Those who need help in sexing peafowl

[casportpony]

For those that lose chicks I strongly suggest that you find a way to have a necropsy done. Labs listed by State:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

Idaho doesn't have a lab listed, but I found this:
http://www.agri.idaho.gov/Categories/Laboratories/AnimalHealth/indexabout_us.php

It's been my experience that chicks, ducklings and peachick don't just drop dead for no reason and having a necropsy done can be very helpful. For example, I just lost two very young ducklings that were both exhibiting wry neck symptoms, but the necropsy report showed they both died from a yolk sac infection and dehydration, and the peachick I lost this year died from ascites due to a heart defect.

-Kathy

 

[AnimalsRmyLife]

That feather does look like it is from a peacock, but I just don't see that on the photos of Thor. The feather shape doesn't look like the one you photographed. I do see the tips being a little frayed on the edges, but overall the feathers are too scaled. That feather is just a piece of a feather you took. most of the photos down here I copied from this helpful photo album: https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6627101/more-peafowl/ looks bluish in the neck, but peafowl change color in the light. My peahens look bluish in certain light. Just 1 feather will not change my mind.



Especially because of photos like this:


Which show the nice brown wing which reminds me of a photo I have of a peahen:


A male about the same age as Thor would look like this. You don't go from solid brown to lots of barring. Already lots of rust feathers.

Same peahen from the wing photo.

Her back.

Thor (in front if anyone is confused still). Thor Does not have pointed scale back feathers. They are nice and rounded, just like the peahen in the photo.




Very similar neck color. Too similar for this to be a pair.

First off, thank you for calling my Peafowl photo album helpful! It means a lot.

Second, the feather is indeed the same feather. The one taken off of Thor and from the blurry photos from before.

I see Orange on Thor's side feathers down there not Brown. Do I not?

Thor's neck here shows Blue on it & a little bit of Green. (Photo taken by me. Different day; different time)

Calypso has Green on her neck as seen here. Not much Blue. (Taken same day as above pic of Thor's neck)

 

[casportpony]

First off, thank you for calling my Peafowl photo album helpful! It means a lot.

Second, the feather is indeed the same feather. The one taken off of Thor and from the blurry photos from before. It is not a part, it is the full feather.

I see Orange on Thor's side feathers down there not Brown. Do I not?
I have hens like that.


Thor's neck here shows Blue on it & a little bit of Green. (Photo taken by me. Different day; different time)
Looks like my hens, If it were male there would be mostly blue, which I'm not seeing.


Calypso has Green on her neck as seen here. Not much Blue. (Taken same day as above pic of Thor's neck)
If Thor were male the head would be blue (I know the picture is a hen). What color is Thor's head?

My comments in red. BTW, great pictures!

-Kathy

 

[margaret8]

I will be glad when they decide weather Thor is a boy or girl! Time will tell......

 

[AnimalsRmyLife]

My comments in red. BTW, great pictures!

-Kathy

Thor's head is Black or Brown (depends on light) with a slight tint of Blue feathers on the top. At least when I see him, it is. And in my pics of him you can barely see the Blue on top.

 

[casportpony]

Thor's head is Black or Brown (depends on light) with a slight tint of Blue feathers on the top. At least when I see him, it is. And in my pics of him you can barely see the Blue on top.

All of my 2013 males, including the ones that hatched in September and October have blue heads and blue crest feathers.

-Kathy

 

[AnimalsRmyLife]

All of my 2013 males, including the ones that hatched in September and October have blue heads and blue crest feathers.

-Kathy

Can't tell by Thor's Crest quite yet. He doesn't currently have much of one right now since he molted.

 

[DylansMom]

If you zoom in on it it's really blurry most likely. That feather is from Thor that I cut off with my knife yesterday. From his neck. I got $5 that some one will say that's a peahen feather or it's not from Thor's. Well guess what I compared it to my IB male feather and is almost identical except size of course and it's a male, and it came from Thor.

Here is the first post where the now infamous feather made it's first appearance. This is not a whole feather, it is a part of a feather, if it were a whole feather it would have a shaft ending in a calumus( which is the part that goes into the birds skin and anchors it there until it is molted). As Birdrain clearly states in this post he CUT this off with his knife, that makes it a part of a feather. That said, it does have a lot of blue color, however some hens do have more blue on their necks than others. You cannot sex a bird based on a snippet of 1 feather, the bird as a whole must be evaluated, and everything I'm seeing still says very pretty Hen.

 

[casportpony]

Can't tell by Thor's Crest quite yet. He doesn't currently have much of one right now since he molted.

I thought that might be the case, but Thor's head is definetly not blue enough to be male.

-Kathy

 

[AnimalsRmyLife]

Here is the first post where the now infamous feather made it's first appearance. This is not a whole feather, it is a part of a feather, if it were a whole feather it would have a shaft ending in a calumus( which is the part that goes into the birds skin and anchors it there until it is molted). As Birdrain clearly states in this post he CUT this off with his knife, that makes it a part of a feather. That said, it does have a lot of blue color, however some hens do have more blue on their necks than others. You cannot sex a bird based on a snippet of 1 feather, the bird as a whole must be evaluated, and everything I'm seeing still says very pretty Hen.

Thank you for correcting me. Since I don't really know feathers all that well I just considered the feather part, a full feather and didn't realize the calumus was needed for the feather to be considered a full feather. Thank you for teaching me what a calumus is. I have now deleted that part from my earlier post.

Then I guess we'll just have to wait until a new presentable feather appears or a feather with the calumus attatched can be obtained.

I thought that might be the case, but Thor's head is definetly not blue enough to be male.

-Kathy

Well, I think it was said that Thor seems to be a "late bloomer", so IMO I think that the small tint of blue currently on his head may continue to spread and grow in the upcoming future.