Silly Peafowl questions from a complete newbie...

[BantyChooks]

Hello, I was recently looking at hatching eggs for chickens and saw peafowl. I kinda fell in love with them and wondered if getting some would be a terrible idea or not. I'm a chicken person, and was hoping someone could help educate me.

if someone came along asking these questions about chickens I'd chuckle too, don't worry. Thanks.

1. Can peas be kept with chickens? Would the male beat up my 2 roosters?
2. How many is a minimum for flock members? If only 2, would the hen be overbred? Is it advisable to keep only one?
3. Are they aggressive? Males especially.
4. How big do they get?
5. How much can they fly? Would my 5 foot-ish fence keep them in?
6. What are some common problems with peas? I'm pretty much good with chicken vet care, but I'm afraid I'd not know enough about peafowl to care for them properly.
7. What is the recommended feed? Can they eat chicken food, layer pellets?
8. What is the average price range for a pair?
9. Is it even a good idea for me to consider this? Is there something I'm forgetting? I probably have more questions, just can't think of them right now....
11. Do they roost? Would they sleep in a chicken coop?

I know this sounds ridiculous to those of you that have experience, but I really would like to learn more about these beauties.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello @Bubbles12345 , welcome to the Pea Department!
Your questions are not at all silly, it is great that you are doing research before jumping into the pea world.

For #5 you probably should know that a 5-foot fence will certainly not keep peas in your yard.
How big is your property? And, how big is your coop?
If you keep them penned, peas need 100 square feet per bird at the very least.

One thing that you don't mention which sometimes becomes problematic is that peas can be very loud.

So you might want to give some thought to how close (and friendly) your neighbors are. You might even consider going to talk to them before doing anything, to be sure that some midnight pea shrieks aren't going to upset them!

I'm sure other peapeople will be jumping in here with more advice!

 

[BantyChooks]

Hello @Bubbles12345
, welcome to the Pea Department!
Your questions are not at all silly, it is great that you are doing research before jumping into the pea world.

For #5 you probably should know that a 5-foot fence will certainly not keep peas in your yard.
How big is your property? And, how big is your coop?
If you keep them penned, peas need 100 square feet per bird at the very least.

One thing that you don't mention which sometimes becomes problematic is that peas can be very loud.
So you might want to give some thought to how close (and friendly) your neighbors are. You might even consider going to talk to them before doing anything, to be sure that some midnight pea shrieks aren't going to upset them!

I'm sure other peapeople will be jumping in here with more advice!

Thanks! My coop is over 100 sq feet, and the run is about 75 by 100 feet.
My neighbours are fine with loud roosters, but I would ask them beforehand, just in case. How are they with survival instincts? I have small hawks and occasional stray dogs here.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Friendly neighbors are a big plus!

I should have mentioned this before, but there is a lot of basic pea info in the Peafowl Stickies, have you looked at them? (see below)
Also, our wonderful @MinxFox has excellent info on her website http://www.bamboopeacock.com/

"Sticky" Threads for the "Peafowl" forum:

• Peafowl - "Sticky" topics index

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Hello, I was recently looking at hatching eggs for chickens and I had an idea, and wondered if I could get 2 peas, a cock and a hen, but I know nothing about them, I'm a chicken person, and was hoping someone could help educate me.

AGAIN, please don't laugh!
if someone came along asking these questions about chickens I'd chuckle too..! Thanks.
1. can peas be kept with chickens? would the male beat up my 2 roosters? one is a silkie and the other a sultan, only 7 months old and very wimpy.
2. how many is a minimum for peas? if only 2, would the hen be overbred? is it advisable to keep only one?
3. are they aggressive? males especially.
4. how big do they get?
5. how much can they fly? would my 5 foot-ish fence keep them in?
6. what are some common problems with peas? I'm pretty much good with chicken vet care, but I'm afraid i'd not know enough about peas to care for them properly.
7. what is the reccomended feed? can they eat chicken food, layer pellets?
8. what is the average price range for a pea? not a fancy breed, a mix would be fine too.
9. is
10. is it even a good idea for me to consider this?? is there something I'm forgetting? I probably have more questions, just can't think of them right now....
11. do they roost? would they sleep in a chicken coop??

this must sound pretty silly to those of you who are experienced, but i'm curious about them and would like to learn more.

1- Yes, just worm them every 2 or 3 months, mine don't fight with chickens at all, but some males with different personality could fight with your rooster, its rare anyway.
2- 2 is good, you could keep 2 or 3 hens with one male. One hen will give you better fertility rate.
3- Usually not.
4- Mature male is 1.5 m long and 5 or 6 kg.
5- They can more than you think, they will get away easy even when you clip their wings.
6- Worms, coccidia, sinus infection and some more.
7-They can eat chicken feed, there a thread here about peafowl nutrition.
8- There is more than 13 colors of india blue peafowl beside green and splading peafowl, check leggs site for some prices.
10- They roost for sure.
11- If you already has the pen for them then they will not cost a lot, i think they eat less than chickens, and you will let them hatch and raise their chicks you will save a lot of money. Incubator, brooder, heat lamp, etc..

 

[BantyChooks]

Thank you.

