PEAFOWL AGES?

[KsKingBee]

If she laid one egg last year she will be laying this year. She looks like she is a mature hen but not one in lay quite yet. I believe your season is just starting so when you see her walking about in this stance she is either going to lay an egg or has been laying.

 

[Waterfaery]

THANK YOU for your kind and helpful response : ) When the peahen laid an egg within the first month of bringing them here, they were locked up whilst we made them a more "critter proof" peafowl house. The one and only egg was moved from the hollow, and two days later disappeared (no shell seen anywhere). Then when we moved them over to their new home, and kept them locked in for a good 3 - 4 months, and no eggs were laid there. Then I started letting them out by day ... now they have mastered the trap door, where they let themselves out early in the day and back in by night. I will find a youtube video to hear what their mating sounds like. The peacock does display a lot, and lately has been screeching so much. Rhini seems to stay on one side of the garden by day (avoiding him?), and Rajah stays on the other (screeching all the while). Occasionally she will join up with him and it is possible that we have never seen them mate, and only assume that it is not happening?

They only lay during the breeding season so if the time you had them locked in was over the winter, you won't have seen any eggs. As KsKingBee said, your breeding season is only starting up there now so it would be normal for her to have stopped laying last autumn and just be starting up again now. Rajah starting to call more and displaying a lot recently is a sign that your breeding season is getting underway.

There is a high probability that she will choose to lay somewhere secluded, if she isn't already. It would be a good idea to keep an eye on her and try to find the spots she goes to during the day, especially if you see her in that stance like in KsKingBee's photo. Once she has a clutch of eggs, she might sit on them. If she decides to sit on eggs somewhere outside of a predator proof enclosure, she will be very vulnerable.

If she's hanging around one side of the garden a lot, she may have a nest somewhere in that direction. I don't know if the same goes for all peahens, especially ones who free range because that might be very different, but I know when my peahens are laying they tend to hang around near their nest, not directly beside it, but in the general area not too far from it.

 

[Waterfaery]

SORRY, what are "spurs"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spur_(zoology)

They are on the back of the legs, just above the feet. Peacocks have large ones that are usually sharp and pointed. Peahens can sometimes have similar pointed spurs (except smaller), sometimes more rounded ones, sometimes just a little bump and sometimes nothing that you would see other than a round spot where the spur would be if you looked closely.

 

[DukesDucks]

The actual mating is a rare sight

It makes me laugh watching my peas during mating season. The peacock struts around, shows off his fancy dance steps with full tail display. He will stand in the door way between the run and the interior barn space where their food and water is. The peahens seem to spend their time trying to avoid him, often slipping under his wings as he tries to corner them. I have never actually seen the mating but he obviously gets it done because peachicks are the result.

 

[Moon888]

If she laid one egg last year she will be laying this year. She looks like she is a mature hen but not one in lay quite yet. I believe your season is just starting so when you see her walking about in this stance she is either going to lay an egg or has been laying.View attachment 3316512View attachment 3316522

Thank you for that, I will watch out for the feathers dropping down : ) She has been showing a little interest (about once a day) by walking around him whilst he displays ... I watched for ages today and he does not push forward and she does not crouch?

 

[Moon888]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spur_(zoology)

They are on the back of the legs, just above the feet. Peacocks have large ones that are usually sharp and pointed. Peahens can sometimes have similar pointed spurs (except smaller), sometimes more rounded ones, sometimes just a little bump and sometimes nothing that you would see other than a round spot where the spur would be if you looked closely.

Thank you for that ... seems Rhini's spurs are not over sized, so perhaps she is not too old : ) However, it seems that spurs are not always an accurate way of telling age : )

 

[Moon888]

They only lay during the breeding season so if the time you had them locked in was over the winter, you won't have seen any eggs. As KsKingBee said, your breeding season is only starting up there now so it would be normal for her to have stopped laying last autumn and just be starting up again now. Rajah starting to call more and displaying a lot recently is a sign that your breeding season is getting underway.

