I found a bunch of peacock feathers and then found him laying in the straw not able to stand up, breathing hard, and tilted. I put him in the chicken pen of the barn, offered him some water and propped him up. There appears to be a puncture wound on the right side of his head which I treated with Blue Kote. I am thinking he is not going to make it.
I am not sure what attacked him. The geese and him have been fighting a lot but I am not sure how a goose could have cause this type of injury. Here is the scene of the crime.
The only feathers I see their belong to him. I wonder about a raptor attack but would have thought he would have taken some feathers off. Same with the geese or a rooster. I really doubt an attack by a coyote, cougar, etc. I really don’t think a rodent could have done this. I am saddened by this. I love having him around, spreading his beautiful feathers and even like his scream. If he dies, our only hope is in the 4 eggs the penhen is currently sitting on. We have never had any luck with her hatching eggs though.
So wish the peafowl luck getting through this difficult time.
So sorry to hear this. I hope he recovers, and I do hope your eggs hatch, either way. It’s fun to see the little ones grow up.
Thanks Teresa! I imagine peachicks are really cute.
They remind me of ostriches.
So sorry to read this. I hope he pulls through.
Thanks Vicki! I sure hope so too.
I’m sorry. I know how attached we get to them, especially those that are more noticeable characters. Perhaps he will pull through after he settles from the shock of it all. I hope so. It does almost sound like a raptor…maybe grabbed him, but didn’t have a good grip or something. Always something.
Tammy
You are right. It is always something! Tom says he is doing better this morning. He is standing up guarding the peahen on her nest. I hope he makes it and we figure out a safer spot for him.
Sorry about poor bird. My father has had some luck using silky chickens to hatch his peafowl eggs. Good luck with everything.
Thanks Kathleen! I am hoping he will recover. The hen is doing a good job of setting so we shall see if they are viable.
Sorry to hear about your peacock. I hope he makes it, he is so beautiful. This might sound kooky, but when my son’s guinea cock was attacked by a dog, his side was torn way into the muscle, and was infected by the time we found him. I had some Lincomycin injectible that was supposed to be intramuscular. Out of desparation, I just topically put it in the torn muscle wound, and by the next day he was so much better. he went on to recover. We kept him in our bathroom for about 10 days so we could watch him. sometimes these game birds can be pretty tough.
Jackie
Thanks Jackie! He is doing a little better. Nice to hear your guinea cock survived. Our experience with pheasants is not good but maybe this guy is tougher.
Sure hope he recovers. Such a handsome guy!
Thanks Denise. But he died yesterday. Now I feel guilty about not protecting him better. Sucks!
So very sorry to hear Donna. I do hope that your little peahen hatches some chicks, and he might come back to you as young one.
Thanks Lois- I hope she does too.
Birds never do well after this sort of attack do they
So sorry
Thanks John! I had never had a peacock attacked before so did not know.
I am so sorry to hear you lost him… Never easy to lose a critter… Here is hope and fingers crossed that your hen hatches out some lovely little chicks to help ease the pain of loss.
Thanks Brandy! I do hope she makes baby peacocks for us that look like he did.