Peacocks and ducks in the outback

[CrazyChookz]

Welcome to BYC and have a Happy New Year from a fellow Aussie.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

 

[ChickyChickens]

Welcome to BYC!!! There are loads of members on here…so if you have ANY questions…just ASK!!!

Hope you have loads of fun and all your answers answered here on BYC the BEST CHICKEN KEEPING FORUM on EARTH!!

 

[kathlewis50]

hello fellow aussie, thanks for the warm welcome. what sort of poultry do you raise? and also do you vaccinate your poultry?

I am not sure if it is law here or not.

 

[MinxFox]

Hello I am a fellow peafowl breeder! You should definitely come to the peafowl section here on Backyard Chickens. There is a ton of information that all of us peafowl breeders share and everyone is very quick to reply and helpful when you have a sick bird(s) and need help right away to treat them. I am pretty sure there are other aussies that visit the peafowl section. I am not sure how frequently they come though.

There are a lot of things to learn about peafowl, and the members on here really make learning it all much easier. I learned so much more after joining this site from the members than what I had learned doing my own research.

How many peafowl do you have and what kind of varieties do you have?
Do you happen to know if the Peacock Kingdom still has peafowl? They are in Australia and I always loved their pens and birds, but their website is no longer up so I wasn't sure if they are still into the peafowl. I don't know where in Australia they are though.

 

[kathlewis50]

Hi Minx fox,

I have only indian blue peafowl, I would love to get some genetics into my harem. I have a 1 yr old blue with his mate who traditional green but not from the same genetics.
then I have found a special place of genetics in WARREN NSW, an amazing place on the Macquaire RIVER. have bought two mature blues, in season but do not hold hope of laying this year.

My birds are on a cattle property and I intend for free range where they roost in the Pepper Corn Trees. my first lot are really friendly and had a spell in the meat house for about 3 months.

They now range free and roost in PcT.

My questions are about worming, vaccination,, bumble foot etc. health of the bird and feed.

1) worming
2) feeding at different ages of the birds life.
3) vaccination

thank you

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

 

[MinxFox]

My questions are about worming, vaccination,, bumble foot etc. health of the bird and feed.

1) worming
2) feeding at different ages of the birds life.
3) vaccination

thank you

1) For worming I use safeguard for goats. I use the liquid kind, but some people use the paste. For free-range birds the paste is better because you can put the paste on pieces of bread or some sort of treat, then the birds will eat it and get wormed at the same time. I don't have experience with the paste though, and so you would have to ask someone else about the correct dosage. Luckily, as the name implies, safeguard is very safe to give to the birds and so if you give them a little too much, it won't kill them.

I have never had any issues with bumble foot with peafowl. I can't even think of any case where I have seen someone post on this forum about a peafowl having bumble foot. I have sometimes seen one of my peafowl limping a bit and I figured they stepped on something sharp or landed on something, but by the next day they were always better. I think the only way they would get a bad foot condition is if they were living in a pen that was not cleaned and were therefore always standing in their own poop. I wouldn't worry about bumble foot. The main thing people worry about for peafowl is worms and black head.

2) When feeding peachicks, they need a medicated chick starter feed. They have to be taught to eat so pecking at their food with your finger helps teach them. If the peahen is taking care of them she will show them how to eat. Peachicks really enjoy having their medicated chick starter wet. I call it mash - I think other people call it that too. Anyways the medicated chick starter should be around 18% protein. Some say that too much protein in the feed can cause slipped tendons in the chicks, so that is why it is recommended to keep the protein around 18%. I usually feed the chicks medicated starter until they are a year old. Then I feed them what I feed the adults. Since there isn't a feed specifically made for peafowl (that I am aware of) every breeder has their own mix of feed that they give their peafowl. Some people give them game bird feed. I feed mine sunflower seeds, cat food, and various treats. An important treat is vegetables. Giving them things like lettuce, cabbage, etc is good. Since they are free-range I suspect they get a lot of good plant material anyways though. Some people just give treats to free-range peafowl since they get most of their food by foraging. Cat food, dog food, or catfish chow is an important treat to give them. It gives them good protein. My peafowl seem to like cat food the most. Dog food is their least favorite. Some people have more complex ways of feeding their peafowl. It never gets that cold here so I don't change their diet up much in the wintertime. During breeding season giving them crushed up egg shells can help give the peahens calcium to produce eggs, but usually free-range birds get a lot of good nutrients on their own.
Here is a list of treats that peafowl like:
http://bamboopeacock.com/Treats_for_Peafowl.html
3) I am not really sure about any vaccines for peafowl. Mainly at least 2 times a year everyone worms their birds. I worm my peafowl once before the breeding season, and once after.

 

[kathlewis50]

Hi, thanks so much for your detailed info. In regards to bumble foot, yes that is what happens with my male. He limps for a day or two and then comes good again.
It must be something he has stepped on as he is free range and sleeps with his girlfriend in the peppercorn tree.

the worming paste sounds like a good idea, I have been using kilverm, however I am not sure how much they take in.

also, I have bought two new birds, the female evidently layed her first batch and the male (held in our butchers house) and they are suppose to
have another batch after xmas. the male is now dropping his feathers and the female shows no sign of laying. My guess is that I will need to wait
until next year. I am holding both in the butchers house for a few months until they get comfortable with the place and the other peafowl.

They are really tame now and roam with the ducks and the lab.

thanks for your info and happy new year.