unexpected gift.........

[SillyChicken]

I wasn't expecting him! So now what do I do? Will a dog kennel pen w/top, be enough to contain him? Can I keep him by himself or does he need to have hens? For now he's being quarantined in a large dog kennel to keep him away from my other birds. How do you acclimate an otherwise wild bird to stay? Unfortunately, he lost his tail feathers when he was caught.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I am a newbie at peas but I would certainly put him in a 10x10 dog kennel that is covered so he can stretch. The peas I inherited live in 10x10 covered pens and seem to have done well but I plan on mine to have more room when I bring them home to live on my farm.
Peas do better with friends. At least one other pea would be a good idea and attach a shed to the 10x10 for a place for them to get out of the weather.
They like to roost so perches are a good idea inside and out, while keeping in mind that long tail sweep.

Others will chime in with more expert advise than what I can give.

 

[MinxFox]

Yep he needs some room to stretch like WestKnollAmy said. You can maybe keep him in the dog crate for a bit, but not too long. It will take some time before you can free-range him. He needs to be penned for at least two months, and even then once you let him out he might not stay since he did not grow up at your place. Make sure he is fairly tame by the time you let him out or that he is not spooked by you. If he is used to you there is probably a better chance that when let out, he will stick around. The adult birds you haven't raised can be hard to free-range. My first pair ran away. I was able to get the peahen back but the male I never could catch. I am guessing you have chickens and maybe some other birds? They might help teach him where to stay and they might be all the company he needs. Some people just have one peacock free-ranging and the peacock will hang out with the chickens or other birds. If you don't want to breed peafowl you can always get another male so he can have a friend. I am not sure if he would run away looking for peahens though...

 

[zazouse]

10 by 10 kennel will work great.
He is very pretty

 

[AngieO]

give him a mirror. They love looking in them. He will definitely need more room and watch him as they can get depressed and die easily =(

 

[SillyChicken]

thank you for all the advice! The dog crate is only for short term of course... it's the best I have at the moment. I have turkeys and chickens as well so hopefully they'll help make him feel at home. I think I'll put his run in where the other birds are. And I could put this kennel in the run with the turkeys. Right now there is a brooder full of chicks in the same shed with him, so it's warmer than out with the other birds, since I read they need warmer housing.

a mirror - fantastic idea!

I'll be back!