QuickHotTips on Peachick Care
Many people
write me, saying they have some peafowl/peacock chicks and what
to do? So here's some quick tips, basics that have worked for
me over the years:
Where are you keeping the newborns? They need
101 degrees temp 1st week, then 5 degrees less each week. They
must be handled with kid gloves until they have feathers, not
just fuzzy down. I have found cold temperatures and the stress
that follows to be the biggest killers of baby peachicks. ·Books on chicks
and turkey babies are very helpful.
·Box with clamp-on reflector
light- like chicken chicks.
Peachicks don't need to eat for a day because of the nutrients
in the yolk that was in the egg they hatched from, but peachicks
need to be warm! Some have used lights as high as100W, at least 12"
away from peachicks. Watch to see they aren't burnt or frozen!
Spend a few minutes observing them- of course you are doing that
anyway, since they are the CUtest babies ever hatched!
·Towel partly over top of box. If they huddle to the light,
they are cold; if they shrink to the walls, they are too hot.
A thermometer in the box is good too, if possible, just watch
to make sure it doesn't fall down.
·Water should be in a jar lid at first- they can drown in
a bowl.
·Vitamins and electrolytes in the water, like lemonade.
·Rubbermaid mat/shelf
liner* for box bottom. Keep clean - you
can wash the rubber liners. I usually keep several on hand for
'changes,' and two boxes, so chicks can be airlifted to the other
clean box, rather than have to undergo the stress of a total house
cleaning. They could eat droppings and get sick. If you don't
have the shelf lining- webby rubber/plastic stuff, then straw
is a second okay solution. Newspaper under all this is ok, but
newspaper itself causes them to slip and not develop the right
leg muscles, sort of like a dog trying to sit on a linoleum floor,
slipping and sliding...
·Keep food lid away from water lid. Change water if there
is food in it and it smells bad (you wouldn't want to drink that,
so wouldn't they). This may be several times a day.
·Crumbled hardboiled eggs
are good for the first few days.
·At the feed store they have chick starter-that's what they
really need= feed + medicine to prevent coccodosis and other birdbaby
diseases.
To teach pea chicks to
eat:
·drop ground up chick starter in front of them while talking
making 'whee whee 'and 'bup bup' noises. You are mom.
·Point to the food and scratch with finger.
·Once some learn, they will show others.
·Dip nose beaks in water gently to teach them to drink;
point out water area, putting a drop on beak.
·You will need bigger and taller boxes as babies grow-like
washing machine or TV or computer boxes (no you better
save those, in case the computer needs to be sent out to be fixed!),
cut to 18"or so, with little vents at 12", but NO major drafts or crosswinds.
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These are a few
tips that have worked for me. Asking someone who has raised chicks,
turkeys or peacocks could help too.
*thanks to Mike Johns of RocknCedar for this tip!
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