White Peafowl

1. White Peafowl Presented by: MUHAMMAD SAJJAD HUSSAIN 2007-ag-1638 (762) MUHAMMAD RAMZAN 2007-ag-1657 (780) DVM 6th Semester Section D www.dvmdocs.webs.com

2. Introduction to White Peafowl • Peafowl are native to India, Burma, Java. Ceylon, Malaya. and Congo. Peafowl are relatives of pheasants. The main difference between peafowl and pheasants is in the plumage. • Peafowl are very hardy birds and with proper care, can live forty to fifty years. The term 'peafowl" refers to the species name. The male is called the peacock and the female is called the peahen. Offspring under the age of one year are called peachicks. • Peafowl come in a wide variety of colors including blue, green. white. light brown. and purple. These colors and many other colors which were not mentioned have come from selective breeding done by people all over the world. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

3. Introduction to White Peafowl • Besides the India Blue, whites are the most well known peafowl type to non-enthusiasts. Contrary to popular belief, whites are not albinos, because their eyes are blue, not pink. Type of Mutation • The white is a color mutation, and although it can carry other genes, such as the black shoulder and white-eyed, they are not visible because of its completely white color. Peahen Coloration: • Hens are completely white, with blue eyes. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

4. Introduction to White Peafowl Peacock Coloration: • Males are, as their name implies, completely white. Faint eyespots can be distinguished in the train by a thin layer of off white that surrounds the ocelli. The actual seeing eyes of the birds are blue. Peachick Coloration: • When first hatched, the chick is yellow in color with white wings. White chicks are hard to sex until about two years of age when the male will developed wispy tail coverts, because the bird does not change color much in its lifetime, and the male and female look so similar. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

5. Zoological Classification • Phylum: Chordata • Sub-phylum: Vertebrata (Vertebrates) • Class: Aves (Birds) • Order: Galliformes • Family: Phasianidae • Sub-family: Phasianinae • Genus: Pavo • Species: Pavo cristatus and Pavo muticus • Subspecies for P. muticus: P.m. muticus  |  P.m. spicifer  |  P.m. imperator www.dvmdocs.webs.com

6. Description • These large, brightly colored birds have a distinctive crest and an unmistakable ornamental train. The train (1.4-1.6 meters in length) accounts for more than 60% of their total body length (2.3 meters). Combined with a large wingspan (1.4-1.6 meters), this train makes the male peafowl one of the largest flying birds in the world. • The train is formed by 100-150 highly specialized uppertail-coverts. Each of these feathers sports an ornamental ocellus, or eye-spot, and has long disintegrated barbs, giving the feathers a loose, fluffy appearance. • Male has long tail whereas female has short tail. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

7. Distribution and Habitat • The White Peafowl occurs from eastern Pakistan through India, south from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka. Though once common in Bangladesh, it may now be extinct in that country. • Phoenician traders in the time of King Solomon (1000 B.C.) introduced the birds to present-day Syria and the Egyptian Pharaohs. • In its native India, the peafowl is a creature of the open forests and riparian undergrowth. In southern India, it also prefers stream-side forests but may also be found in orchards and other cultivated areas. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

8. Breeding • Peafowl normally reach breeding age at two years. Peahens will sometimes lay fertile eggs as yearlings. • They will lay these eggs late in the summer after they have turned one year old. The best chance for a yearling hen to lay eggs is when she is in the same pen as a mature male. A mature male is a peacock which is at least three years old. A peacock will not have a full train until he is three years old. • A mature peacock in prime condition can be mated to as many as five peahens. The egg fertility rate for each male should be monitored closely to determine how many peahens each male is capable of mating with successfully Continued……. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

9. Breeding Continued….. • Peahens begin laying eggs in April and will lay eggs every other day until a clutch of seven to ten eggs is achieved. The eggs are light brown in color and are similar in size to turkey eggs. • If the eggs are collected from the nest for artificial incubation, a peahen may lay as many as thirty eggs. Peahens which are allowed to roam freely about a farm, will hide their nests in tall grass, around shrubs, and in brush piles. • The nest is a depression scratched out in the ground and lined with grass. Nests in such locations are many times destroyed by possums, raccoons, and skunks which will eat the eggs Continued….. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

10. Breeding Continued….. • Peahens that are setting on these nests are vulnerable to attack by coyotes, fox, and stray dogs which will kill the peahen. • Peahens which are kept in flight pens will use old tires, wooden nest boxes, and empty barrels for nest sites. These structures should be filled with hay or straw to provide nesting material. • Clutch Size: Average clutch sizes in the wild are 6 to 8. Captive birds will lay up to three clutches. • Incubation Period: 28 days. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

11. Incubation • Many methods of incubating peafowl eggs are there. Artificial Incubation • The first method is artificial incubation. We incubate the eggs at 99-100 degrees F and at a wet bulb temperature of 83-85 degrees F. The eggs will hatch after 27 to 30 days of incubation. The eggs should be candled after 10 days of incubation to check for fertility. If an egg is not fertile, it should be removed from the incubator so that it doesn't spoil and possibly contaminate other eggs in the incubator. • Eggs should be placed in the incubator as soon as possible after they are laid and no eggs should be held more than 10 days before incubation begins. Continued…. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