There is a high probability that she will choose to lay somewhere secluded, if she isn't already. It would be a good idea to keep an eye on her and try to find the spots she goes to during the day, especially if you see her in that stance like in KsKingBee's photo. Once she has a clutch of eggs, she might sit on them. If she decides to sit on eggs somewhere outside of a predator proof enclosure, she will be very vulnerable.

If she's hanging around one side of the garden a lot, she may have a nest somewhere in that direction. I don't know if the same goes for all peahens, especially ones who free range because that might be very different, but I know when my peahens are laying they tend to hang around near their nest, not directly beside it, but in the general area not too far from it.

Thank you for your amazing response ... yes, they would have been locked in during the winter months. Unfortunately I let the ducks nest in the box that we created for Rhini to lay in. Rhini did not seem interested in this box and the ducks were laying eggs all over the place. So I locked them in for a few days, and they (2 of them) started to lay in Rhini's box. So Rhini will most likely look for a suitable place outside of the pen, and she will be vulnerable, because a wild duck was taken by a fox recently : ( I do have two of these "peafowl boxes" so perhaps I will need to lock her in for a few days? Trouble is that I have not seen them mate, and do not think they are getting it right (Rajah does not jump Rhini and Rhini does not crouch for him). I did take a look around the garden today, and did not find a nest or eggs. Tomorrow I should look further into the woods. You are right about Rajah calling louder, and displaying more than last year ... so I will keep an eye on them : )

 

[Moon888]

It makes me laugh watching my peas during mating season. The peacock struts around, shows off his fancy dance steps with full tail display. He will stand in the door way between the run and the interior barn space where their food and water is. The peahens seem to spend their time trying to avoid him, often slipping under his wings as he tries to corner them. I have never actually seen the mating but he obviously gets it done because peachicks are the result.

Okay, so there is hope ... I will keep an eye on them, and also look deeper in the woods for a nest or eggs : ) Funny how the peahens seem so disinterested. I watched a few videos on the mating and saw how the peahen crouches down just before the pounce. Rhini has been walking around, showing a bit of interest in the past few days (not too much though : ) Rajah just does not seem to be aggressive enough at this stage, and it is estimated that he is about 3 years old, just maturing sexually now I guess. They are magnificent birds, I feel so privileged : )

 

[Moon888]

Hi Everyone, Today I observed Rajah's dance and noticed that he was slightly more assertive, and Rhini was sticking around a bit more. I also noticed that Rhini's wings were drooping towards the ground (as per shared pics). So tonight, once they had gone back inside their pen, I closed the trap door. The ducks (who share some of the pen) are sitting on eggs which are due to hatch in a week's time. Hopefully Rhini will lay eggs in another bed prepared for her? We do have fox and powerful owl predators, as well as something that steals eggs. Anyway, next weekend we will be going away, so I will keep them all confined until we return (for about one week in all) and I will let you know how things pan out : )

 

[Moon888]

Hello Everyone, Just an update on Rajah and Rhini ... Rhini still has "dropped" flight feathers which apparently indicates that she is either wanting to lay or has laid an egg ... Well, it has been over a week since I locked both of them into the pen, and there is no sign of eggs. Yesterday I opened the trap door for them both to go outside, and only Rajah did. Rhini stayed inside because the Ducks in another penned off area of the main pen, have a baby. Rhini has been watching them closely all this time, and I am concerned that she may harm the babies, if I were to open the smaller pen. When I did have the small pen door open, the drake came into the main pen, and Rhini was noticeably upset, then she entered the smaller pen. I removed Rhini from the small pen and herded the drake back inside where the other ducks were, with baby duck sitting on mum's back. This morning, there is no sign of the duckling? So things are beginning to become rather "interesting" to say the least. Will Rhini ever lay another egg whilst she is disturbed by the ducks living in her territory? Today Rajah stayed inside the large pen with Rhini, and nothing seems to be happening as far as mating is concerned? The trap door remains open, and Rhini is staying put. Are peafowl difficult to breed? Hoping to find out more about peafowl manerisms and characteristics : )