Over the summer, I went to visit my family while in North Carolina, leaving Dan to stay home and care for the critters. I hadn't even been gone a day when I got a text message asking how many peafowl we had. (Peacocks really only refer to the males- the females are peahens, the babies are peachicks, and collectively they are properly called peafowl.) When I let him know that there should be 7 in the pen, plus a small one with the turkeys, he told me that there were, oddly enough, 2 females wandering around the yard. When I returned almost a week later, they were still appearing, most often wandering around the outside of our peafowl's enclosure, but also in the fields and yard. The became regular visitors to my neighbor's yard as well.
Where they came from and how they ended up here was and is a complete mystery. Perhaps they escaped from someone's care and and wandered away. This happens- we had 2 young males that were in an open pen that left for 3 weeks one spring, and were sighted many miles away, about halfway to Marienville, before deciding to return home. Or, someone had them and no longer wanted them, couldn't care for them, or didn't want them because the females are more drab and don't have the fancy tails. For whatever reason, they dropped them off one day when we weren't home, or at night. This most often happens with kittens, but it's a possibility. We will probably never know.
Where they came from and how they ended up here was and is a complete mystery. Perhaps they escaped from someone's care and and wandered away. This happens- we had 2 young males that were in an open pen that left for 3 weeks one spring, and were sighted many miles away, about halfway to Marienville, before deciding to return home. Or, someone had them and no longer wanted them, couldn't care for them, or didn't want them because the females are more drab and don't have the fancy tails. For whatever reason, they dropped them off one day when we weren't home, or at night. This most often happens with kittens, but it's a possibility. We will probably never know.
Out of all the animals and birds that call the farm home, the peafowl are the least domesticated. Even my birds, whom I raised from chicks and have fed nearly every day of their entire lives (they are about 8 years old now) retain a wild-like temperament. When I go in the pen to feed, rather than crowding around me in excitement like the chickens or pigs would do, they all go outside, leaving me to fill their food and water, then return warily once I have left the enclosure. It's more of an uneasy truce than a caretaker relationship. I don't generally need to handle them, so I rarely touch them unless they are sick or escape. In fact, when I collect the feathers, they have fallen to the ground, I do not touch the peacocks even then. My peafowl live in an enclosure that consists of part of our historic barn as well as an enclosed run with a net roof, since peafowl are strong birds and good flyers. It's barely possible to catch them in there, so catching two wild hens roaming the great outdoors is a formidable challenge.
I always planned on catching both wild peahens together, waiting until winter came, snow covered the ground, and they were hungry. I figured I'd be able to lure them into a chicken coop or the sheep house. Once secured in an enclosure, I'd be able to grab them and relocate them in with the other peafowl. The shortcomings of this plan have been that this year, we are getting more of a rainy season than winter, so foraging opportunities still exist, plus they are being fed by a neighbor. She means well and worries about them, but doesn't seem to realize that feeding them makes it more difficult for me to ultimately catch them, an outcome we are both hoping for. However, they were watching me do chores the other night, and I came close to herding them into the hen house. I was actually becoming optimistic that they may be caught. Then yesterday, I was out in the yard doing some cleanup and noticed one was trapped in a pen we have used during summer months when we are raising larger numbers of quail. It was like a gift! She was trapped in a pen, all I had to do was climb in and crawl around on my hands and knees in the mud (the run being only 2 feet tall) and grab her. She was obviously stressed to be caught and made a lot of noise as I carried her to the barn. Once released, she really settled in quickly and without much fuss. But, I suppose, she's been talking to these birds through the wire for about 6 months now, they have had time to get acquainted. It also resulted in one of the males strutting to impress, which is the first I've seen the peacocks display since they molted in August. It remains to be seen whether being alone will make the second hen more or less difficult to capture. One down, one to go....
**Update** The remaining wild peahen was pretty upset to be separated from her BFF and spent most of her time pacing the perimeter of the enclosure. I got brave enough to unfasten the wire that forms the run from the barn, creating a small opening. I then went outside, where she was, inside an L formed by the barn and the run. I walked up to her slowly, making her nervous enough to step through the opening to get away from me, and into the pen with all the other peafowl. I pulled the wire shut and then went back inside the pen to properly fix it. While I had thought of doing this months ago, I was always a bit nervous that in the process, other peafowl would escape. Happy to say that was not the case, and both girls are now part of the larger flock, safe and protected and under our care!
I always planned on catching both wild peahens together, waiting until winter came, snow covered the ground, and they were hungry. I figured I'd be able to lure them into a chicken coop or the sheep house. Once secured in an enclosure, I'd be able to grab them and relocate them in with the other peafowl. The shortcomings of this plan have been that this year, we are getting more of a rainy season than winter, so foraging opportunities still exist, plus they are being fed by a neighbor. She means well and worries about them, but doesn't seem to realize that feeding them makes it more difficult for me to ultimately catch them, an outcome we are both hoping for. However, they were watching me do chores the other night, and I came close to herding them into the hen house. I was actually becoming optimistic that they may be caught. Then yesterday, I was out in the yard doing some cleanup and noticed one was trapped in a pen we have used during summer months when we are raising larger numbers of quail. It was like a gift! She was trapped in a pen, all I had to do was climb in and crawl around on my hands and knees in the mud (the run being only 2 feet tall) and grab her. She was obviously stressed to be caught and made a lot of noise as I carried her to the barn. Once released, she really settled in quickly and without much fuss. But, I suppose, she's been talking to these birds through the wire for about 6 months now, they have had time to get acquainted. It also resulted in one of the males strutting to impress, which is the first I've seen the peacocks display since they molted in August. It remains to be seen whether being alone will make the second hen more or less difficult to capture. One down, one to go....
**Update** The remaining wild peahen was pretty upset to be separated from her BFF and spent most of her time pacing the perimeter of the enclosure. I got brave enough to unfasten the wire that forms the run from the barn, creating a small opening. I then went outside, where she was, inside an L formed by the barn and the run. I walked up to her slowly, making her nervous enough to step through the opening to get away from me, and into the pen with all the other peafowl. I pulled the wire shut and then went back inside the pen to properly fix it. While I had thought of doing this months ago, I was always a bit nervous that in the process, other peafowl would escape. Happy to say that was not the case, and both girls are now part of the larger flock, safe and protected and under our care!