Question about raising peachicks: Please respond?

[InLuvWLife]

Hi everyone, Can peachicks be successfully raised as solitary birds? I bought 2 male(?) peachicks from a breeder but really only wanted one. She insisted that a solitary peacock is an unhappy peacock. However I have noticed that one is very nervous and flighty, and really would like to NOT have it. What do you all think? I do have chickens but they are in a different coop. I have 3 acres.

 

[Kedreeva]

I would agree that a solo peachick would be fairly unhappy. If you have a TON of time to devote to it, then you could alleviate that somewhat, but unless you like to hear a peachick crying non-stop any time you are not holding it, I wouldn't recommend keeping it alone.

If you post pictures we can probably confirm that they are two males, if they are around 4-5 weeks or so.

 

[InLuvWLife]

Hi and thanks for your reply. I will get some pics and post them. I have two and they were 6 wks old when I got them. VERY flighty and unfriendly. One is coming around very slowly, but the other is just crazy- slams itself all around the coop when I am feeding/cleaning. Is this normal behavior? They are probably 3.5 months old now. The woman i purchased from thinks I migt have a Spalding/India mix whihc would explain its "wildness". I have chickens and love them, but I confess the peachicks to be less than what I was hoping for. VERY flighty and hard to tame. She told me not to hold/touch them but to try and tame them with food. They are not terribly interested in food tho. Any input or comments for me? I would so appreciate it. Thanks-

 

[coloradopeafowl]

Yes what you are experiencing is really normal. Peafowl tend to be really flighty birds (especially when caged up) unless you put the time into them from day one. I have noticed though that my free ranging peafowl tend to be way more relaxed around me than the ones in the cages. I had a pied peacock named Ernie caged up and whenever i went into the cage he would fly from one end to the other hitting everything until i went out, then i decided to let him out and since then he follows me all over the yard to see what i'm doing, he will even eat out of my hand now.

 

[InLuvWLife]

Thank you! That makes me feel so much better! The breeder that I purchased from insinuated that I was doing something wrong with them. OK then, I will let them be silly. The breeder recommended I not let them freerange until at least 6 months old. Do you agree? I will probably wait until next Spring...
OH THANKS AGAIN!!!!

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Yes, Peacocks are kinda like guineas. Your yard is good, but the neighbors is better. They like to roam.

 

[peachick]

Hi I think I sold you those peachicks at chicken stock.

We were all new to peafowl once and learned by trial and error. But as i mentioned on the phone, catching a peacock and trying to hold it will really only make it more afraid of you the next time you get near it. They are a wild animal and not domesticated like chickens. You can however calm them down with food... but it really has to be on their terms and not ours. If you got those chicks when they were only a few days old, you can easily handle them and tame them from the start... non the less, as grown birds they still don't like to be touched.

Id be surprised if your wild chick was a spalding, but its a possibility ..... sometimes chicks loose their bands but spaldings are darker than india blues, and I would have noticed and not taken it to the swap.

I offered to trade you a chick that is calmer, that offer still stands..... I have several here. If you would like to bring them both I can confirm sexes, and make sure you have 2 males. Having 2 males is nice.... they bond like brothers and are always together.

Do you have the peachicks with your chickens?? They do tend to learn by example. If they see your chickens eating from your hand... peafowl are curious creatures and will learn that you are safe, by the way the chickens behave with you.

Here is something else to think about ..... when we get stressed the brain releases stress hormones that say in the body for up to 3 days. If something else happens to cause more stress then more hormones are released.... so a build up occurs over and over until we are flipping out!

That is what is happening with your bird. He needs several days to be calm and quiet so that the stress hormones fade, he can relax, and then not be so reactive with the slightest bit of pressure. Have faith that he will not always be like this .... hes just not much fun to be around right now.

A few weeks ago I bought 2 mini silki goats... around 10-12 weeks old.... the little doe was WILD. Seriously!! born and raised out on the pasture with little contact with humans. She panicked every time I got 20-30 feet from her. I did exactly what you did with the peachick. Every day I caught her and tried to hold her and calm her down... she seemed to get worse. And then I gave up. 4-5 days later she was eating out of my hand. She is still nervous around me and I cant reach out to touch her ... but she will take food from my hand.

Let me know what you'd like to do.

Kathleen

 

[InLuvWLife]

Hey everyone, thanks again for the input. There is never *one* right answer to anything it seems.

Its great to get a consensus and to have such a good pool of knowledge to tap here at BYC Forum. I am grateful!

Kathleen, I would never have mentioned any names, but since you did... so... Wow, peacocks must be the most complicated birds in the world! Each time a different answer to every question !! I thought we had resolved that one was mixed. Now... back to NOT mixed again?? No wonder my head is spinning! I must say, the two chicks look completely different. The flighty, wild one is much smaller, sleeker and very much darker feathering. In the light it is obvious that they are different sexes or breeds. Even to a stupid rookie like me. Please don't concern yourself with it though, Kathleen, I will work through it.

Thanks again to everyone for sharing your knowledge...

 

[SuperPeacockman]

You should really have a female not a male to keep it company.

 

[GardienneWings]

What you are experiencing is very normal, some peas are calm , some will get that way, some never do. I agree that IN GENERAL Spaldings are a little wilder in their behavior than the others but I have had spaldings that are perfectly calm too.

When I am trying to get a bird (or other animal) to calm down and accept me , I start out just "being there", sit in the pen, read a book , ignore it, after a few times when it is use to your presense in it's territory and it decides you are not a threat, then you will begin to see curiousity creep into its actions. Let it check you out, again, ignore it, talk to yourself soothingly to get it more use to you but don't make eye contact. Then put food or treats out near you each time you go in the pen but still basically ignore the bird. Talk to it soothingly but still be carefully of eye contact or fast movements. Once the bird is comfortably getting the treats off the ground near you and not grabbing and running with them try hold them on you outstretched hand (NO eye contact). Go with this a few days then procede from there. Animals see direct eye contact as a challenge or a threat depending on the animal and situation, so you can make a "safer" presentation by turning your head away and being careful not to make eye contact until the animal is totally comfortable with you.

I never sell a single pea to anyone unless they already have others especially if they plan to free range, as a solitary pea will take off looking for friends. I have had peas show up here from who knows where

You can also have 2 of the same Type of pea that look very different. I have a range of feather colors in all my pens, and even if you don't have a Spalding, if green was introduced at any point over the bird's lineage you can get Spalding characteristics that show up out of the blue. Splits can do all kinds of weird things, thats why there are so many colors and mutations in peafowl.

Good luck with them! Peas are a very different bird but great to have once you get past the learning curve.

Val