Young Peafowl

[KZ]

I have 6 peafowl about 6 months old now, and they are very strange birds. We built them a shed and a nice run with cover, but they spend pretty much the entire day inside the shed. Usually they come out at about dusk and occasionally don't really want to go back in, I have to coax them, but all day long, they sit inside.

We are in Colorado, so not much worm problem here, but I worm them anyway with Safeguard. And, at night, they mill around inside making the most primeval sound ever - it's like being on the Isla Nublar (the Jurassic Park island). I have 2 older peafowl that are kept separately that love to wander around outside and do not make sounds like the young ones. Is this because they are young and in a group, do they stop making those sounds when they are older or what? When do they begin to enjoy going outside? The older ones live in the barn, in a converted stall with an outside run, and I am wondering if I should move those into the shed with the younger ones but it might be too crowded in an 8 X 10 Shed for 8 peas - what do you think? Run is about 20' X 12" now. Also, you think they would fight?

 

[MinxFox]

I can't give you much advise, but when I free-ranged my first peafowl, the peahen was always hidding in the bushes all day except to walk out and get treats and to go to a big oak tree to roost. I think the male got fed up with it and that is why he ran away...Anyways I penned the peahen and got some yearlings. She seemed to teach the yearlings to be booring and be afraid of walking out in the open because they always stayed in the covered portion of the pen near the plants. Finally when I got an adult male that was used to being out in the open he seemed to convince the others it was safe and okay to walk around and not stay in one place or hidden all the time. Now even the peahen that would always hide will walk around and lie around in the open without fear or puffing up. I think it would work if you put at least one of your adult males with the younger ones to teach them to walk around and not stay cooped up in the shed all the time. They seem to like to copy the adults. I am not sure what others experiances have been with younger male peafowl and adult male peafowl, but from what I have seen I don't think you should have a problem with fighting if your males are 6 months old and you are introducing an adult male. You could have problems if say you were introducing 2 adult males and it was breeding season, but you should be fine just watch over them.

If there is not enough space, you could just keep the male in there for a short time until the birds copy him wandering outside, ect.
As for the noise, I would love to hear it! I can just amagine it sounding like JP that would be wild! My yearling birds are very quiet so I don't know.

 

[KZ]

Thanks Minxfox, that is pretty much what I was wondering about - if maybe the older peas would show them it's ok to go outside and have some fun, lol. My older 2 are a pair, though, male and female, and I do not want to separate the two, so I would simply put them all in the shed. Once the female was out wandering around and I let her into the younger pea's enclosure, and she was very interested in them. I just hate to upset the older ones by moving them (even though I really would like them out of the barn). Maybe now is the time. I would like to use that stall space to make a birthing area for my goats next spring.

 

[deerman]

they will get use to the area soon....peachicks will cry alot when remove from a flock or their mother.

 

[sacarvounis]

My peachicks are about 6 months old also. We got them in October. My husband built them a shed with a fenced enclosure and they started out running in and out of the shed all day as if the open door was a novelty. They spend about 25% of daylight hours outside of the shed now but that may be because it has gotten cold here in Mass. They will stick their heads out and investigate anything that is going on in the backyard and seem to be quite nosy. And they pretty much only make that cooing sound to each other when they are eating or if they get separated by more than 2 feet or more......which isn't often; they are almost joined at the hip! They used to make this clucking, chicken like noise when we first got them that seemed to indicate that they were scared. I don't hear that anymore. Otherwise, they are quite quiet. So far. They are both boys so I expect that to change! You should make a clip of their sounds and post it if you can. I'd love to hear it!

 

[KZ]

I have had these babies since end of July. Maybe peafowl just hang inside a lot. I had to clean the shed today, and they were very unhappy that they had to play outside for a while.

That's a great idea about making a recording. I am going to see if I can figure out how to do it.

 

[6littlechickies]

Do you have outside roosts available to them as well as inside? An outside roost may coax them out. Also put treats out there like dry cat food or bread. If you do put them together with the adults they will probably be okay. Use two feeders in case one of the birds chases away the younger ones when feeding time. Also they may establish a pecking order and sometimes peck at the crest of lower status birds, but such is life on the low end of the order of birds.