It is always a day of extreme excitement when we are waiting for the first peachicks to hatch. No matter how many years we breed peafowl it is always exciting when the peafowl breeding season approaches.  This year has been no different. It all starts with worming the peafowl and ensuring that they are being fed the best food possible to help to get them into optimum health.

Sometimes that seems the easy bit. It is a huge job getting all the equipment sorted and clean. It all starts by stripping the nursery of all the equipment, washing and disinfecting the walls, floors and ceiling. We clean and inspect each piece of equipment. Even though at the end of the season we wash and disinfect everything, it all needs doing again.

The temperature is critical to hatch rates

The we start to re assemble the hatcher, put the brooding pens back together and check ll the heaters are working. this year we have had to buy lots of new thermometers as the old ones have stopped working over the winter. The temperature is so critical to hatch rates! 

I tend to leave the eggs once I have candled them at 14 days. The next time I candle the eggs is prior to placing them into the hatcher. Then it is down to nature!

So today the first peachicks have hatched, so far just one Indian Blue peachick and one white peachick. By morning there will be many more which have hatched during the night. 

We leave the peachicks in the hatcher until they have dried off and their toes have uncurled and they can stand up by themselves.  Then they are moved into warm brooder pen where they will stay for a week. 

Once they are a week old we move the peachicks into the large brooder pens where they will stay until they have grown large enough to move to a permanent pen.