AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi! I'm fairly new to peafowl and the forum. I've gotten some good information already but have more questions.

My 2 chicks, maybe 3 weeks old, seem to be very healthy. They are warm, they have the proper food and only the proper food, they have clean water and clean housing constantly and plenty of room in a big pen in the kitchen,,,so they even have company and diversion.....BUT....sometimes, mostly around 7PM they seem to get frantic. I tried turning off the light and draping the cage and going in the other room but they continue the peep peep peeping. The only thing that seems to quiet them is if I take them out and let them snuggle up to me....they want to burrow in my neck or at my elbow or in my shirt...OR if I put them in the cardboard box they stayed in the first few nights and put my hand in with them. They do a burrowing behavior under my hand and then within minutes settle down to sleep for the night. They spent the first 2 nights of life with a mother, a peahen mother, so I thought maybe they were looking to get underneath something like mom's feathers. It's OK right now to indulge them, they are still small! But am I creating 2 monsters? Should I just cover them tonight and walk away and let them peep themselves out? I put a low perch in their new cage which is kind of like a large rabbit hutch. They don't seem too interested in the perch yet but have jumped it a few times just today. Maybe I'm overthinking things.

Also, are airborn diseases an issue? Could I put the peachciks pen on the deck at some point, not in direct contact with other birds but with other birds out in the yard? Is it just direct contact that would be a concern?

I have other questions for down the road such as is it a problem after 5 or 6 months to introduce them to the chickens and guineas? Will I need a separate pen? I would like them all to free range by day and get locked up in secure area (indoor or out) at night (which is what my chickens and guineas do now). I bell trained my guineas with millet. Will the peachicks train? They don't have the interest in millet that the guineas did but maybe they are still too young?

Will try to get the picture done today! Thanks in advance for your help!

Gay from Virginia USA

I can answer your first question, from what you have described they are burning off energy before roosting. If you watch your cooped peafowl they will pace the wire cage for some time just before total darkness, they do this to prevent cramping during the night. I would leave them as its normal behaviour for peafowl of any age.


Regards PPF

THANK YOU! I was getting worried and since they are right in the kitchen it's hard to ignore. Right when you expect them to settle down they go nuts!

Do peas make that white dust that baby guineas do? My kitchen was covered in it when I had them in here for 3 weeks.

Thanks again!

GF

Yes they do, its called feather dust but I will say Guineas seem to produce more than peafowl especially the keets.


Regards PPF

have you ever seen a dozen guineas shake at once it’s like the dust of a twister aftermath

I see it all the time and I love it! The guineas are fabulous and so easy.