peacock behavior question

[fowlmood]

I am new to peafowl. I just received two as a gift. I have a 7 month old male india blue (although he looks more green to me) and a year old white female. I've been doing a lot of reading up on here (thank you all) and I think I'm doing o.k. My question is they seem to be more active in the very early morning or late evening. Is this normal? I'm in Michigan, it's certainly not hot here but during the day I hardly see them out in the run. At dawn/dusk they are out running around, honking, scratching acting, well, normal I guess. During the day they are inside the so called coop part usually just sitting in the corner. Are they just weird or what?

 

[chickenzoo]

If they are new to the en closer they my feel a little insecure about their surrounding. Give them some time and they will probably become more active.

 

[BigByrd24]

Hi fowlmood,

Young male Blues will have green in their neck. The older they get it will slowly turn to the Deep pretty blue you are thinking of.( By 3 year old).

Peafowl are more active in the morning and evening. Like a lot of birds are. But when they reach breeding age durning the breeding season then that is a different story. LOL.

 

[BlackBart]

My Peacocks roam free and in the evening close to dusk they race in the bushes, back and forth.
Don't know what thats all about........?????

 

[fowlmood]

Thanks everybody, I guess they're just being normal. I hadn't read anything about them being less active during the day so I wasn't sure. I've included a picture of when I first got them. What do ya think? Do they look good to you? They have since been moved to an outside enclosure. So far I think all is going well. They are eating and drinking and getting along o.k. The horse wasn't so sure what to make of the noises but now he doesn't even pay attention to them. Thanks again for all the info. I'll be keeping in touch.

 

[Kev]

It's normal- peafowl have moments where they just 'kick their heels'.. getting noisy, playful etc. I think that's one of the many endearing things about them. Especially love it when several engage in a ring-around-the-rosie thing, where they run-hop almost in a circle. Just looks like they're having lots of fun.

The Blue is a male.. I am a bit concerned about the white being so big in comparison(and the tail feathers I can see on that one looks 'male' to me). Adult hens are smaller than adult males.. peafowl are mostly at their full body height by the time they are 7-8 months and certainly by 1 year. Going with their supposed ages, the white should be smaller than him, not bigger.

The other way to sex whites is by looking at their legs and toes- males have long thick legs with rather large but very blunt spurs, and their toes are long and thick looking. Hens have skinnier legs with much shorter and skinnier toes. Usually no spurs, but not rare for hens to have spurs, however hen spurs typically are very skinny and pointy. Compare the white's legs and toes with the blue male. If they seem same or bigger/longer I'd say to suspect it's a white..

If it turns out they're both males, it still is OK to keep them together for couple years. Often males raised together and never separated at all still can live together with no or only a little conflict. An adult white male displaying is one of the most beautiful sights..

 

[fowlmood]

Thanks for the info. I've included a different picture of the white one. Its toes are skinnier so I'm assuming that it is in fact a female. I also noticed that the male was smaller, I just figured because he was younger. Maybe he is even younger than 7 months. I'm not real sure. I've wormed them (hopefully) with Safe Guard in their water (hopefully they'll drink it and not just spill it).

It was suggested to me to give them some antibiotics too since they were bought with some unknown history. They are eating and drinking o.k. and active. Do you think I should still give antibiotics? If so, what do you suggest?

By the way, I've just started poking around on the UPA forum too, thanks to some suggestions from some of the other posts I've read.

 

[Kev]

No antibiotics unless they show signs of being sick.. in fact giving antibiotics to a healthy animal can backfire..

It does look female-ish in that picture. Could be the blue is much younger than said.. Good observation skills. And welcome to the peafowl world.

p.s. you didn't ask but blue x white= 100% blues with some white in flights. Sometimes people think crossing with a white= pieds but this does not happen, unless the colored bird has pied genetics in it.

 

[fowlmood]

Cool, thanks Kev!

 

[deerman]

Yes the white looks like a hen, plus like your first post she is alot older than the male. He must still be growing. You have a pic of him from the side?


Oh welcome to the peafowl world.