When do mama peas normally stop brooding peachicks?

[Chicken Keith]

My IB boy will be 10 weeks tomorrow (2.5 months!). He's still "living" with his surrogate mama chicken. She isn't really trying to shoo him away. But he's pretty clingy to momma--like a non-committal 30-year old man living with his mother, LOL

What is "normal" brooding time for a peachick? Not talking about artificial brooding (heat lamps, etc), but talking about the bonding time between mama and baby.

Just wondering if this is normal?

I allowed him out of his enclosure today to mingle with the other chickens in the yard. When his "mother" left him and took off for her other chickie friends, he began to cry pitifully, "<high pitched> pew, pew, pew, PEW, PEW, PEW, PEW!!!!!!!!!!!

I got him and his chickie mama back into their enclosure. He's definitely happy. Chicken mom doesn't act broody anymore, but he still clings to her, and even tries to sleep under her at night, and she lets him. (P.S. he's not roosting.)

Does my pea need cut-the-umbilical-cord "therapy?"

 

[new 2 pfowl]

All of the kids here still stick close to their mommas, and they are going on 6 months!

 

[zazouse]

Same here, one of my hens has never left the wee peas side and there are a couple dozen of them

she only hatched out 4 but they couldn't keep up with her so I put them in the ground brooder, she stuck by that brooder for months till I let all the wee peas out and then I guess not being able to figure out which was hers she just mothered them all.
These photos were back in August most of the wee peas are as big as the momma now

 

[BYC-user-174785]

My peahens is still walking around with her peachicks. When they were younger, they would never leave her side, but now they do wander a little more before they start screaming for their mom. My peachicks are almost as big as momma, but I do have to sell some of the boys. From what I have heard, peachicks can stay with their mom up to a year before she start fighting them away. Of course she will not let the boys stay around that long, so peahens are luckier! I do plan on leaving at least two peachicks with their mom and will see how that goes. My hen and her chicks started roosting when they were between one to two weeks of age. It is of course a bit different with a hen, since chickens chicks are not born with flight feathers...

 

[casportpony]

My 2012 boy stayed with his turkey mama for over a year, lol.

-Kathy

 

[MinxFox]

Peafowl don't mature as fast as chickens. Remember that peacocks become fully mature at three years of age. The way I see it is yearlings are like pre-teens. Two year olds are teenagers. Three year olds are young adults, and then they live all the way to around 20 or more years.

Generally it is about after a years time the peahens start to pick on and kick at their offspring to get them to stop being so clingy and go off on their own. Sometimes peahens have a favorite child and they let that one stay around longer and I think some peahens are not as worried about their children staying around. What I have noticed with peachicks is there is always one that always stays very close to the peahen more so than the others. When all the peachicks grow up the one that was always "momma's little shadow" is generally the one the peahen likes the most and is less harsh to when she makes it known that they can't all follow her around anymore and more importantly it is no longer acceptable to steal food from her beak!

Here is my peahen Ice with her son when he was almost a year old and the son of my other peahen Damsel who is about the same age.


This is Ice with two of her three first peachicks. All of them were peahens. The white peachick was like Ice's shadow and so once she became an adult I noticed that Ice favored the white daughter, Snow White, over her siblings.


My peahen Damsel with lots of little peachicks.

 

[zazouse]

Beautiful photos.

 

[MinxFox]

Thank you! I love taking photos of peahens and their chicks. You can just see the love and the bond they have.

 

[Chicken Keith]

Wow, MinxFox! I mean those are TERRIFIC photos. They seem to capture the birds' emotions. Thanks for posting.

So to everyone who replied, thank you, too. I had NO flippin idea the clinginess that peachicks had to mama. Good to know. Now, what should I do (yes, I didn't think this part through)? Should I just leave the hen in with the chick for a good while, 6-8 months or more? Or do you think I'd be better served buying another peachick (a pea-pullet) about 3 months old, like him? Or two pea pullets?

 

[MinxFox]

Well they do like having the company of other peafowl. I would get another peachick and still keep the hen in there with your current peachick.