FIRST EGGS FOR THE SEASON -WHAT TO DO?

Pea-Goddess · **Posted:** Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:56 pm

Finally the first eggs for the season has arrived she is laying 1 every 2 days so now I have 5 eggs.

She is not sitting on them full time- do I take them out of her nest?
What should I do with them?
I don't want her to think that I steal them.... leave some take the rest???

bluepeafowl · **Posted:** Tue Oct 19, 2010 5:08 am

A peahen will only start when she has laid her full clutch BUT it can mean that some will be too old to hatch so if you have another means of hatching such as a incubator or a chicken then take the eggs if not or you want the hen to raise them then leave them. How old is the hen

andre · **Joined:** Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:21 pm **Posts:** 612

If you keep taking the eggs will they keep laying?

Pea-Goddess · **Posted:** Tue Oct 19, 2010 4:05 pm

I have done that before left them -while the peahens lay more, however when they get old I believe she eats them but the do disappear. There is another female in there whom hasn't started laying eggs yet- should I put some eggs in her nest to see if she will sit on them? ( I have seen her do allot of sitting in her own nest)

I have 2 males in the pen also but the nest is up high and the males can't really chase her off the nest so to speak. Is true that males should be locked away so she will sit on them? Last season I was unsuccessful in hatching pea chicks but I have changed a few things so this year Im hopeful.

She is 4 - 6 years old peahen the other is younger as she hasn't laid any eggs.

andre · **Joined:** Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:21 pm **Posts:** 612

Generally they are reasonably good mothers. So you could leave them and see how she goes. I would not bother with moving eggs from one nest to another ~ thats just asking for trouble!

Alternately you could take the eggs and hatch them under a chicken or in an incubator.

bluepeafowl · **Posted:** Wed Oct 20, 2010 4:51 am

andrewschooks wrote:

If you keep taking the eggs will they keep laying?

Yes but only the total clutch they would have laid if you left them there

bluepeafowl · **Posted:** Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:16 am

Pea-Goddess wrote:

I have done that before left them -while the peahens lay more, however when they get old I believe she eats them but the do disappear. There is another female in there whom hasn't started laying eggs yet- should I put some eggs in her nest to see if she will sit on them? ( I have seen her do allot of sitting in her own nest)

I have 2 males in the pen also but the nest is up high and the males can't really chase her off the nest so to speak. Is true that males should be locked away so she will sit on them? Last season I was unsuccessful in hatching pea chicks but I have changed a few things so this year Im hopeful.

She is 4 - 6 years old peahen the other is younger as she hasn't laid any eggs.

Some peacocks can harass a hen while she is incubating but it depends on the peacock or peacocks, they are all different. The most common affliction is pecking the back of the head until it bleeds and sometime actually killing the hen. Best advice is if you want the hen to hatch the eggs then monitor the hen’s progress and if the peacocks begin to harass the hen remove them. At her age she should lay 8 to 10 eggs or more

bluepeafowl · **Posted:** Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:20 am

andrewschooks wrote:

Alternately you could take the eggs and hatch them under a chicken or in an incubator.

This is the best alternative for confined peafowl

Pea-Goddess · **Posted:** Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:34 am

THE PEAHEN IS SITTING ON HER EGGS- SO SHE WILL INCUBATE THEM NATURALLY- LAST COUNT -EGGS FIVE!

She hasn't come off her nest this is day 2 of 28 days of incubation!

What will happen once they hatch will they all hatch? When will mother peahen eat? What will I feed the baby chicks- turkey starter?

Do I separate the baby chicks away from their mother to feed them up -as the other adults birds may kill them? Will the mother be a good mother or loose interest in them? Should I have light heater on stand by for them?

MY BIRDS ARE IN A LARGE PEN AVAIRY- Peahen mummy has a high( 1.5m) nest built in the corner of the shed, she can't be pecked at during this time!

2 males and 2 peahens totaling 4 birds together!

bluepeafowl · **Posted:** Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:00 am

If the hen can get up to the nest then so can the peacocks, so she can be pecked at, so monitor.

Peahens eat every day or every second day when incubating they cannot go 28 days without eating they will die. She will come off the nest in the warmest part of the daylight to eat.

If you leave them in the pen then the hen will take the chicks to her food

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