Very adventurous birds. One almost died. Do you clip wings??

[furbabymum]

This is a lot in one post. My peas are really getting out and exploring now. We had 3 in the garage when we left for work. I'm wondering if I should clip their wings to keep them close or not. Do any of you do that??

One peachick almost died last night choking on an entire cherry. All my birds were eating cherries but this one tried to swallow it whole. I was trying to approach her without scaring her so I could help her get it out but eventually she was able to cough it up. Should I not be giving them small fruit??


Here is my male peachick hanging out on our front porch. He kept crying as if he was lost though. I went out to catch him and return him to the barn but he just flew on the roof and glared at me. lol

 

[zazouse]

If you are free ranging never clip their wings, it is the only way they can escape what they can not outrun.
I feed mine cherries,grapes and other fruit, it does get stuck sometimes but they work it down, besides their air way is behind their tongue not down their throat like ours.

It looks like you have a very nice place for your peas to roam, i have never lost one yet to a preditor and mine go all over the place even places my dogs do not roam to, i stopped worring about them long ago, they are smart and if anything they chase wildlife here unless they feel threatend then they come flying home honking their silly heads off .


click to enlarge

 

[furbabymum]

If you are free ranging never clip their wings, it is the only way they can escape what they can not outrun.
I feed mine cherries,grapes and other fruit, it does get stuck sometimes but they work it down, besides their air way is behind their tongue not down their throat like ours.

It looks like you have a very nice place for your peas to roam, i have never lost one yet to a preditor and mine go all over the place even places, i stopped worring about them long ago, they are smart and if anything they chase wildlife here unless they feel threatend then they come flying home honking their silly heads off .


click to enlarge

I'm not super concerned about predators and such. Our dogs either keep them away or kill them. Had to bury a ton of feral cats this year!

Anyway, I'm more worried at this point about my young peachicks not knowing home is home and wandering off permanently. So long as they come back I'm cool with it but if they disappear I'll be pretty upset.

 

[zazouse]

I got mine as hatchlings so this is the only place they have ever known , they were raise with other types of birds so thay are part of a very large flock.
sonds like he knows where home is, how long has he been loose? do you have other birds?

 

[furbabymum]

I got mine as hatchlings so this is the only place they have ever known , they were raise with other types of birds so thay are part of a very large flock.
sonds like he knows where home is, how long has he been loose? do you have other birds?

They've been loose about 3 days. They were loose and then I caught them and put them in the brooder another week just in case. They can range as far as they want I just really don't want them to not come home again, ya know.
But yes, I have ducks, chickens and guineas as well. They were brooded and seem to perch with the guineas at night. The guineas just cant fly as well as they do and haven't ventured out of the chicken run yet.
I've had them a little over 2 weeks and they are now 10 weeks old. Just wasn't sure if they could make the connection or if I should keep them locked up a full month first. They HATED the brooder though. It was very ground level even with the perches I have in there. THey would just pace back and forth and were wearing a huge tunnel in the earth from the pacing. I couldn't stand torturing them like that so I released them in the hopes they'd stick around.