*REALLY need some pea catching advice, please.

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello dear peapeople,
First I have a weird story to tell (the super short version).
We were out of town for ten days. When we returned on Monday, Peggy (my sweetest boy) was missing.
With much encouragement from casportpony (thank you thank you!), I flyered/called animal control/called vets, etc., etc., etc.

Miraculously, it turned out Peggy was hanging around on someone's porch!
Strangely, the porch is 5 miles from my house and his wings are now clipped.
(Beware of peanappers)

We have been trying to catch him for three days now and simply cannot do it.
There are no enclosed spaces to herd him into, just a lot of shrubs and trees and busy roads I don't want to scare him onto.
He is understandably extremely nervous.
Tonight we tried the netting-him-on-the-roost approach but no luck.
The people who own the porch would very much like him to return to his real home.

Do you have any ideas?
I'm going to try the net again tomorrow but I have some doubts, now that he knows it's coming.
I really need to catch him soon.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

New2,,is your pea hungry? Will he come to the feed pan that maybe he recognizes? Have you ever heard of a tranquilizer called ACE? I'm in no way an expert in trying to catch peafowl since mine are only handled 2-3 times a year but if he's nervous perhaps he could be tranqualized or drugged so he can be caught and returned home.
You would need to assess if he is hungry enough to come down from his roost of safety.You would need to contact a local veterinarian and ask them about this drug.We have used it on cattle before during showing.It makes the animal woozy and a lot less skiddish but this is on a 1300lb animal.It was in liquid form and could be mixed with their feed or water.Not that this drug will work with peafowl but your vet should know of it,or possibly another drug that could be ingested with quick results.Aside from getting a bucket truck at night to catch him or a ladder that is high enough I don't see any other options that would work.Would he come to a peahen that could be put inside a dog crate that he knows? If she would start callling he would hear her and possibly come towards her but you still need to capture him.

 

[casportpony]

Just tried to find the dosing info on Ace for birds and there are *no* birds listed in Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook, just mammals. This is from Clinical Avian Medicine: http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avmed/cam/09_therapeutic_agents.pdf:




Maybe there is a different tranquillizer that you could try?

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Thanks so much fbc and casportpony.
I think that you may be right about a tranquilizer being the best approach, and I'm going to call some vets as soon as they open to see if I can get some advice about this.

I now wonder if trying to net him on the roost was a bad idea. He can't fly; he was roosting on top of a stone wall, about 6 feet high. Scaring him onto the ground in the dark is really dangerous, since he's defenseless.

I could bring a peahen but there isn't any place to herd him into for capture, so I'm not sure if this would help?

Do you think there is anyone I could call for help?
Unfortunately, all of the Animal Control here is fully occupied with a very large wildfire and they don't have time for Peggy.

Frankly, I believe that his current guardians are going to get sick of him very soon and chase him off and I don't know how I would ever find him again.

 

[Arbor]

If its new guardians were willing, a simple snow fence cage open on one end could be temporarily constructed. Give the bird a bit of time to adjust, and being sure to regularly place treats in it. This will take time, but the least stressful. The other option, though not everyone here will agree, is basically to chase him down with the help of a quick friend, and grab his train. Most stressful method, but it can be effective. I have had to do this before on a bird that did not have clipped wings, as we live near a busy road and I did not want him to get struck on the road.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Thank you so much Arbor,
I think his new guardians want him out of there ASAP. So unfortunately I don't think a slow approach will work.
I'm also afraid that chasing him won't work; there are just too many places for him to run here, onto other people's property, into busy roads, etc.

*By the way, do any of you have experience with alpha chloralose? This looks like it might be the most effective sedative for this situation.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

New2, once I caught some of my birds that I was planning to take to a swap. I try to move all my birds at night, less stressful and much easier to catch. On this particular incident tho I had one hen that got away from me and flew away. It was pitch black dark and although I heard and seen her general way of flight I decided to catch all the other birds and figured she was gone for good. But once done I started looking with a flashlite in the tree where I thought she was,,nothing there,,so I looked closer to the house,,again nothing there. Finally by total mistake I aimed my flashlite at the base of the first tree and there she was. She was undoubtedly scared to death and as little as I handle my peas I reached down and easily picked her up. I do not think Peas can see at all,or at least good enough to escape(in darkness) I try to move all my birds when it's totally dark just because it's easier to catch them,and they don't seem to fight as much because frankly,I don't think they can see an escape route. Try catching him at nite. It maybe easier than you think

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Thanks fbc, I think I will try again tonight with more people if I can't get him today.
In the meantime, it looks like I might be able to get some kind of tranquilizer for him from a vet.
Does anybody have an idea about how much he might weigh, so I can tell the vet for dosage?
He's about 2 years old.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Peacock wrangling SUCCESS!
Poor Peggy has had the most difficult life of any peacock I know.
Now he's going to have to live in a pen until his wing feathers grow back - those peanappers cut both his primaries and his secondaries so I think it's going to be a while...

Thank you ALL for the support.
I love this peaforum.

 

[casportpony]

Peacock wrangling SUCCESS!
Poor Peggy has had the most difficult life of any peacock I know.
Now he's going to have to live in a pen until his wing feathers grow back - those peanappers cut both his primaries and his secondaries so I think it's going to be a while...

Thank you ALL for the support.
I love this peaforum.

Funny, but I will sleep a little better knowing you got him back home. Tell us, how did you catch him?

As for the wings, that's how I do it (I know you're not supposed to) and they always grow back very fast, too fast. Mine aren't a year old yet and they've already been clipped twice and are looking like they will need a third one, soon.

-Kathy