Peahen leaves the nest -- Peafowl Talk

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Subject: Peahen leaves the nest

Author:
Janet (Curious)

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Date Posted: 09:58:46 06/23/08 Mon

Neighborhood has a bunch of peafowl who have lived here for years-- and thrive. A penhen nested in my fenced back yard this spring and 2 peachicks hatched 3 weeks ago. Plenty of bugs/worms in my backyard... I supplemented with wild bird seed & water. Mama has pretty well scoured the premises... wonder if there's enough food for her here.
Then, this AM, I watched her take off, leaving her chicks for the 1st time -- up to the roof and onto the front lawn. She sat there for awhile, then took off. That was over 4 hours ago (keep in mind the peafowl roam our gated community freely). Would a mother leave her chicks for that long at 3 weeks of age? Needless to say, they are frantic. Any ideas?

Janet

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Replies:

[> Subject: Re: Peahen leaves the nest: Update from Janet

Author:
Janet
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Date Posted: 11:20:54 06/23/08 Mon

>Neighborhood has a bunch of peafowl who have lived
>here for years-- and thrive. A penhen nested in my
>fenced back yard this spring and 2 peachicks hatched 3
>weeks ago. Plenty of bugs/worms in my backyard... I
>supplemented with wild bird seed & water. Mama has
>pretty well scoured the premises... wonder if there's
>enough food for her here.
>Then, this AM, I watched her take off, leaving her
>chicks for the 1st time -- up to the roof and onto the
>front lawn. She sat there for awhile, then took off.
>That was over 4 hours ago (keep in mind the peafowl
>roam our gated community freely). Would a mother
>leave her chicks for that long at 3 weeks of age?
>Needless to say, they are frantic. Any ideas?
>
>Janet

A couple of hours after I sent this message, I observed the 2 chicks peeping (that distress cry) at my fence gate that leads out to the neighborhood. I could see another peahen (with one chick in tow) on the other side, communicating with "my" chicks. She was making that soothing cooing sound peahens make (I recognized it from times their own mother made that same sound when she was perched on the wall, and they were calling to her-- seemed to be saying, "Don't worry, Dears, I'm still here.")So, I opened the gate. My two chicks joined the "new" peahen and her chick, following her like they did w/ their own mother. I watched for awhile... the peahen seemed to take the foundlings in stride, and off they went. Does anyone know about peahens 'adopting' [apparent] abandoned chicks?? I'll rue my decision to let them out if the Real Mother returns... but it's been over 6 hours and no sign of her..
Janet (again)

[> Subject: Re: Peahen leaves the nest

Author:
D C T --friendly poultry orthopedist
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Date Posted: 19:33:34 06/23/08 Mon

This is certainly something outside my experience.
My very first mother peahen would sleep on perch between
her two daughters until they were ten months old. She drove
them away only as a new breeding season arrived.
Last year a had some large mean peachicks that were eating
feathers off the back of the peahen that was raising them.
I had to put her in a different pen. NO complaints from her
but the juveniles did make sad noise for a while. They
were old enough to not need peahen.
Actually it seems unusual for a mother to adopt any babies
that are not her own.....but strange things do happen

[> Subject: In my experience....

Author:
gardner
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Date Posted: 15:55:02 06/25/08 Wed

I have free ranging peafowl... And I had two peahens with three chicks each, about month apart in age. I would find two of the chicks switching places often, and the hens would take to their new one with no problem.
I asked about this and got this reply...
The chicks mature sometimes differently.. and in one family one of the chicks was just a little slower maturing, and in the other family a chick was a bit older acting... so it is not uncommon for the hens to adopt each others chicks.
I think the peafowl have different hierarchy when left to roam freely, even the males at different times would come over to the hens and show them some little tidbit of food they'd find... My main hen, her mate, her oldest a male 3 years old, and a sister one year old, and the last sister less then a year old all hang out together... well not now 'cause she's sitting on some eggs.

[> Subject: Re: Peahen leaves the nest

Author:
Gloria
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Date Posted: 20:45:44 07/24/08 Thu

[> [> Subject: Re: Peahen leaves the nest
Author: helen [ Edit \| View ]	Date Posted: 04:06:04 07/26/08 Sat Janet and Gloria just putting you back above the spam - and just wanting an update,...what happened?

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Peahen leaves the nest

Author:
gardner
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Date Posted: 09:27:28 07/30/08 Wed

Did the broken eggs look empty? like a chick may have been hatched?
I know with my free ranging peahens... usually when they sit on a nest, and their chicks hatch - I find the peahen a bit away from the nest with her chicks in tow.
I go check the nest and usually two or three of the four hatched egg shells are gone. No evidence of them anywhere. I just assumed the peahen ate the empty shell herself.

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Peahen leaves the nest

Author:
Janet
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Date Posted: 10:09:03 08/19/08 Tue

>Janet and Gloria just putting you back above the spam
>- and just wanting an update,...what happened?

Here we are in August. The "adoptive" mother (who originally had one chick of her own) is still with my two "abandoned" chicks. Her slightly younger chick disappeared shortly after she adopted "mine." Interesting (!!) update. The mother of the adopted chicks returned, and reunited with her chicks. She and "auntie" have those 2 chicks in tow... so they now have 2 mothers.

[> [> Subject:

Re: Peahen leaves the nest

Author:
D C T --friendly poultry orthopedist
[ Edit | View ]

Date Posted: 09:09:51 07/29/08 Tue

>We have a penhen who nested on the ground in long
>grass. Tonight when I came home she was gone and I
>saw two of her four eggs broken a short distance from
>the nest. Can't see what happened to the other two
>eggs. Any thoughts?
======
Yes, but NOT happy ones.
If a peahen and her eggs are not in a secure pen there are
all sorts of varmints (predators) that will take advantage
of the situation. I hope that this peahen escaped with her
life. If there were no feathers there is some hope of that.
----
Even a well fed pet dog may eat eggs or kill poultry

[> Subject: Re: Peahen leaves the nest

Author:
Janet: Another update
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Date Posted: 10:18:39 08/19/08 Tue

Two months later: interesting developments with my 2 adopted peachicks: the original mother returned. Now she, the adoptive mother and the 2 former "foundlings" are a family. The "auntie" who adopted them originally had one, slightly younger chick of her own-- but that unfortunate one disappeared shortly after the "adoption." Our neighborhood of free-roaming peafowl is experiencing a "bumper crop" of chicks this year-- they are everywhere! Two chicks appear in my front yard several times a day, peeping desperately for their mama. They seem to be motherless. Each time a peahen appears with her own set of chicks, these two scramble and follow. Sometimes the other chicks will peck at them, trying to chase them off. Not sure what they do at night.. but they reappear each day, sometimes more than once and the drama is reinacted. Very distressing. Glad I only had one child myself... Ye Gods! I guess I shouldn't worry... these 2 apparent orphans live to squawk another day...
Janet

>Neighborhood has a bunch of peafowl who have lived
>here for years-- and thrive. A penhen nested in my
>fenced back yard this spring and 2 peachicks hatched 3
>weeks ago. Plenty of bugs/worms in my backyard... I
>supplemented with wild bird seed & water. Mama has
>pretty well scoured the premises... wonder if there's
>enough food for her here.
>Then, this AM, I watched her take off, leaving her
>chicks for the 1st time -- up to the roof and onto the
>front lawn. She sat there for awhile, then took off.
>That was over 4 hours ago (keep in mind the peafowl
>roam our gated community freely). Would a mother
>leave her chicks for that long at 3 weeks of age?
>Needless to say, they are frantic. Any ideas?
>
>Janet