Galliformes

Photos and husbandry information from a breeder of pheasants, peafowl and other galliforme birds in West Yorkshire UK.

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Female/Male comparison in young Blackshoulder peafowl. Female (left) more buff and paler markings. Male darker feathers with more iridescence. 

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Green Peafowl Husbandry

This article covers the basic information required for keeping Green peafowl, from diet to temperament. It was written for inclusion on the superb Allandoo Phesantry website, you can visit them here. 

In the wild Green Peafowl live in varied habitats across South Asia however their range is fragmented and they are now assessed as endangered.

In captivity green peafowl require large aviaries, and spacious indoor accommodation for the worst of the winter weather. I provide my peafowl with a small heater during low winter temperatures. My birds are fed a diet based on wheat, pheasant pellets and greens. Fruit (banana, grapes etc.) is given as a regular treat.

Planting in the aviary is difficult to establish as anything edible is quickly stripped. The birds tend to squash small to medium sized plants and trees by jumping onto them. Green peafowl spend a considerable amount of time perching. Adequate perches/platforms should be provided in both indoor and outdoor enclosures.  

Peacocks can be extremely aggressive towards other males and they should be kept separated. Adjacent aviaries should be screened from each other up to a height of approx. 1m to prevent fighting and pacing. 

Although well adjusted aviary birds are calm, even the most settled green peafowl remain easily spooked and capable of panic in the face of even minor unfamiliar situations. This flighty tendency combined with a wandering nature means that green peafowl must remain within the aviary and should never be considered for free ranging.

This species has less strident calls than Indian peafowl however both sexes are capable of moderately loud vocalisations during the breeding season. Outside the breeding season they remain quiet unless alarmed.

Green peafowl are slow to mature and long lived. Unlike Indian peafowl birds are not capable of breeding until their third year and males will not attain a full sized adult train until year four at the earliest. Peahens lay approximately five to six eggs per clutch. Incubation time is approx. 28 days.

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Identifying Hybrid Peafowl

Green peafowl and Indian Peafowl are both closely related. When purposely bred together the resulting fertile hybrids are often called Spauldings (especially in America where the practice is common). 

This Article takes a look at the negative effects and provides techniques to help spot and avoid hybrid peafowl.... 

Why are hybrid peafowl damaging? 

Indian peafowl are quite common across their range, however Green peafowl are now endangered. Their population is thought to have declined 50% over three generations and the trend seems set to continue. 

Conservation and reintroduction work requires individuals that are pure bred as they would be found in the wild. Hybrids are primarily damaging because they are fertile and in some cases difficult to identify, allowing alien genes to spread through captive and wild populations.

How can you identify a hybrid? 

Hybrid birds mix characteristics found in Indian and Green peafowl. The amount of mixing, and how identifiable it is depends upon how often the other species is represented in the birds lineage, and is random to an extent.  The most difficult birds to identify are those where the hybridisation is distant and the traits needed to identify it visually are slight or lost altogether. Where hybridisation is more recent birds can be relatively easily identified. 

In captivity hybrids need to have been part of a fairly intense breeding program to produce a bird that is visually indistinguishable from its pure bred counterpart. There are characteristic pointers to identifying a hybrid. 

Crest shape (1)

Hybrids often present a distinct mix of the tight bunched crest of the Green peafowl and the wide fan of the Indian peafowl, In first generation hybrids this trait tends towards the Indian parent.

Yellow face (2)

Hybrid peafowl often retain at least some yellow colouring on the face.

Plumage (3)

Plumage in adult females tends towards resembling a first year juvenile male Indian peacock. The bird in the illustration exhibits several plumage features not found in wild birds:

Large amounts of iridescent feathers on the neck (3a), dark patterning on breast (3b), increased patterning on back (3c) and small amounts of iridescence in the tail (3d).

Similarly the adult blackshoulder mutation hen in the image at the top of this article is strikingly similar to a juvenile male.  

Carriage (4)

Hybrids tend to retain the longer legs and a more upright carriage of Green peafowl. 

Behaviour 

Hybrids can behave more like Green peafowl in temperament and wander more widely.

Growth Rate

Hybrids display a noticeably faster growth rate compared to pure bred Indian peafowl. 

It is important to note that all of these traits (including plumage differences) are inherited in a random way and not every hybrid will display them all. 

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Peafowl Species

There are three species of peafowl living today. Both Green and Indian peafowl have elaborate plumage and are closely related. In the wild they inhabit South Asia. Congo peafowl are distantly related to the asian peafowl and the only true pheasant in africa.

Indian Peafowl 

The most familiar type of peafowl is the Indian or India Blue. Distributed throughout the Indian Subcontinent and Sri Lanka. Males have blue necks with barring on the wing and a long green ‘tail’ covered in ocelli (eye spots). Females are brown with light patterning across the feathers and a green upper neck.

Green Peafowl

Green peafowl are less commonly kept in captivity than Indian peafowl. In the wild they have a fragmented range across Southeast Asia where they are now Endangered. Male green peafowl have green necks, blue wings and a long train that is darker and more golden than in Indian peafowl.  Female green peafowl resemble the male however they are slightly less vivid and lack the long train feathers. Both sexes have a straight crest and yellow face patch.

