Peafowl for 2013

[casportpony]

How do you know when they are about to lay? The only thing that I know is that they lay late in the evening.

Mine hold their tails up a little, carry their wings down and pace, then right before they lay, they start to make a clucking sound and will start looking for a spot. FWIW, mine all lay before it gets dark, last night it was around 7:30.

 

[AugeredIn]

How do you know when they are about to lay? The only thing that I know is that they lay late in the evening.

Honestly, If I were you I would not focus on trying to see it happen. I can guarantee you that if a hen is going to lay it will be around 30 minutes before dark and every other day. I avoid the pens during this time. If I disturb most of them during this time it is almost certainly going to result in a egg dropped from the perch instead of layed on the ground.

Every time I have seen an egg layed, it happens almost immediately without warning. I have a group of midnight birds that free ranges during the off season and is penned during breeding season. The two hens will lay right in front of me. One second they are walking around the next second there is an egg after a short squat. They just kind of look like they might be hunting for a spot to sit or food to eat. Neither of them make much noise at all.

 

[kuntrygirl]

How do you know when they are about to lay? The only thing that I know is that they lay late in the evening.

Honestly, If I were you I would not focus on trying to see it happen.  I can guarantee you that if a hen is going to lay it will be around 30 minutes before dark and every other day.  I avoid the pens during this time.  If I disturb most of them during this time it is almost certainly going to result in a egg dropped from the perch instead of layed on the ground.

Every time I have seen an egg layed, it happens almost immediately without warning.  I have a group of midnight birds that free ranges during the off season and is penned during breeding season.  The two hens will lay right in front of me.  One second they are walking around the next second there is an egg after a short squat.  They just kind of look like they might be hunting for a spot to sit or food to eat.  Neither of them make much noise at all.

I have been avoiding the pens as well during that time. I will usually check in the AM to see if anything is there and then leave them alone.

 

[AugeredIn]

I just check them right after dark and collect eggs. We do all of the pen chores before evening.

 

[Momhunter]

I am so disappointed :-(. I have a trio of peafowl, my pied hen layed 8 eggs, which i collected on day laid, now nothing for a whole week. My blue still hasn't laid an egg!
The right in incubator are developing well. Don't know if miss blue is to old or why she isn't laying. She laid at least a dozen last year when she adopted us and was our only peafowl. It was sad to watch her sit on non-fertilized eggs, I had to take them away from her because she wouldn't give up sitting. I bought the pair to go with her and now no eggs!!! She is why I got into peafowl!! Any suggestions????

 

[AugeredIn]

The eight eggs is one clutch. She is done until she decides to lay another clutch. Give her 7-14 days and see what happens. The other girl will lay when she is ready. If they are well fed and don't have parasite overload,she will lay.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Same thing here. I got 6 eggs (SOMETHING happened to 2 of them ) and nothing else after that. So, I am incubating a measly 4 eggs but I guess it's better than 1 or no eggs.

I'm thinking I will have to get another incubator because when they start laying again, I will have to incubate the next clutch of eggs. I can't put them under any of my chickens (hens) because they play musical chairs with their boxes and will leave a nest of eggs and go to another box. They tick me off when they do that.

 

[casportpony]

Has anyone ever had a hen lay two days in a row?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Has anyone ever had a hen lay two days in a row?

I don't think so. :/

 

[casportpony]

I ask because one of mine did.