Peacocks: Post 9 - Mr Tumnus
Mistaken identity.
As the plumage began to change and they got increasingly green around the necks I made the mistake of thinking that this green neck indicated that they were both females - since that is how adult females are.
Mr Tumnus.
On 10 October I agreed with Alex to purchase a third chick that was from a younger clutch that he was fairly confident was a male.
When I added him to the aviary the two existing birds were not particularly friendly and he did a lot of running and a lot of hiding behind the rabbit hutch which was quite sad to watch. They only really accepted him at night time when they would all roost on the high perch huddled together. I've subsequently noticed that this is a feature that peafowl seem to put their grudges to one side at night time for the mutual benefit of staying warm huddled together. Come the morning they pick up the grudges and peck each other and squabble.
For some reason we nicknamed the two older females 'The Vultures' and the poor little new guy 'Mr Tumnus'. A bit weird since he is not a fawn. Whatever. The name stuck. Mr Tumnus the peachick.
Oh-oh, three females?
At this stage I was still incorrectly paying attention to the green colouration around their necks and believed that Alex had given me yet another female.
Nope three males!
So I sent him a few videos and he put me right. The iridescent green feathers around the neck are misleading in chicks because both males and females have them. The only way to know is to examine the feathers on their wings.
When he did this he confirmed that I didn't have three females at all - i had three males!!
So this was bad news. I definitely did not want three males! Alex agreed to swap the two older males and I'd keep the younger new male Mr Tumnus. So on 2 Nov 2024 back down the road i went to Kilkeel and swapped the two older males for two females from a clutch younger again than Mr Tumnus'.
The photo above shows the size they'd grown to one month after purchasing the replacement hens. At this point I hadn't got any shrubs for the run. The grass had nearly all been pecked away and it was quite bare.
Gape-worm or a cold?
It was at this point that I became concerned that one of the hens might have gape-worm. You can see it seeming to struggle to breathe in the following video, and this had been going on for some days. When I had initially asked Alex about it he told me it was likely just a cold and would clear in a week or so.
However it didn't clear until the end of February when the weather began to get warmer.
I honestly expected the hen to die during December and January.
I had given it medicated feed (Fluvanet) in late December but it didn't have any observable effect. At least not in the immediate.
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