Some more questions.... I knew I'd remember...
Do they really need to be wormed so often? My chickens have been wormed only once in their lives and show no signs of worms.
Do they go broody?
What noises do they make? I'm a light sleeper and have woken more than once because of panic sounds outside my window. Would they screech at night?
Is it okay to raise them with chicken chicks?
Will they get tame like my chickens?
Is fermented feed OK for peas?
Is it hard to protect a male's train?
Are they hardy?

 

[BantyChooks]

Friendly neighbors are a big plus!

I should have mentioned this before, but there is a lot of basic pea info in the Peafowl Stickies, have you looked at them? (see below)
Also, our wonderful @MinxFox has excellent info on her website http://www.bamboopeacock.com/

"Sticky" Threads for the "Peafowl" forum:

• Peafowl - "Sticky" topics index

I'm going to look now...

 

[Dany12]

Do they really need to be wormed so often??I've never .... yet I have mixed poultry chickens ... geese... pigeons...guineas.
Do they go broody? yes, if not moving their eggs in the nest!
What noises do they make?

Would they screech at night? yes ... peahens too !
Is it ok to raise them with chicken chicks? yes !
Will they get tame like my chickens? yes !
Is fermented feed OK for peas? What humans eat they eat + wheat + corn !
Is it hard to protect a male's train? nothing to do ... give him space!
are they hardy? 5 F but they don't like! they don't like the wind!

 

[Birdrain92]

Hello, I was recently looking at hatching eggs for chickens and I had an idea, and wondered if I could get 2 peas, a cock and a hen, but I know nothing about them, I'm a chicken person, and was hoping someone could help educate me.

AGAIN, please don't laugh!
if someone came along asking these questions about chickens I'd chuckle too..! Thanks.
1. can peas be kept with chickens? would the male beat up my 2 roosters? one is a silkie and the other a sultan, only 7 months old and very wimpy.
2. how many is a minimum for peas? if only 2, would the hen be overbred? is it advisable to keep only one?
3. are they aggressive? males especially.
4. how big do they get?
5. how much can they fly? would my 5 foot-ish fence keep them in?
6. what are some common problems with peas? I'm pretty much good with chicken vet care, but I'm afraid i'd not know enough about peas to care for them properly.
7. what is the reccomended feed? can they eat chicken food, layer pellets?
8. what is the average price range for a pea? not a fancy breed, a mix would be fine too.
9. is
10. is it even a good idea for me to consider this?? is there something I'm forgetting? I probably have more questions, just can't think of them right now....
11. do they roost? would they sleep in a chicken coop??

this must sound pretty silly to those of you who are experienced, but i'm curious about them and would like to learn more.

1. Can be kept not advised since you increase chance of diseases and they will peck on each other.
2. One male can breed 1-5 hens. Best fertility in my opinion is 2 or 3 peahens. I have one of my peafowl paired but I hope to change it to a trio for both pens.
3. Males can be aggressive but of my experience I've yet to experience an aggressive male to a human. I've heard of stories but I've never experienced and mine are all tame and trained.
4. Height they can stand about 2 feet tall. Length a male can be 8 feet long.
5. They can fly as much as they want.
6. Parasites would be your common problem though problems are not common more rare or in my experience it's rare.
7. They can eat it but I advise at least 20% protein as a based feed and calcium from 1-1.5% sometimes might need a boost every now and then.
8. Depends on who you get them from. I've met some people who sell Indian Blues for $35 an adult and some charge $75 for an adult.
9. Ask more questions and then decide.
10. Yes they roost.

 

[Birdrain92]

Thank you very much!!!!!!



Some more questions.... I knew I'd remember...
Do they really need to be wormed so often?? My chickens have been wormed only once in their lives and show no signs of worms.
Do they go broody?
What noises do they make? I'm a light sleeper and have woken more than once because of panic sounds outside my window. Would they screech at night?
Is it ok to raise them with chicken chicks?
Will they get tame like my chickens? Tame is very important to me.
Is fermented feed OK for peas?
Is it hard to protect a male's train?
are they hardy?

1.It's advised to worm them. I know some people who have free range peas and will never worm them once in their life and they're healthy. It takes a serious case of worms to do some damage. Most healthy peafowl tend not to need it but worming helps prevent it like a vaccine. If you worm them too often then the parasites can develop an immunity and then you're in trouble.
2. The hens will get broody and can become very aggressive if you threaten her eggs or her chicks.
3. They have a series of calls. They will call at night. Penned peafowl that get locked up at night tend to be quiet until during day time during breeding season. If they make honking sounds they feel threatened.
4. The babies you can raise together. Though I would advise separating them since there's different nutrition requirements.
5. I've never heard of fermented feed so I don't know how to answer that question. I use a whole feed which is a feed that is already mixed with proper nutrients for the bird that is labeled. I use a meat bird feed of 22% protein and will give oyster shells when the male is growing in his train and when the hen will begin laying as a precaution.
6. It can be since they can break on anything. Usually they remain well intact since the super long feathers are a little flexible but sharp objects or objects the feather will snag on will break them and sometimes fighting will do that too.
7. The Indian species is hardy. Make sure they have somewhere to go to get out of the weather if needed. Green peafowl on the other hand need a heat source.