peafowls how are they kept?

[Transform987]

I am might be thinking of getting some how are they kept I seen that they can be kept to just wander I have heard they need to be kept in a aviary what is it? I also heard they wander off find mates and come back but I live in the UK the nearest peafowls are the ones miles away on a farm. I also heard they are great guard animals are they vicious? Or is just that their feather scare animals and people? I have seen them fly real high so does clipping even work if not and they do just wander around the town will they just go come back for food or what.

 

[Birdrain92]

I am might be thinking of getting some how are they kept I seen that they can be kept to just wander I have heard they need to be kept in a aviary what is it? I also heard they wander off find mates and come back but I live in the UK the nearest peafowls are the ones miles away on a farm. I also heard they are great guard animals are they vicious? Or is just that their feather scare animals and people? I have seen them fly real high so does clipping even work if not and they do just wander around the town will they just go come back for food or what.

Welcome to BYC and the peafowl section. They can be free range or be put in a pen. Depends on what you want. If you have only one they will wonder off if they hear other peafowl. Peafowl are social birds and try to be with others. Prepare to have 2 or some animal for them to bond with. They are called guard dogs for a couple reasons. One is because if some disturbs them or they hear something they may start calling. So kind of an alarm when something is going on. Second is not so much as they being "vicious" but they will attack something if they feel that they need to. They can be very protective. Especially hens over their nest or chicks. Their feathers can sometimes intimidate some animals or confuse them but not always will just a fan of their feathers work and then they will attack. Peafowl are excellent fliers. Clipping their wings will prevent them from flying which is one of their defenses to escape predators is to fly up high and roost. Peafowl are excellent jumpers. In person I've seen my peafowl jump 5 feet without problems. I've heard people say they can jump higher but in my experience I've only seen 5 feet though that's the highest thing my peafowl can jump up on is 5 feet. Peafowl will come back to their food source and friends usually. Also another note about peafowl getting their wings clipped most zoos clip their peafowl's wings and those peafowl tend to be the most aggressive do to the fact that it can't fly away from children that try to pull their feathers.

 

[MinxFox]

I am might be thinking of getting some how are they kept I seen that they can be kept to just wander I have heard they need to be kept in a aviary what is it? I also heard they wander off find mates and come back but I live in the UK the nearest peafowls are the ones miles away on a farm. I also heard they are great guard animals are they vicious? Or is just that their feather scare animals and people? I have seen them fly real high so does clipping even work if not and they do just wander around the town will they just go come back for food or what.

If you want to free-range peafowl it is best to start with young chicks or to even hatch your own. Everyone has their own way of training young peafowl to free-range, but the general consensus is that it is best to start with peachicks and then once they are fully grown you can let them out to free-range permanently. You may be able to train them to come into the aviary at night to sleep, but that can be hard to get them to do.

Free-range peafowl love sleeping in tall trees at night so they will look around for a good tree to sleep in. If the tall tree just happens to be on the edge of your property, when they fly down in the morning they may fly down onto the wrong side and sometimes that will mean corralling them back over to your yard.

If you keep them in an aviary it should be around 100 sq ft. (9.2903 sq meters) per peafowl.

Free-range peafowl can wander off randomly, and I don't think it is always just to find a mate. They are very curious birds. They may wander off and lose track of where home is. Sometimes they show up the next day, sometimes they show up after a few years, or sometimes they never come back. They can cover a lot of distance and can show up miles away from home.

They might make noise if someone pulls up into your yard, but that is about it. A local breeder told me a story about a bunch of her peacocks chasing away a stray pit bull that was tormenting her birds. She said they ran the dog off by chasing and flying at him. She also told me that her peacocks saved one of her chickens from a hawk attack. I wouldn't count on them defending your property or other pets though. I think the best animal for that will always be a dog. As for being vicious, zoos will tell you that peafowl can be aggressive and to stay a safe distance away from their birds, but I believe that zoos might have aggressive peafowl due to mean kids and/or adults that like to chase the peacocks trying to pull out a train feather. The birds then may feel threatened by people and feel like they must defend themselves when a person gets too close. Sometimes closely hand raised peacocks can grow up to be aggressive. I think that it all depends on the personality of the bird if they will grow up to be aggressive. I do know that having an aggressive rooster is far more common than having an aggressive peacock.

Clipping a free-range peafowl's wings is not a very good idea because then it can be hard for them to escape predators. If some zoos really do clip their peafowl's wings, then that sounds like a very bad idea. Peafowl are curious and they can and will go into the exhibit of a predator at the zoo. Without their ability to fly this is very bad for the peafowl - that and they need to get up high at night to be safe from predators which will be hard to do if they can't fly into a tree. The last time I went to the zoo there was a white peacock in the black bear exhibit. I watched worriedly as he walked around in the bear pit and even lay down in the shade! The bears were not even watching him so I suppose they know they can't catch him.

When you free-range peafowl they may come back for food, but nothing is guaranteed. A neighbor could start feeding them without you knowing and they may start hanging out at the neighbor's instead. Down the street someone might have a fruit or nut tree that is ripe and your birds could leave for a week or more to enjoy the bounty like what happened to one lady I spoke to. Her peafowl would leave to go eat pecans that were chopped up when someone down the road mowed their lawn.

It is hard to say what they will do until you actually start free-ranging them. In my opinion the best thing to do is not free-range all of them at once so that if something happens to the free-range birds, you will still have some in an aviary. It is horrible to have peafowl one day and have them all gone the next. I had my first pair run away around this time of year back in 2009. Now I keep all of them in an aviary. Eventually I would like to free-range again, but currently I do not think my situation is good for free-ranging.

