Spalding peacock attacking spalding hens

[Peafowlssssssss]

I have read before about aggression in green and spalding peacocks towards people and other birds too, i haven't dealt with aggressive peacock before, but i have two friends who have two aggressive spalding peacocks.

The first peacock is high percentage white spalding peacock, this peacock will attack any colored peahen, whether its a green, spalding or india blue hen. He is only okay with white or silver pied hens, he already killed a spalding hen before.

Second peacock is high percentage spalding peacock, this peacock will attack any hen with green blood, and he also killed a spalding peahen before, he is okay with any india blue hens colors.



Both peacocks will attack these hens during breeding season, so i was hoping to help them in any way, any help will be appreciated.

 

[MinxFox]

Unfortunately this can be a problem. Green peacocks and Spalding peacocks can sometimes be very particular when it comes to peahens.

I remember one person having an issue with a peacock not liking peahens that were white, so yes sometimes peacocks have color preferences. My peacock Alto is not aggressive to any peahens, but I have noticed he has more of a fondness for peahens that have more color.

How many peahens is your friend putting with these peacocks? A few people, one being Pfauenfreund, have mentioned some peacocks do not like having more than one peahen. They will pick a fight with the hens when given more than one peahen. In other cases giving the male more than one peahen can be beneficial. He won't be able to pick on just one peahen.

Are the peahens very close in age or are they a few years younger? Sometimes if there is a big enough age gap that can be an issue.

Was the high % spalding peacock raised with India Blue varieties? I worry that my green peacock will not want to mate with another green because I am raising him with an India Blue peahen. Perhaps the Spalding peacock does not like his own kind because he didn't grow up with them.

It is very hard to say what exactly is triggering their hatred for certain hens. I would certainly advise your friend to set up something for the peahens to hide behind. Preferably something with an entrance and an exit so that he cannot trap them in there and hurt/kill them. At the Rocking B-A-B Ranch Josh uses wooden palettes in his green peafowl pens so that the peahens can hide behind them to escape the male. In this photo you can see that he just leans the palette against the wall. I saw a peahen hiding behind one on one of my visits. It feels nice and safe yet it also allows them to be able to look out.


Another thing would be to get a very dominant, mean peahen for the peacock. I was considering buying a green peahen and the seller said that she needed an aggressive male as her mate or else she wouldn't mate with them. So the greens and Spaldings can sometimes be very particular.

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

How many peahens is your friend putting with these peacocks? A few people, one being Pfauenfreund, have mentioned some peacocks do not like having more than one peahen. They will pick a fight with the hens when given more than one peahen. In other cases giving the male more than one peahen can be beneficial. He won't be able to pick on just one peahen.

Are the peahens very close in age or are they a few years younger? Sometimes if there is a big enough age gap that can be an issue.

Was the high % spalding peacock raised with India Blue varieties? I worry that my green peacock will not want to mate with another green because I am raising him with an India Blue peahen. Perhaps the Spalding peacock does not like his own kind because he didn't grow up with them.

Very good info Minx, i will pass all these information for them, i think both of them bought these peacocks as an adults, because they were imported from the US, so they properly will not know how they have been raised when they were young.

As for the spalding peacock he was mated with 2 spalding hens i would guess from the same age with him, the first year he was okay with them and produces some chicks from them, but second year he started attacking them, so my friend moved the hens, when he tried to put these hens back with him he killed one of them so fast by hitting her neck and broken her, and shortly after that she died. He moved the second hen and didn't put it back. The next year he tried with a green hen which he also attacked her so my friend moved the hen again, at that time he had another 6 india blue hens with him, and never attacked them, he only attacks the spalding and green peahens. I suggested putting white spalding hens with him to see if it will work, this is the only thing he didn't try yet.

As for the white spalding peacock, i don't know more info about him, only the things I mentioned in my original post.

 

[Pfauenfreund]

This is a problem I wrote in the past already in different threads. In our aviaries we are not able to keep the greens (spalding can have a green character) as the live in the wild. In the wild the males are singles and each having his own territory. The females are walking through the territory of the different males. Which means if a male once is getting aggressive she will go out of his territory.
I have two males here which would kill their hens during breeding season if the hens would have no place to hide. I just working on to make it better and better, which means barriers and plants in aviaries where the hens would have the possibility to go out of the focus of the male.

Next spring I try the solution to have a barn with two attached aviaries (north and south). So then hen has the possibility to change the aviary when the male is getting aggressive. The hens are realizing it very early before they starting to run crazy and will go away.

The problem starts when you keep different pairs and when the males can see or hear each other. Then some males are getting very nervous and aggressive. They would like to chase away the other males but it is not possible and then they start to attack the hen.

Maybe the colour is one thing, but another thing is the character of the hen as more smooth her temperament is as better it works.
But at least the hen needs a place to hide otherwise you will have soon or later a bad surprise when the male shows this behaviour.

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Thank you so much, this is a great post, its my first time about other males getting him nervous, i will send all these info to them.