Peafowl hatched and being raised by chicken hen?

[Joe.G]

Hi, My first few eggs I had taken from my Peahens and put under chickens that made up there minds to go broody and I did not want them to hatch any baby chicks so I gave them Peafowl eggs. I now have one very protective Hen taking care of Peafowl Chick. They go everywhere together.

I know There is concern for Blackhead which I am whiling to take my chances, but is there anything else to worry about? Will this help the teach the chick to free range and not wonder off? Thanks

 

[zazouse]

I would not do it for the simple fact that chickens eat all kinds of thing in the ground and will teach the peas this, like earth worms, none of my peas will eat them but had i taught them to eat them as babies they would eat them as adults.

For instance i fed home grown mill worms to my first peas and to this day they will eat them but the chicks i hatched here got dried mill worms and when they got bigger they would only eat dried mill worms and turn their beeks up at the home grown ones.

I also seen my wee peas on a few occasion eating chicken and goose chips just like my dogs and we never know what is going on in them chips ya kow

 

[casportpony]

Hi, My first few eggs I had taken from my Peahens and put under chickens that made up there minds to go broody and I did not want them to hatch any baby chicks so I gave them Peafowl eggs. I now have one very protective Hen taking care of Peafowl Chick. They go everywhere together.

I know There is concern for Blackhead which I am whiling to take my chances, but is there anything else to worry about? Will this help the teach the chick to free range and not wonder off? Thanks

Several of mine were raised by a chicken, but once the get older, they start acting like peafowl, so no guarantee they won't go exploring and chasing things the way peafowl do, lol.

-Kathy

 

[zazouse]

Kat is right, peas will still go wonder off without the chickens and mine go father than and bird on my place even guineas do not go as far as the peas do, being raised by a hen will not keep them closer to home once they develope their courage but chicken hens IMO make much better mothers i know cause i can get into the hundreds in one season with all them hens hatching out chicks, i culled and sold all my chickens down to about 30 before winter set in, i got close to 100 again and it ain't even been a year since i reduced my flocks

but hey the dogs gotta eat also so it works out pretty good

 

[Joe.G]

I figured Id give it a shot if it dont work it dont work. I have a Peahen sitting on a Few eggs also, I ll let her raise those.

 

[zazouse]

 

[Joe.G]

So far so good, they have moved out of the coop the two of them and are roosting in the tree next to it,
Baby pea still sleeps under the hen up in the tree. They are out all day together and never are more then a few feet from each other.

The Baby was all yellow when hatched and is now at about 3 weeks getting some brown on back area. Any ideas?

 

[zazouse]

You sure it isn't just dirt from dust bathing? i had a white chick that looked like her tail feathers were coming in brown,i got all excited i went to get the camera and take a photo and when i separated the feathers to get a better photo it turned out it was from the peat mixture i put out for them.

 

[Joe.G]

Lol I did check and its the feather color.. This is my first time with Peafowl chicks, so I have no real knowledge about them.