Winter coming

[Horsemama]

I have 4 peafowl 3 and 4 mo. old and it gets cold here in PA any sugguestions on what to feed and should I have any heat lamps put up for some warmth. Right now they can go freely inside or out they have an outside pen 8x16 and inside 8x5 they have a roost inside and out. No matter the weather they roost outside and inside during the day. Now im worried about the winter them being outside. Is this normal

 

[Frosty]

Keep an eye on them when winter hits, they will probably go in on their own but you might have to encourage them. When I got my first pair they were about the size of a small leghorn chicken. I had them locked in the barn, but when temps dropped to -38F less than a month after I got them, it wasn't any warmer in there. Make sure the roosts are wide enough that when they perch, their feathers and body cover their toes. Like a 2x4 with the wide part facing up. I didn't do that and my male ended up with freeze damage to his toes (and lost the end of one toe).

I am not a fan of heat lamps for two reasons: 1) They are a HUGE fire hazard and 2) in the even of a power outage, they suffer worse than if they didn't have them to begin with.

 

[snowshoe]

I am from central PA and I have seen the temperature drop to 20 below 0 here where I live. My peafowl roost outside 90% of the time all winter long. But do roost inside on the really bad weather days, I have 2x4 laying flat for my roosts, I keep my chicks off the ground until they are around 4 months old before I put them in there regular pen which have an enclose coop and a outside run, my chicks are feed an medicated chick starter 28% at 6 weeks of age I switch them to a mixture of chick starter medicated 18% and game bird developer 22% will usually start adding a little scratch grain and cat food when they go to regular pen. At 6 months of age I will start adding 16% egg layer pellets to mixture, My adult peafowl are feed a mixture of 1/3, 16% egg layer pellet, 1/3, 22% sporting bird developer and 1/3 scratch grain, I add extra wheat to my scratch grain that I buy also mix a little rabbit pellets and cat food in feed, During breeding season I stop the scratch grain to my breeding peafowl. my peafowl get grass clipping and I feed them most of the extra stuff from the garden, During the winter if lettuce goes on sale I will feed them some lettuce, I worm my peafowl 3 times a year and I worm my chicks before they go to regular pen because I do feed them some grass and lettuce in the pens off the ground. As long as you let your birds get acclimated to weather they have no problems adjusting to it.

 

[Horsemama]

Thank you Snowshoe and Frosty that is good information I will follow

 

[cindy04]

I'm glad Horsemama started this post. I am new to peafowl and always have questions, and this has been a huge weight on my mind too. We have 4 Spauldings that are now 21 weeks old, and 4 IB that are 12 weeks old. We live in NW Missouri on a farm and surrrounded by other famrs (hay and row crops). Ousr are in a large pen now and insist on roosting on their outside roost at night. I really want to let them free range. I was going to wait until spring to start the free ranginging, but would feel soooo much better if they would get comfy with roosting in the barn NOW, before winter gets here. I really don't want them to have limited space and roost in the chicken yard durning the winter--I feel that they would do so much better with more options...

I would also like to know the recommended Ivometin/water mixture so that we can worm them.

Cindy