So worried...

[chicknmania]

Our Peahen Princess goes broody twice a year. She hasn't figured out the key to hatching eggs, which is that you have to get cozy with the peacock...

So when she goes broody, they never hatch, because we have never seen her breed with one of our cocks and don't think they've caught on to how to do it yet...Anyway, she stays on the eggs a long time, and keeps trying. This time she has totally disappeared. We can't find her anywhere. And tonight one of our two peacocks, Phoenix, has disappeared also. I saw him this afternoon and have gotten the impression for the past few days that our other hen and two cocks have been looking for Princess. (they all free range on our 20 acres)

But this has never happened before (that two have disappeared) and we are extremely worried. Question is, would he stay the night with her if he found her outside? That has never happened before, that the cock stays with the hen, but before now she has always selected a place in the barn where it is safer, and eventually we find where she is. She has never gone broody outside before. .

I am so worried someone might be taking potshots at our birds, We don't have a big problem with coyotes, so I don't think that's an issue.

 

[Roseheart16]

Aw, I'm so sorry, I hope you find them soon. I wish I could help you but I just started off with peafowl this year and don't freerange mine.
I don't know how long your peahen has been missing but do you think she could have hatched some eggs? Maybe your male is trying to help her get the chicks home...? I don't know much about how peafowl are but I've heard about a guinea mom and dad spending over an hour I believe to get some guinea keets a short distance to their pen. Maybe your female made a nest far away and she and the male are trying to bring chicks home..?
Once again, I know little to nothing about peafowl so my theory may be far fetched but I do hope you find them soon.

 

[zazouse]

What I observed with my first free ranged hens a layen is every time I found their nest and they knew it they got better at hiding it, had one wait 7 days before coming out the last time and it was then that I was able to observer where the nest was and it was in a bad place so she went broody I pulled them .

They are good hiders even in plain site and it was a challenge to find all 7 adifferent nesting areas during the season.

I pray she is found safe, like I said they are masters at hiding.

Don't wanna scare ya but there is more lurking at night than you could ever imagine.
My dogs keep these critters in check, the yote does his best to get a chicken ones in a while but these dogs can smell him and they wait for him to come into their area , I love my dogs.

PHOTO BOMB





if you click on the photo it will inlarge and you can see the hen nesting on my conex box

you will have to click on the original to find the hen in this photo do ya see her?

A 14 month old hiding in plain site and it was not that easy to find here with all the shadows in the forest.

a few years ago and we are all still here together

there was a rabbit in their, they are such tattle tails

A one eye blind momma coon, she don't bother nothing but the rotten eggs I throw out back away from my birds, guess she passes it on to her young cause I have never had a coon problem as far as killing my birds like some poor folks course if there are detected my dogs will stop at nothing to get them

 

[chicknmania]

That's what Princess does too. She has picked a different spot every time to set. Two she was well hidden, two she was pretty obvious.
but she was always in the barn.
I did not bother her the last time at all, because I was hoping if I didn't, she might return to the same spot, but she still seemed to blame
us for her eggs not hatching, and off she went.
I think she is somewhere outside this time. And yes, I'm very worried about predators finding her.
I think the peacocks have been taking turns going off to be with her. Phoenix did return to us the next morning, but his brother has been dissapearing for most of the day
for the past couple of days, and returns at night. He is very stealthy about leaving...tomorrow morning I'm going to really try to see if I can follow him....
Thanks for your response.

 

[chicknmania]

Interesting pictures.

 

[chicknmania]

Aw, I'm so sorry, I hope you find them soon. I wish I could help you but I just started off with peafowl this year and don't freerange mine.
I don't know how long your peahen has been missing but do you think she could have hatched some eggs? Maybe your male is trying to help her get the chicks home...? I don't know much about how peafowl are but I've heard about a guinea mom and dad spending over an hour I believe to get some guinea keets a short distance to their pen. Maybe your female made a nest far away and she and the male are trying to bring chicks home..?
Once again, I know little to nothing about peafowl so my theory may be far fetched but I do hope you find them soon.

No, she's only been missing about six days, and the incubation period I believe is around 28 days. I just can't believe she would go far away to set on eggs. I think she is somewhere close, unless something has happened to her. We have a lot of people living around us who love to shoot....and although nothing's in season right now except squirrels and animals where there IS no season, I wouldn't put it past some people to shoot her IF she wandered off the property....I do think Zasouse's pictures are pretty interesting and I know that's the way they are...Princess has hidden n our barn before and we've looked and looked and never found her for a few days...but sure can't find her this time. I know the males will try to help her, too. The first time she went broody she stayed on the nest 6 weeks until we decided to take the eggs away. She was frantically looking for them and the peacocks got up on the nest and it looked like they were lookng for them too! It made me feel terrible. The next time we tried to take HER off the nest when she was still on them long after they should have hatched...that didn't work either. I'm pretty sure her eggs won't hatch because, as I said, I've never seen them mate, and this is not mating season really anyway; the cocks lost their tails and quit calling a long time ago, at the end of July or beginning of August.

Thanks for the thoughts tho...

 

[Roseheart16]

Oh, well, I do hope you find her soon.

 

[chicknmania]

thank you.

 

[zazouse]

I had a peacock get locked in my DH tool shed once, after 3 days I heard him, he was quite for the first 2 days I called him, I walked rite pat that shed every day.. is there a place she may have got locked up in or anything that could overturn on her like a big flower pot?
Just thought I would mention this cause I have had some history with such things here with all these birds, had um get hung in bob wire, caught between 2 kennel panels by the neck, found a guinea upside down between 2 shed walls, you name a bird has done it here.

 

[chicknmania]

Not that I know of unless it would be somewhere at our neighbor's. Their property is right next to ours and sometimes the birds go over there.
The peacock was out again last night, all night. And it's not like he's getting locked out, we haven't been closing the barn til well after dark.
That's weird. Really makes me think he's staying with her. But he doesn't do it all the time, tonight he was in the barn.