peacocks in the snow

[DylansMom]

If he makes it thru the winter and it is likely he will, he may up and leave next spring in search of female companionship.

 

[Garden Peas]

Did you ask around the area to see if anyone was missing him? I was an absolute wreck when one of my boys accidentally got loose, and we were so fortunate to get him back. We cried all night, certain he was going to be killed or lost forever...

 

[marybdvm]

We did try diligently to find his home up to about 3 or 4 miles around. Nobody had lost one or had heard about one being lost. He has been free range all these months and did call quite a bit in the summer. We were hoping to find his owner. Now it costs us for a pet sitter to feed him when we're not home.

 

[Garden Peas]

Well, then it sounds like you did what you could... Glad he has a home with you

 

[zazouse]

Hello, We had peacock show up at our house this summer (Morrow, OH -about 30 miles from Wilmington). We've been feeding him and he was staying on the deck during the day and roosting in a tree in the front yard this summer. What do we need to do to keep him safe and healthy thru the winter? We have a barn but he has no interest in that. He has shifted his roosting tree to one near a creek but he is now much more likely to encounter raccoon, opossums and coyotes now that he's farther from the house. We have contemplated giving him to someone who could better care for him if we can't and if can catch him.
Thanks for any advice.

Mary

 

[Garden Peas]

@marybdvm , it sounds like your guy was calling this summer, possiby to try to find the rest of his flock, or else trying to find female companionship. When my boy got out, he called and the other birds called back, and I think that's how he found his way back to a neighbor a couple houses down, and we got him back in a crate from there, with their help. We are sadly in the city, so I'm sure he was completely disoriented with all the houses and walls and barking dogs and cars... It's a miracle he survived. I do know of a free-range male who managed to call females in from over a mile and a half away, and I've read about birds wandering long distances, either getting lost, looking for love, or other reasons. It's possible he traveled 20 miles or more.

But if your buddy has stayed this long, I think you have a good chance of keeping him around, if you enjoy his company. If you want him to stay, maybe you can find a hen or two for him, and then he won't have as much reason to leave

Other people can give you more advice on this than I can, but if you get a couple of hens (or even hen chicks from this summer's hatch) and pen them in or near your barn, he will probably "adopt" them and stay fairly close. If you keep them penned over the winter, all of them will think of your place as home, and you could let the hens free range with him next summer.

It's not much more work to care for the extra birds, and next summer you will be back to just feeding all the free range birds, and you can enjoy watching your friends from your deck

You can still care for the birds (worming, etc) without catching them -- many people put meds in food so they don't have to catch the birds. Plus you can work towards taming your boy with treats like bread and grapes, and you may eventually get him tame enough that you can touch/handle him.

If you decide you really don't want him around, you could see if some pea person in your area is willing to try to catch him (not sure that would be successful, but it might), or just feed him through the winter and let him look for a new home next summer when the mating drive kicks back in.

Hope this helps, and again, Welcome!

 

[marybdvm]

Hello Everybody,

Thanks for your replies. We do enjoy having him around (except for the prodigious amount of large poops on the deck) and are happy to feed him. So far, he mainly gets kitten chow with mealworms and Torta bread from Costco as treats. He occasionally likes various fruits and oatmeal but nothing else consistently. He refused to eat the bird chow that was recommended. The wild birds at the bird feeder did not like it either. He's starting to grow his feathers back in after a major molt this fall- I now have very large bouquets of feathers around the house as do many of my friends. My family's Christmas presents will all be decorated with small feathers this year.

We are considering getting a hen for him and keeping her in one of my empty horse stalls in the hopes of getting him to go into the barn at least at night. He is happier now that we've put a a water heater and heating pad on the deck for him to keep his feet warm at least during the day. We made a crude 3 sided shelter on the deck for him which he stands in during the day but so far he has not jumped up on the "roost" we made for him in the shelter. We've tried leaving a dim light on for him to entice him to stay but no luck so far with that either.

It snowed last night and he made it through that. I really hope we have a mild winter this year. Thanks again for the tips.
Mary

 

[zazouse]

At my place it does not matter what the weather is doing my peas fly to the tops of the trees at dusk, but as soon as it starts getting daylight and the weather is bad they will go into the barn till it stops, yesterday they slept till noon don't think they got much sleep trying to hold on to the branches in all the wind and cold

This morning they are sleeping in again lots of heavey rain came and they were all soaked thank god it was only 60 degrees.

 

[Garden Peas]

It was relatively warm last night, but imagine my surprise when the temperature was colder this morning, and it started snowing.

The birds ate breakfast and went back inside. Every so often they would look out. I think they were saying things that shouldn't be repeated without asterisks

It's been a few hours and it's clearing now, but unfortunately NOT warming up any... now supposed to get down to 18 tonight, so I'm a little worried

And yes, I have been watching the forecasts, but those darned weather people CHANGED it! I'm going to have to sic the peas on them

 

[marybdvm]

Do you happen to have or know of someone who has a peahen for sale? Am looking for a possible companion for my boy.
Thanks.