actual problem is? If there is anything we can look out for by observing him without handling him, that would be really helpful. We could probably catch him if necessary but I really don't want to do that unless it's an absolute last resort.
Also, if there's anything we can actually do to help him I would really love to know. It's so hard knowing he's in pain and I'm so worried that he might deteriorate, especially since I don't think there are any vets at all where we are that can help. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
He was completely normal yesterday and is suddenly limping today. He is using the lame foot to balance and hobble around but he won't put any weight on it. When he's standing still he holds the leg up. He is eating normally and seems quite well otherwise. He is able to fly up to a high perch and back down again. He seems to be spending a lot of time sitting down but I'm really hoping that he's just resting because of being in pain rather than being ill. He can get up and move around but he's obviously less active than normal. As I said, his appetite seems to be fine.
He is in an aviary with another peacock, two peahens and five chickens. The rest of the birds are all fine and well. The other peacock is his brother and they were raised from the same clutch. They have always been reasonably happy with each other for the most part and we have never seen them fight. During the breeding season each year they can get a bit less friendly towards each other but it has never become particularly aggressive. Outside of the breeding season they are always calm and seem to be good friends. They are about six years old now and we have noticed that the other peacock seems to become a bit more dominant with each year that goes by. Although there haven't been any proper fights, the dominant one has been pecking the other one a bit and chasing him away from the best perch and from the peahens. I would hate to think that he has hurt his brother but I wonder if it is a possibility.
It's very difficult to get a close look to examine him. The peafowl are friendly but we don't handle them. They come to us when they know we have food but they generally don't come closer than about a metre away. The only thing we have been able to check is the underside of his foot as we can see it when he's holding it up and there doesn't seem to be anything unusual there.
Does anyone have any advice about what to look for in terms of diagnosing where the actual problem is? If there is anything we can look out for by observing him without handling him, that would be really helpful. We could probably catch him if necessary but I really don't want to do that unless it's an absolute last resort.
Also, if there's anything we can actually do to help him I would really love to know. It's so hard knowing he's in pain and I'm so worried that he might deteriorate, especially since I don't think there are any vets at all where we are that can help. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
