Raising peachicks without a clue.

[desy_peachick]

First of all I just bought two peachicks today. I'm keeping them in a small plastic childerns pool. I have pine shavings at the bottom and a fence all the way around it about 3ft tall. I bought twelve newborn turkeys not to long ago and kept them in this pool for two maybe three weeks. Once they started flying a little we put them outside. I always kept the light on for the turkeys and I kept the room at about 90 degrees all the time. Should I do the same for the peachicks? They are two weeks old. I'm not sure what to feed them. I put some of my pigeons food and some of my turkeys food down for them in a little red chick feeder. It's long, red, and has holes all in the top. I have no idea if the food is safe, if I have the right feeder and water things. The pigeons food is Scrach Grain and the turkeys eat Game Bird Chow. Which is better for the my peachicks? Should I just go get them a certin type of food? I keep them inside, in a room sperate from the house and that room stays pretty hot. Do they still need a heat lamp? Should I always leave the room light on, or should I leave it off at night? Do peachicks roost like turkeys during the night? How long does it usualy take before a turkey starts roosting at night? Is there a way to tell the differance between a peacock and a peahen at two weeks old? How do I know what kind of peafowl I have? I want them to love me and get attached to me. Will they do that? If so how do I make it happen? I have so much more to ask. Please, if anyone knows anything about raising peachicks help me out!

 

[Kedreeva]

Get the scratch grain out of the pool as soon as you can- they should be on chick starter/game bird crumble because they can't digest the seeds yet, and definitely not without grit.

The temp for them should be between 90 and 100 under the heat lamp (and yes they should have heat lamp on 100% of the time). Make sure they have space to move away from the heat lamp if they are too hot. The whole room does not have to be 90, but you do have to have a warm space for them in their brooder. You can turn the room lights off at night, but the heat lamp should stay on.

They will roost eventually, but you will probably have to show them how- mine didn't figure it out til they were much older and mostly just slept on the floor.

To know for sure what gender your birds are will take about 3 months, when their feathers start to differentiate.

Yours look like India Blues from your other post with pictures.

The more you handle them and spend time with them, the friendlier they will be. When you give them treats, make sure they only get them by taking it from your hand (as opposed to leaving it in a dish or on the floor). This way they associate food with you. Talk to them, copy their noises, make your own noises. Don't pin their wings down or to their sides, it stresses them and you don't want them to associate stress with you.

When you take a breath, go to the peafowl forum, look at the top link on the forum, and read through Peafowl 101 and 201. That may answer a lot of your questions.

Good luck!

 

[desy_peachick]

Thank you so much! You're a life saver!

I had them in the pool inside from 7/11 to7/15. Today I put them outside on the ground in the pin with the quail and rolling pigeons. They seem fine. Tonight I'm going to bring them back inside and I'll probably do that untill I feel completely sure that they are old enough and big enough to stay out all the time. One problem with keeping them outside is that they might eat the pigeons food and another is I'm afraid the pigeons and quail will eat the peachicks Medicated Started Chick feed. As of now I'm going to feed them inside at night and put them outside in the mornings. Thank you for your help if you have any more advise I'd love to hear it.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Keep them all the ground for at least a month , i do for 2 to 3 months, Don't mixes them with the quail and pigeons

 

[Kedreeva]

Quote:
he means off the ground

 

[deerman]

Quote:
he means off the ground

Thanks , meds getting bad, WOW whole wrong word, brain needs connected to hands.

 

[desy_peachick]

Why shouldn't they be on the ground? Why shouldn't they be mixed? They seem fine to me but I've never raised peachicls before. I only have two they are so codependent. When I hold one the other one always cries. Do peachicks strut? I'm pretty sure one of mine do it. One of my turkeys swolled a cigarette butt two days ago. Should I worry?

 

[Knix6468]

Desy, I am hoping someone else with more knowledge will help, but different birds carry different parasites, bugs, viruses. There are folks that raise
peafowl in amongst their other birds, but best practices if you want the birds to grow healthy is to keep them separate.

The pea chicks will have a better chance at living if you keep them off the ground from all the worms and bugs, poop, and other things they can eat.
I cant believe it when I watch our chicks and they actually will find poop and sample it. ick!

I had an adult female try to eat a winco plastic bag one time, I had to pull it out of her - she was not happy with me. She lived, but I wondered what
would have happened if I wouldn't have seen her gulping it down,,,,,

 

[Kedreeva]

The main reason to keep them off the ground is because they have a poor ability to fight disease and parasites. It's very easy for them to pick up worms from various places (bugs, stool, etc.. a lot of bugs they will eat off the ground actually carry parasite eggs/larvae that can kill your peas), and worms can kill them really fast at that age. Chickens can carry blackhead (a worm) without showing any sign, but blackhead can quickly become fatal for infected peafowl. This is not to mention the predators that can get the young (including your other birds, who may see something small and peck or fight it) if they are out and about. Even in a coop or enclosure, this may not stop something like snakes from getting to them. It's just much much safer to keep them off the ground away from these dangers.

Peas have a long lifespan (20 years!) and can raise a small herd of young at a time, so they have plenty of chances to recover from loss- but in captivity, when it's so easy to prevent the losses, it makes sense to try.