 

[barkerg]

Species will also play a part. India blues will hang around forever no issue however, green peafowl are rolling stones and will more than likley disapear that goes for males and females. Please dont clip their wings as stated earlier it does more harm than good plus, Id bet they could still jump 8+ ft with clipped wings, greens tend to jump higher in my experience due to their leaner and taller build both species are excellent escape fliers. Greens tend to be very wild when compared to the india blue species and I do not recommend them for a novice, start with India blues if you have that option.Good luck on your decision you came to the right place for answers.

 

[barkerg]

Also, as stated by minxfox they are excellent defenders of their territory. Ive observed hens with chicks and other non mothers in the bevy fly up a tree after a hawk. They do not play when it comes to predators.

Gerald

 

[Transform987]

If you want to free-range peafowl it is best to start with young chicks or to even hatch your own. Everyone has their own way of training young peafowl to free-range, but the general consensus is that it is best to start with peachicks and then once they are fully grown you can let them out to free-range permanently. You may be able to train them to come into the aviary at night to sleep, but that can be hard to get them to do.

Free-range peafowl love sleeping in tall trees at night so they will look around for a good tree to sleep in. If the tall tree just happens to be on the edge of your property, when they fly down in the morning they may fly down onto the wrong side and sometimes that will mean corralling them back over to your yard.

If you keep them in an aviary it should be around 100 sq ft. (9.2903 sq meters) per peafowl.

Free-range peafowl can wander off randomly, and I don't think it is always just to find a mate. They are very curious birds. They may wander off and lose track of where home is. Sometimes they show up the next day, sometimes they show up after a few years, or sometimes they never come back. They can cover a lot of distance and can show up miles away from home.

They might make noise if someone pulls up into your yard, but that is about it. A local breeder told me a story about a bunch of her peacocks chasing away a stray pit bull that was tormenting her birds. She said they ran the dog off by chasing and flying at him. She also told me that her peacocks saved one of her chickens from a hawk attack. I wouldn't count on them defending your property or other pets though. I think the best animal for that will always be a dog. As for being vicious, zoos will tell you that peafowl can be aggressive and to stay a safe distance away from their birds, but I believe that zoos might have aggressive peafowl due to mean kids and/or adults that like to chase the peacocks trying to pull out a train feather. The birds then may feel threatened by people and feel like they must defend themselves when a person gets too close. Sometimes closely hand raised peacocks can grow up to be aggressive. I think that it all depends on the personality of the bird if they will grow up to be aggressive. I do know that having an aggressive rooster is far more common than having an aggressive peacock.

Clipping a free-range peafowl's wings is not a very good idea because then it can be hard for them to escape predators. If some zoos really do clip their peafowl's wings, then that sounds like a very bad idea. Peafowl are curious and they can and will go into the exhibit of a predator at the zoo. Without their ability to fly this is very bad for the peafowl - that and they need to get up high at night to be safe from predators which will be hard to do if they can't fly into a tree. The last time I went to the zoo there was a white peacock in the black bear exhibit. I watched worriedly as he walked around in the bear pit and even lay down in the shade! The bears were not even watching him so I suppose they know they can't catch him.

When you free-range peafowl they may come back for food, but nothing is guaranteed. A neighbor could start feeding them without you knowing and they may start hanging out at the neighbor's instead. Down the street someone might have a fruit or nut tree that is ripe and your birds could leave for a week or more to enjoy the bounty like what happened to one lady I spoke to. Her peafowl would leave to go eat pecans that were chopped up when someone down the road mowed their lawn.

It is hard to say what they will do until you actually start free-ranging them. In my opinion the best thing to do is not free-range all of them at once so that if something happens to the free-range birds, you will still have some in an aviary. It is horrible to have peafowl one day and have them all gone the next. I had my first pair run away around this time of year back in 2009. Now I keep all of them in an aviary. Eventually I would like to free-range again, but currently I do not think my situation is good for free-ranging.   

Well over here no predetors are near at all no foxes at all because of all the dogs. The worst is a cat but we have a dog who loves birds. Would clipping be fine then also no one else will feed them

 

[MinxFox]

Are they going to be sleeping inside the aviary at night?

What about neighborhood dogs getting out?

Are there owls in your area?

If you can keep an eye on them and get them inside at night I guess you can clip their wings, but I personally wouldn't recommend clipping.

 

[Transform987]

Are they going to be sleeping inside the aviary at night?

What about neighborhood dogs getting out?

Are there owls in your area?

If you can keep an eye on them and get them inside at night I guess you can clip their wings, but I personally wouldn't recommend clipping.

No owls I am the only one who owns a dog around and it loves birds I do not know about the first

 

[smaimone]

I wish there was a way for me to upload a video from my iPhone so I can show you my birds coming down from roosting in the high trees and a look of their large wire corn crib my husband got me that I call my huge bird cage. It's connected to a small barn where they can come in or out. They always go back there when bad weather is coming. When they go in I close the gates to keep them safe from predators. I also keep them confined when I know snow or freezing weather is coming. The first year I had them they rooster in the trees along with my guineas. When they flew down the snow was so high they were trapped because their feet couldn't hit the ground. One time I heard a Guinea making noise at 3am and I had to go out and rescue all my birds in the dark with a flashlight.