How to Care for Peacock Chicks

Place newly hatched chicks into a brooder for the first five to six weeks. A brooder is a heated structure used to raise young poultry. A brooder can be wooden, plastic or caged with enough heat sources available to prevent chicks from piling, and enough space to prevent overheating. Use 1/4 inch wire in the bottom of the brooders or solid floor with bedding. At the beginning, keep some form of matting on the wire bottom brooders to catch the feed for the new peachicks to peck at.

Feed newly hatched peachicks medicated chicken starter crumbles with 20 percent protein in shallow containers. Place marbles into the feeders to initiate pecking and eating, or place an older peachick in with the new hatchlings as a trainer chick. Since peachicks are larger than regular chicks, feed crumble feed, instead of smaller particle mash. Switch feed to 18 percent protein chicken grower pellets at four months of ages. Feed them the grower feed until they are one year old. Alternatively, feed your peachicks game bird grower feed until one year. It has higher protein content at 28 to 30 percent.

Place a shallow water dish in with your peachicks. Dip each chick's beak into the water to teach it where to drink. Place marbles into the watering dish to instigate curious pecking, which teaches them the location of the water as well. Replace the water in the dishes twice a day. Replace the dishes with regular poultry water containers as the birds age. To prevent bedding from clogging floor-housed peachicks water supply, elevate the water containers off the floor as the peachicks get older .

Set peachick heat lamps to liberate heat at a temperature of 95 degrees F during week one. Decrease the temperature by five degrees for each week thereafter. Keep peachicks away from wind and drafts. Remove the heat source from the peachicks at about six weeks of age, unless environmental temperatures are too low for adult birds.