Peahens first baby .. next steps .. help required

[Victoria Adam]

Hi

New to the forum, I've searched the internet to find out some information about our situation but I only seem to find peacock info ..

We came to a house that had 3 males and 2 females 2 years ago.. 1 male went missing a year ago and one female was killed by a fox in June.

Our remaining peahen the younger of the 2 hens lost some eggs and since had 2 babies, however one sadly was too weak.

We decided to keep mum and baby safe by popping them in a pen

It is over 6 foot high and I think around 14 foot long if not a little more , there is also a higher level for mum to show the wee one how to fly, they sleep up there most nights .

We have noticed recently that mums neck feathers seem to be coming away and we are worried she is stressed, she is normally not penned but we worry the baby won't survive yet as it's only 3 weeks old

Are we doing the right thing ? Should we be letting them come out now during the day and hoping they might just go back in on their own accord ?

We also have 6 hens and 3 ducks when run around the garden.

Sorry for the big post , new to us and we want what's best for the birds so any advice would be appreciated!!

Thanks
Vicky

 

[JaeG]

I know chickens do a bit of a molt after their eggs have hatched and they are raising their chicks, so maybe your peahen is doing a 'broody molt' too.