Peahen clucking? And color question...

[Frosty]

Is it normal for a peahen to make quiet clucks and sound like a chicken hen? I have a 2 year old pied peahen, the neck is all white so I wasn't 100% sure that it was a hen until she started laying eggs... she has a few small spots of color, gray and brownish. Would she be a silver pied? She did lay an egg the night that I heard her clucking, any relationship?

The male is supposed to be black shoulder, but hasn't lost all of the white on his wings yet (also 2 years old), and has a white throat patch along with a small white patch underneath. Would he have pied in him? Asking because of the white throat patch, I already asked here and was told that he will probably lost the white on his wings next molt... No eyes yet, so from what I understand the eggs may not be fertile, but I'll try anyhow.

I bought these two in the fall of 2008, so that is my total experience with peas. They yell at night, and talk to me sometimes during the day but aren't as loud as I expected. If the weather will co-operate I'm building them a bigger outside run. Even if they aren't loud now, I'll still keep it as far as possible from the neighbors because as soon as I get it done they would probably get a lot louder if I had it closer. Wish I could let them free range, but between foxes, coyotes, raccoons, neighbors... not a good idea.

 

[deerman]

Pics would help , the male maybe a blackshoulder pied. How much white? The peahen blackshoulder pied ? Yes peahens msake a noise more like a honk.Still good odd the eggs will be fertile, if he is displaying alot.

Pied are about 20% white (loud pied have more)
Silver pied about 80% white

All silver pied are white eyes, but not all white eyes are silver pieds.

 

[texascowboy1979]

Cant wait to see your pictures...

 

[Frosty]

Hopefully the pics will come through... colors are off but shows the white. This isn't honking, it's a soft cluck like the chicken hens do when they are contented. Heard it again this evening, then she laid an egg. Sorry about the picture quality, didn't know they were that bad until I downloaded them and it's dark out now. All I can tell about them is that they were sold as a loud pied and a black shoulder. I appreciate any guesses, but either way I like them!

 

[texascowboy1979]

Id have to say the hen is a black shoulder white pied... and the male is a soft black shoulder pied...

but thats just me... everyone else???

 

[deerman]

peahen is a silver pied (note silver color on her back of her neck) peacock blackshoulder dark pied (if from pieds) splading if that is true green in his neck.

 

[peachick]

to answer your quetion about the clucking....
Yes, mine tend to cluck at breeding season in the evenings... just before they lay their egg.

 

[Frosty]

Thank you all... Deerman, if you could make out the gray (silver) in such a horrible picture, you have really good eyes!

Yes, she does have a lot of soft grey where she has color, but more brownish on her chest. The green on the neck... I don't think it's true green because it depends on the lighting. Sometimes it looks all blue. Though he does have a tighter crest than the hen. If he does have any spaulding, it's probably very low percentage because he handled temps in the -30 to -40 range fine. He does have crooked toes, I think he froze them a bit his first winter. And lost part of one toe.

Thank you peachick... I hear so much about the honks and how loud they yell, I didn't know that they cluck too! I have heard her do it twice, and both times she had an egg in there later that night. I just love these guys! If the eggs are fertile and I actually get them to hatch, be interesting to see what I get.

 

[deerman]

Well the real give away on the peahen was all the white, but yes you can see silver on her back. Can't really see the peacock's crest, but if tight that would mean spalding. Spalding low % can take the cold. even my 50% do ok with out heat. He is either dark pied or split pied or white.

Just seen many silver pied hens. post better pics may even be able to tell her color (opal ?)