Whenever possible you should do nature breeding, for green peafowl this is unfortunately often more difficult as we are expecting. As soon as you will keep several hens together in one group it is very difficult that they will breed by themselves. If the barn and the aviary is big enough and the hens will have different hidden places for the nesting then it could work if you keep (1,2). The problem is, during the breeding season the hens are often aggressive between each other. This is a nature behaviour, in the nature every hen is looking for his own hidden place and after breeding every hen is defending her chicks. Due to this I recommend everybody who will get birds from us to keep them (1,1). If it will not work with the nature breeding, beside all efforts, then the only way is artificial breeding.

Everybody who will make the decision to do artificial breeding should be aware, that it is for green peafowl a very time consuming thing after the eclosion. To avoid useless suffering and harm of the chicks here some advices which we warmly recommend to all breeders which are deciding to do artificial breeding with green peafowl.
 

1. Twisted (wrapped) toes
Twisted toes are a typical artificial breeding problem which every peafowl breeder is faced with. Due to space reason in the egg, the toes are bent completely to the inside. After eclosion they normally will straighten up within the first hours. Unfortunately this works not always when you do artificial breeding. Many people are arguing this with a wrong or to high breeding temperature. Based on my observations I cannot agree to this argument. Based on my opinion and observation it is an issue how the chicks are doing after eclosion. The toes are only straightening up, if the chicks will stand as quick as possible on their legs and this is exactly the problem of artificial breeding.
After eclosion the chicks will stand under the wings of the hen. This is very easy then for the chicks, because supported by the wings the only have to straighten the legs and they don’t have to keep the balance just training the muscles of the legs.
Without hen they don’t have this chance, the chicks are willing to come onto their legs as soon as possible after eclosion, but they are not able to keep the balance falling down again and again. This ends up that they will lie the most of the time during the first two days after eclosion and this is the reason, why the toes are not straighten up correct. A general rule is, every toe which is not straight after 24 hours, will never get straight by themselves.

If this is the case, please tape or splint these toes straight for some days. It is completely unnecessary, that these poor bird have to live their whole life with twisted toes. This looks not only bad, it can also ends up, that males are not able to fertilize. Due to the twisted toes they are not able anymore to stay on the back of the hen during mating.
 

2. Turned out hip
This is a problem which only appears when you are doing artificial breeding and has a similar reason as the problem of the toes. The nature has made the chicks that they have to walk with the hen long distances through the country from the 2^nd day and having a lot of exercise.
This is something which they don’t have when they are artificial bred. Then they are laying around with turned out legs and this ends up that the soft bones getting deformations. If this has started it is not possible to correct anymore.

Due to this you have to take care from the 2^nd day that the chicks are having exercise und this is only possible if you will go out with them into the nature.
 

3. Cold and wet weather
In the first four weeks the chicks are very sensitive against cold and wet weather, due to this it is not possible just to put them outside. But as mentioned above it is necessary to go out with them, but then you always have to take care that they will not undercool.
When nature breeding it is not issue, because as soon as the chicks will get cold, the hen will sit down and warm them. If it rains they will stand under the hen, she is a prefect running umbrella.
 

Chicks and young birds are needing for a stress less and good development a leading person. Due to the leading hen is missing they need an alternative, which has to be taken over by the breeder at least partly. For this you have to take care a lot for the chick within the first 48 hours after the eclosion to get an imprinting. This is the basic that they are able to do the first steps into their peafowl life free of stress and fear.
They have to learn everything and without a person where they feel save and protected, this is 100% stress for them. For example chicks are not able to make a stress less walk on the field, if they don’t feel protected. They will run around in panic and will hide somewhere in an edge. Such chicks suffering under this stress and finally this makes many of them ill and very often they will die after.
Based on my experiences chicks of Indian Blue peacocks are even more sensitive for stress compared to green peafowl chicks.

Imprinting is a very sensitive thing, it should be closed enough to give the chicks a good start into the life, but you should not overdraw it. They are and will be peafowl, which should have an adequate peafowl life.

What in this first period is made wrong is in the future very difficult to correct.
 

Whenever possible I recommend everybody to do natural breeding, without any doubt, it is the best for the chicks and saves you a lot of work and time.

The above mentioned problems you don’t have then. Even the fear of many breeders, that the males could attack the chicks is completely unfounded. Male are completely neutral against the chicks. Dangerous are only other hens, because every hen is only accepting her own chicks. All other chicks are immediately attacked if they are coming too closed.