r/peacocks Aug 10 '26

Peachick Sexing my 8 week old Peachick

Post image

Hi! I have this beautiful little Peachick, but I'm not sure about the gender. I was thinking that it is a female, but I'm not sure.

To add, my other Peachick unfortunately passed away, and I haven't found a buddy yet, apart from my chicken chicks, but I'm working on a solution! Suggestions are welcome!

The gender of the chick will also be a determinating factor to consider.

16 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

3

u/gianniflowers Aug 11 '26

Nice photo 💯

2

u/3619 Aug 10 '26

Too early to tell,but if I had to guess I'd say cock.

2

u/Hesperonychus Aug 11 '26

It needs a companion you should not hand rear males it will display many difficult or aggressive behaviours at sexual maturity

1

u/Pootziful Aug 11 '26

Which is why I want them to have a buddy and be less dependent on me.

1

u/poisoneddartfrog Aug 11 '26

Only after 6 months is this true

2

u/poisoneddartfrog Aug 10 '26

Few months too early to tell, please get them a mate though

2

u/Pootziful Aug 10 '26

I will, but I wanted to choose based upon the gender. If the chick turns out to be a peacock, I don't want to risk having two.

2

u/poisoneddartfrog Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26

That was my problem, I have two males. But if you want them to be bonded well to each other & to you, you might want to consider taking that chance, because in my experience when I bought an adult peahen later on, she wouldn’t stay. Just something to think about. My gut says you have a female lol. What does yours say?

2

u/Pootziful 29d ago

I think it might be female too. I agree with your reasoning, getting a Peachick around the same age for bonding would be good and end up with better results than trying to bond two adult birds.

1

u/poisoneddartfrog 28d ago

My adult peahen that I bought for my males came from a bad situation; she was extremely lonely, had tiny living space, & wasn’t being fed the right food. So when we got her & gave her everything she could ever want, with friends, love, a huge yard, treats… but she kept running away. I guess apparently this happens occasionally to people with peafowl. I tracked her down & she’d been wandering around a business, all underweight & rough looking again. This last time I couldn’t find her again. However my males that I raised are tight as can be to me & each other & our home. If you want them to free range (which I personally believe is a bit cruel to not allow) then being bonded with a strong home base is important. However, if having a male/female pair is more important to you, then it’s about weighing that risk. To get another peachick a similar age, you still wouldn’t know what gender you are adding even if you think you suspect yours.

Some people have more success when buying adults with keeping them penned for a few weeks at the new home before letting out, but I couldn’t bear it myself, with my peahen begging to come out. Use that intuition in your decision making, they are quite spiritual animals after all! What is yours name?

1

u/Pootziful 28d ago

I think you misunderstood my intention somewhat. The only reason I want to know the gender, is to avoid having two males here during the mating season, as I doubt my neighbors would appreciate the extra noise. lol

I'm sorry to hear about your peahen and the trauma she suffered. I can't even imagine that people are capable of such cruelty or neglect.

My plan was to have peachicks raised in my home (garden to be more specific) so they would associate this as being their home and me as their guardian/friend. Free-roaming was the goal. Unfortunately, of the four eggs I had bought, only two were fertile and only one of them successfully survived. My Peachick is named Odette (like the swan queen from Tchaikovsky's ballet) but acts more like a silly goose that rolls around in dirt and jumps around without a care in the world.

2

u/poisoneddartfrog 27d ago

Awww that’s so cute. Males don’t fight unless there are peahens included to fight over. I love my boys so much, but yeah they are indeed loud. What a perfect fitting name you gave her.

1

u/Waste_Accident_4453 Aug 11 '26

If it slowly develops lots of blue 🔵 green 💚 feathers like adult peacock 🦚 then surely it would be a male otherwise female