Congo Peafowl

Congo peafowl are not kept privately in captivity but can be seen at several zoos where they are managed under conservation breeding programs. In the wild they live in the Congo basin in Africa. Males are predominantly blue with a bare read throat patch while females are mainly green.

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Aviaries for Peafowl

Peafowl are large birds and require a suitably sized aviary that allows them to display a full range of natural behaviour. Additional space needs to be added for each extra bird you intend to keep. Aviaries for Green Peafowl should always be larger in area than those of Indian Peafowl. The height of an aviary should be at least 2 meters. Always ensure you have adequate access doors to the aviary for cleaning and maintenance.

The frame of the Aviary can be wood or metal. While metal lasts longer it is considerably more expensive. The sides of an aviary need to withstand the birds flying against them and should consist of weld mesh that prevents birds putting their heads through. Male peafowl will pace the aviary walls if they can see another male bird in an adjacent enclosure. Screening should be put up to prevent this behaviour.  

The roof of the Aviary can be netting or weld mesh. Peafowl are liable to fly straight up if spooked and the holes in the covering must be small enough to prevent them getting their heads through. Snow accumulates on netting and wire greatly increasing the weight the structure has to hold. The roof must be well supported to prevent collapse under snow. 

In order to provide your peafowl with a safe place to roost during the night a shelter attached to the aviary is necessary. Indian peafowl are well acclimatised to both the  weather and temperatures in the UK and require only a simple shelter. Green Peafowl are less hardy and need a large heated shelter where they can be confined during the worst of the winter. Provide a thick bedding of straw in the shelter to cushion the birds as they jump down from perches. 

Peafowl require a range of sturdy perches at various heights. Perches should be provided in the aviary for use during the day and in the shelter for roosting at night. Peafowl prefer to be as high as possible for roosting and will tend to use the same perch repeatedly. The floor directly below should be clear of obstructions to allow for easy cleaning. 

When deciding on perches ensure they a minimum of 8 centimetres in diameter. This stops them from damaging the birds with repeated use and also forces peafowl to bury their feet completely in their feathers preventing frostbite.  When housing many peafowl together always ensure their is adequate room for each bird to perch. 

Varying the terrain of the outdoor aviary with a mix of different materials is beneficial. Grass, sand and earth are all popular. The key requirement is that the aviary drains well, under the feet of the birds standing water soon becomes mud. Peafowl are destructive to plants and any included in the aviary need to be extremely robust. Quick growing hedging conifers are popular, however smaller plants will require protection until established. 

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What colour will my peafowl breed?

Genetics can be complex, however it is easy to find out what colour birds a pairing will breed by using the this article. Colour mutations are bred to alter the appearance of a bird that would otherwise be India Blue...  

The different colours seen in domesticated birds are recessive, this means that in order for that colour to alter the appearance of a bird from the normal India Blue both parents must carry the genes for it. 

If only one parent is carrying the genes for a colour the bird is left without its appearance altered, and this is called a split. A split bird is indistinguishable from an India Blue but still carries a single copy of the colour mutation genes that it has inherited from its parent. The exceptions are the white and pied mutations that often show as white flight feathers in a split bird. 

The table works by assuming that the birds used in a pairing are not split to any other colour. A theoretical proportion of offspring is also provided that enables you to judge the likelihood of getting a certain colour. The letter in brackets refers to the illustrations that depict the appearance of the resulting bird.  

(A) India Blue.

(B) Blackshoulder.

(C) White.

(D) Pied.

(E) India Blue with white flight feathers.

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Green Peacock or Peahen?

When green peafowl are less than three years old it can be difficult to tell if the birds are male or female without a good comparison or invasive examination. This article visually illustrates the difference between the sexes at all stages of life.. 

Young Chicks Wings It can be extremely difficult to determine if a bird is male or female in very young chicks, however the differences become more obvious as they grow. Visually the first differences occur then they are well feathered at three to four weeks old.  Look for the amount of orange on the wing, females tend to have a more solid orange wing feathers where as males have wing feathers with more dark markings.  Juvenile Chicks Crests As the birds grow to around two months old features like the crest become more developed females tend to have more brown markings towards at the top of the crest, in males this area is less brown and more iridescent green.   Juvenile Chicks Tails  In very young peafowl the feathers in the tail are initially barred. As they grow females retain the strong, crisp barring while the same feature fades in males with the tail feathers becoming progressively darker.  Eye Stripe In females the eye strip is mainly brown. In males the same area is mainly iridescent blue. Young males have developed this feature by their second year.  Upper Wing From the second year the upper wing area of the male features the development of  feathers similar to those found in the neck in a wedge shaped stripe. In females this feature is absent. Flight Feathers In the male the flight feathers are solid orange often with a small faded dark mark on the tip. In the female the same feathers are strongly patterned with dark markings, especially at the base and on the 'leading edge' of the feather.    True Tail Feathers In the female tail feathers are black with a strong pale barring across them, a feature that is retained in females of all ages. The male tail is predominantly black with a small amount of washed out patterning, especially near the shaft and base of the feather.  Spur Both male and female green peafowl can develop spurs however their growth is considerably more rapid in the male with them appearing in the second year. The photo compares two three year old birds.