12. Incubation Continued….. Natural Incubation • Natural incubation of peafowl eggs can be done in several ways. The first is to allow the peahen to set on her own eggs and hatch them herself. Peahens normally do a good job of incubation but this method limits the number of eggs that a peahen will produce for the year. Once she has set on a clutch of eggs, she won't lay any more eggs for that season. Occasionally, if a nest is destroyed during incubation, a peahen will lay a second clutch of eggs and set on them. • The rule of thumb in brooding peafowl chicks is to start the chicks out with a brooder temperature of 95 degrees F and decrease this temperature by 5 degrees for every week of age. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

13. Feeding • White peafowl do most of their foraging in the early morning and shortly before sunset. They retreat to the shade and security of the forest for the hottest portion of the day. Foods include grains, insects, small reptiles, small mammals, berries, drupes, wild figs, and some cultivated crops. • Chicks are fed a medicated starter feed for the first six months and then are switched to a game bird grower feed until they are a year old. • After they are a year old, the birds are fed the maintenance feed until they reach breeding age. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

14. Housing • The housing requirements for peafowl are dictated by the age of the birds. As mentioned earlier, chicks can be kept in small brooders until they reach the age of two to three months when they no longer require heat. • Breeders require much more room because of the males' long tail train. • A pen for a trio of breeders should be twenty feet long with a building or shelter attached to the end. The flight pen must be covered with wire or netting because peafowl are strong flyers. The building or shelter should be six feet tall and be at least eight feet wide and eight feet long. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

15. Diseases and Health Defects Viral Diseases Newcastle Disease: is an acute rapid –spreading respiratory disease that is caused by a virus. • The duration of ND is about 14 days. Since there is no effective medication against ND, it must be controlled by vaccination accompanied by excellent husbandry. Fowl Pox: is a relatively slow spreading disease caused by a virus that is transmitted primarily via the bite of infected mosquitoes. • Treatment would include vaccination of flock before or during outbreak, mosquito control etc. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

16. Diseases and Health Defects Bacterial Diseases Pullorum and Fowl typhoid: are acute diseases caused by a bacterium of the genus Salmonella --- S.pullorumandS.gallinarum respectively. Paratyphoid: is an acute septicemic and intestinal disease caused by a bacterium of genus Salmonella. Losses from paratyphoid can be reduced by medication; neomycin or nitrofuran, in the chick starter feed. Arizona (Paracolon) infection: is an acute septicemic and intestinal infections in young birds. Neomycin and nitrofuran drugs are recommended for treatment www.dvmdocs.webs.com

17. Diseases and Health Defects Bacterial Diseases Continued … Staphylococcosis: is an infectious non-contagious disease caused by a bacterium S.aureus. Improved sanitation of housing environment and better flock management will help to control the infection. Fowl Cholera (FC): is an acute septicemic infection caused by bacterium Pasteurella multocida. Premises will remain infected following a Fc outbreak unless a thorough decontamination program is conducted. Avian Tuberculosis (TB): is a slow spreading disease of adult birds, probably 3 to 4 years of age in peafowl www.dvmdocs.webs.com

18. Diseases and Health Defects Protozoan Diseases Coccidiosis: is an infection caused by one or more species of coccidia. All drugs should be used in accordance with the label instructions. Histomoniasis: commonly called “Blackhead” is an infectious intestinal disease caused by protozoa Histomonas meleagridis. Currently Metronidazole (Flagyl), copper sulphate and Histostat are used. Leucocytozoonosis: is a malaria-like disease caused by a protozoan organism that parasitizes the white blood cells of the bird host. Treatment in outbreaks will a sulpha drug by a combination of insect control. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

19. Diseases and Health Defects Internal Parasitic Problems Ascaridia: common roundworms are prevelant in many species of fowl. Medication can be periodically repeated as needed. Cecal worms (Heterakis gallinae): are tiny worms that live in the ceca of the bird. The flock can be dewormed effectively with one of several dewormers Gapeworms (Syngamus trachea): are worms that localizes in the trachea of birds. Control is treatment of infected birds with Thiabendazole or Tramisol. Tapeworms (numerous species) are known to parasitize fowl. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

20. Diseases and Health Defects External Parasitic Problems Lice are common external parasites in outdoor birds and birds in the wild. Treatment is not recommended unless lice are present on bird. Mites are common to all avian species. Mites spread from bird to bird as flock members make body contact. Birds should be treated with an approved safe pesticide. Chiggers are mites that live and produce in the environment. Control would require the treatment of the pen or range inhabited by the birds. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

21. Diseases and Health Defects Nutritional Diseases Rickets: Calcium, phosphorus & vitamin D deficiency. Curled Toe Paralysis: - Riboflavin deficiency Nutritional Roup: - Vitamin A deficiency Perosis: - Manganese deficiency Crazy Chick Disease: - Vitamin E deficiency Gizzard Myopathy (White muscle disease): - Selenium deficiency • Treatment requires the correction of the deficiency in the feed plus a short period of vitamin-electrolyte supplementation in the water. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

22. White Peafowl Facts • Peacock is an incorrect term to refer Peafowls, the male peafowl is known as Peacock and female is known as Peahen. • Peacock is the National Bird of India. • White Peafowls are forest birds that nests on the ground. • White Peafowls are omnivorous and eat plant parts, flower petals, seed heads, insects and other arthropods, reptiles, and amphibians. • They can be domesticated but there is fear of animals like dogs, cats and other animals. • White Peafowls have been called "urban guard dogs" because their distinctive cries can act as a warning of approaching people. www.dvmdocs.webs.com

23. Thanks For Your Patience www.dvmdocs.webs.com