Questions about Peachicks

[muesky]

Hi everyone!
I purchased a peachick at an auction last Thursday and have a couple of questions. First question, how long before baby peafowl get their crown and colored feathers. Also I was wondering if there is a way to tell if it is a male or female right away.
The chick I purchased is 4 days old at the most. When I bought it Thursday it was still crusty from the hatch and was not looking to great but it is doing fine now. I put it in with a little seabrite hen I have and she has taken it under her "wing" (so to speak)

They are eating game bird crumbles and oatmeal. I also added a bit of electrolites to the water and it is eating and drinking.
The bad thing is I have absolutely no idea what type of peacock it is except it is pied and has dark shoulders. As there seem to be very few photes of peachicks I have found no helpful references.
Maybe I will take pictures of it periodically to have a record for other people to use. That is not a bad idea.

Anyway thanks ahead of time for anyone who has information.

 

[Kev]

does black shoulder pied like it to you? If the chick is solid creamy yellow all over with either white or lightly buff colored wing feathers it's probably a black shoulder. They start out that way. If you're seeing brown or tan on the fuzz or wings are all light tan, it's not black shoulder or pied. Pieds are patchy brown and white all over.

If it was that young, I'm not sure how they could have sold it as a pied black shoulder, as pied trait isnt possible to see on a black shoulder until its older due to their being born white/ish all over in the first place. Blue pieds are pied right from hatch though.

They get the crowns at about month to month and half of age, it does not look same as on adult crowns, don't worry and it will look like a regulkar crown by 4-6 months old.. Males get the full color and long tails in their third year so you have a wait for that.

They are sexable by 6 months old, experienced breeders can tell sooner but for a novice it's the clearest by that time though.

Good luck and I would recommend leaving the baby with her. Be sure to keep the pen clean and dry and best if no other birds to bother them also. If you are in a wet area, probably a good idea to deworm them regularly.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

How would you be able to tell whether it's male or female at 6 months?

-Kim

 

[Kev]

For the colored ones such as blue, black shoulder, cameo etc.. the females are colored exactly like the adult hen version of their color by 6 months. A 6 month old blue girl looks like a blue hen, a 6 month old black shoulder hen looks like an adult black shoulder hen and so on. Just slightly smaller and "younger" looking.

The boys have mostly dark colored necks with a lot of barring over their secondaries and backs at that age. Black shoulder boys progressively get darker and usually are much darker or "splotchier" than the girls at that age.

Whites are more of a challenge, they can be sexed only by size comparsion- males are overall bigger and taller with longer and thicker legs and toes, and normally the boys show a large spur bump while girls either have smooth or a very tiny spur bump.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Thanks Kev!

-Kim