Shipping peafowl long distance

[judyballantine]

What would be the best method to ship 10 peafowl from the Boston area to Aiken, South Carolina? I am not sure what type of vehicle they will be traveling in - the person in Aiken will make those arrangements but if it is a closed horse trailer, do they need to be individually crated or could they travel loose, providing there is no opening for wind? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This will take place in the next week to two weeks. Thank you!

 

[new 2 pfowl]

I'd guess that if they are loose there is a very high danger of them flapping, flying up, and injuring themselves...

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC! I think @johnskoi just moved all of his, maybe find out how he did it?

-Kathy

 

[judyballantine]

The man who is taking them said that he had some swans shipped to him in crates via USPS. He is finding out where to get the crates and when I have more information, I'll pass it along. It might be a much quicker trip via air than the highway.

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Mine were shipped internationally in large dog crates, the trip was 24 hours, they arrived fine.

I think its better to have a crate which they can move their legs in but in the same time they can't jump inside it.

 

[zazouse]

Mine were shipped internationally in large dog crates, the trip was 24 hours, they arrived fine.

I think its better to have a crate which they can move their legs in but in the same time they can't jump inside it.

Were your males baby's or were they adults that had they dropped their train.

 

[Hannah15]

If I had to ship a valuable bird again (or in this case a group of birds) I would do it through the airlines (the only way to do it with a dog crate as far as I know). I spoke with someone about it after using USPS to ship my adult male and have since had a dog shipped to me from Europe. It was a piece of cake. I'm sure things happen with that too, but it was much less stressful than worrying about the bird that no one is obligated to do anything to care for in the meantime. I can follow EXACTLY where the flight is online, rather than counting on USPS actually scanning a tracking number, and I believe the airlines are supposed to provide at least water at each stop. Also, if just shipping within the states, the animals are only with them for a few hours, as opposed to a few days. It's more expensive, but I wouldn't be surprised if it evened out if you are shipping that many birds and combined them as much as possible.

Honestly, my first choice, personally, would be individual crates in the horse trailer. Then you can control their care completely.

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Were your males baby's or were they adults that had they dropped their train.

Their trains were cut off, but usually they ship them after breeding season.

 

[zazouse]

Their trains were cut off, but usually they ship them after breeding season

 

[johnskoi]

Welcome to BYC! I think @johnskoi just moved all of his, maybe find out how he did it?

-Kathy

i don't know the south carolina laws, but when i moved mine from long island to virginia (ended up being a 12 hour trek), i had to have bloodwork done on my flock before i brought them into va --- check with sc's DOA so your birds can't be confiscated...

i don't know if this will really help, but here's what i did..

excuse my mumbling... this is the only video i have of the complete set up.... http://youtu.be/gZgUnITHVyM (sorry if this makes your neck hurt, lol)

... i ended up buying a 6 x 12 cargo trailer (one with the back wall that drops and has a side door)put in two 8 x 6 shelves which gave me three 24" high levels(so they couldn't jump, breaking their necks),when the back wall was closed i had 3 walls, i 'fenced' the front and put a door on each level, leaving a 4' x 6' area open at the front of the trailer ---- i had about 30 tiny LED flashlights hung so they wouldn't be in total darkness

...i loaded at dusk (easier to catch the peas) and ended up putting about 16 peas and 15 silkies on each level, and 11 geese in the front 4 x 6 section

...plenty of straw

...i moved mine at night in the end of january, so overheating was not an issue ---- i also threw in plenty of romaine, so they had 'water' if they wanted it

... i drove through the night (i would check on the birds every 2 hours or so) and arrived at predawn and started unloading

... unloading was THE toughest part LOL (i've got a bad back and trying to crawl into those 2' sections while my back was in spasms wasn't really fun --- comical maybe, but not fun)

... i think crating is probably the best way, but i didn't have enough crates -

... every bird did fine, although i did notice a few of the peas seemed to have 'charlie horses' when i first released them