upset peacock?

[sebastian and parker]

Hi,
I have two peacocks who are brothers (Sebastian and Parker), we've had them for 1 year now and they get along very well. Recently, Parker has started to act weird - neck is lowered, he rarely eats, is looking smaller than Sebastian and lets us touch him unusually quite a lot. Sometimes he will act normal but then will go straight back to his unusual behaviour and he also opens up his feathers much more frequently than his brother. They are kept together and Sebastian is not showing any signs like Parker. I'm wondering if its not a physical problem but perhaps a mental one? There have been no changes to the environment or what he's eating, so I'm not sure what is happening.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks

 

[KsKingBee]

It sounds like he is being submissive. A mature breeding cock will bow to his hens, he will blow up his daddy bump on the back of his neck, put his head down near the ground and roll it side to side. I do not know if that is what you are seeing but it is a normal interaction they perform.

 

[raeanne]

They are beautiful

 

[Midnightman14]

I would also de-worm just in case.

 

[Entreparadis]

This sounds pretty unusual. If it is happening as frequently as it seems from the post, it is unlikely submissive behavior, but something else. India blue males rarely show this submissive behavior for full days or consecutive days, or even enough to really be noticed usually without hens around. I don't know exactly what you mean by opening his feathers, if you are referring to a breeding display, this is normal spring time behavior, if you mean ruffled/puffed up feathers then he may be agitated or just strutting. Displaying is a sign he is looking for a mate. but it also means he may start to be aggressive toward his brother or harass him. Even if you don't have hens, the males will be getting ready for breeding displaying toward anything (especially you, reflections, chickens, or each other). Since we don't know how old they are, if they are around other poultry, what their living conditions are, it's hard to say if there is a behavioral "problem", but this just sounds like normal spring behavior from what's described in the post. In the pic with my two mature males, the blues neck is "lowered" because he is so close to President Snow, but that's as close to submission to each other that they ever get.

 

[Entreparadis]

Now that I look back at your post, this really does sound like breeding/maturing behavior unless there are symptoms like coughing, scratching, pacing, or chasing. I suggest that you keep an eye out for aggressive behavior like chasing even if it looks like they are just following each other. Providing multiple roosts and multiple desirable areas inside their area if they are confined can allow them to comfortably have space alone if they need it.

 

[Dany12]

Submission behavior ... not sure!
They do this as soon as there is movement in front of them!

Let’s imagine the rooster is alone, we throw corn at him. The other peacocks arrive to eat, he put his head down ... it's like a reflex , the other peacocks eat corn. He will have nothing to eat! rather stupid behavior!

We need a photo of Sebastian and Parker when they do this!

It 's the movement that causes this!

 

[Entreparadis]

I was assuming Sebastian and Parker were India Blues. Greens definitely seem to have more social nuances and methods of tolerating eachother that I think connects to the smaller amount of sexual dimorphism between the sexes. Greens are very different behaviorally, so It is difficult to understand the behavior without knowing what species they are.