young peacock chasing peahen all over the pen?

[Kev]

Ruth, the males do a 'special mating rush' towards females yes.. but it's always done when the male has been displaying- tail fanned out. When a female comes around he will do various things like deliberately turn away then suddenly swing around to face her and intensely vibrate the tail etc. When he thinks he has a chance at mating, he lets out a special mating call & same time he 'rushes' at the female. If she accepts, she crouches down immediately or runs for a little bit and suddenly crouches and mating happens. If she is not interested, she keeps walking running and he stops. The whole 'mating rush' lasts only 10 feet at the very top for a really persistent male, usually it's 4-5 feet before he stops and continues displaying as if nothing happened. It's completely different from the chasing around described above.

Peafowl also play, especially a chase-hopping/flapping one where some birds chase/hop each other in circles or just irregularly, it doesn't matter what sexes they are, it can be any combination or direction(male-male, female-male etc). It's obvious playing though. Like a colt or filly running around and kicking up their hooves.

Minxfox, yeah it sounds like Alto is trying to impress on her he's the boss now. It's a ugly phase.. hopefully he will cool it soon.

Videoes of peafowl mating:

 

[ruth]

Thanks Kev - yeah, mine are playing and they play a lot. You'll see them chasing one another all through our gardens, behind the azaleas and camellias and it sounds like a herd of horses in there then here they come running out, in a circle and back again as if playing tag. I just thought that was because they were young and "flirting".

I have seen the mating fanning, dance, run, stop, mate routines too since they normally do this right by my back steps. Mine also fan and shake for the roosters the chickens and one even was putting on a show for a rattle snake that was shaking and rattling back. Hubby ran in to get his gun and luckily the snake didn't bite the peacock or any of our dogs. This was right in our back yard. Now every time I hear a peacock rattling his tail I look to be sure it's a peacock and not a snake. They sound just alike.

 

[Kev]

Aw. I sure miss the days when mine were all free range like that. Lots of entertainment and all the different behaviors they usually can't or don't show when confined. One of my favorite sights were peafowl flying/gliding in at feeding time from wherever they spent the day. So beautiful and awe inspiring!

 

[ruth]

They definitely keep us entertained. We do tours here and everyone loves the peacocks. They also love to knock on the door and look in the windows and will come in the house if the door is left open. I've learned to look and duck when I hear that caw they make when flying in for a landing - usually just barely missing my head. I think they really enjoy doing a "fly by".

 

[SuperPeacockman]

Put something out that she will fit into but he will not, like a dog kennel. She can hide from him there.

 

[MinxFox]

Alto has let up a lot today. Ice still didn't come down from the perch much, but she did get food today. I always put food in several locations all over the pen so that everyone can have their own place to eat without fighting over food, but Alto still insisted on scaring Ice off of the food even when he was already eating in a different location, then he would start eating were she was but if she went to a different location to eat once he saw her eating he would scare her away from that place too. Then he just stopped doing that. Ice used to fit right into the group but now she is an outcast and she no longer stands tall. She acts so different and submissive. Alto did a bit of chasing her when she first flew down and I was throwing out cut up brussel sprouts so while Ice was running away from Alto she would quickly pick up a piece of brussel sprout and eat it. She was able to eat a lot of that even though she was running. Later she was left alone though. It is getting better.

 

[NateinFL]

I was thinking, that play could quickly turn in to aggression, if for some odd reason he thinks she is a threat, he could injure her so watch them very closely. I had a chicken with chicks and when my male peacock was that same age, he for some reason would relentlessly chase her and attack the chicks. Their hormones are out of control at this time of year, my male has picked up a habit of pacing back in forth in front of a window. I'm waiting for the day he smashes through it lol.

 

[MinxFox]

Everything is back to normal now...Well sort of. Ice is no longer boss. Alto has made it so that the other peahens don't have to worry about bossy Ice anymore scaring them off their food. Ice is doing fine too she was eating pie (some apple pie to be exact) and also got a drink of water. Alto isn't following her at all or anything so it was just a power struggle.