Are you wondering, what are baby peacocks called?
The answer is that baby peacocks, or more accurately baby peafowl, are called peachicks.
Here's a look at everything you'd ever need to know about these cute little chicks!
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What Are Baby Peacocks Called?
Baby peacocks are called peachicks, but there is a little more to understand when it comes to what adult and baby peafowl are called.
This is because there is a big misconception that peacocks are a species.
This is not accurate, the species is peafowl, and peacocks are just the males.
The females - which are the mothers of chicks - are called peahens.
It's not too dissimilar to chickens or a lot of other species of birds. For example, male chickens are called roosters, and female chickens are called hens.
However, whether the chicks are female or male they're all called peachicks.
Related - Here is a look at why peacocks are called peacocks!
How Long Do Baby Peacocks Stay With Their Mother?
As with most animals, peachicks will stay close to their mothers in the wild and will learn a lot of their survival skills from them.
If you're fortunate enough to see a peahen caring for her young, it's really cute. Peachicks like to snuggle into their mother's feathers to stay warm, and will often poke their little heads out to look around.
In captivity, however, it's often a different story. Peahens will often leave their young to fend for themselves, and carers have to step in.
How Long Do Peafowl Eggs Take to Hatch?
Peafowl eggs take 28 days on average to hatch.
A peahen will lay around three to five eggs at a time, and will incubate them herself.
The incubation process is when the female sits on the eggs to keep them warm so that they can develop and hatch.
If you see a peahen egg, you'll notice they're pretty big. Peahen eggs are on average around three times the size of a chicken egg!
What Do Peachicks Eat?
In the wild or left to the care of their mothers, peachicks will eat whatever their mothers bring to them at first.
This will typically be insects like spiders and bugs, and bits of plants and other edible scraps.
If you're providing a formulated feed for your peafowl, you should buy a separate commercial peachick feed.
This will ensure the chicks are getting all of the good nutrition they need, and they'll probably find some little scraps too anyway.
When Do Baby Peacocks Get Their Feathers?
When peachicks are born, they're covered in downy feathers which keep them warm.
They're not able to fly when they're born, but they are able to walk and run around.
As they get a little older, more feathers will start to come through and they'll look more like their parents.
The time it takes for peachicks to get their feathers varies, but it's usually around 5-6 months when you're able to tell male and female peachicks apart physically.
By the time a peacock is a year old, you'll see they have a train of beautiful, colorful feathers and they'll even start doing feather displays.
How Long Does It Take for Peacocks to Mature?
It takes around three years for a peacock to be fully mature and ready to mate.
During this time they'll continue growing their feathers, and their colors will become more vibrant.
You will find that some of the younger peacocks don't have as much color in their feathers as the older ones.
This is normal, and it just takes time for their full plumage to come through.
Do You Need a Male and Female Peafowl to Get Chicks?
You don't need a male and female peacock for a peahen to lay eggs, just as you don't need a rooster for hens to lay eggs.
However, if you only have peahens, the eggs she lays will not be fertile.
You do need a peacock in your flock to mate with the peahens and fertilize their eggs.
So, if you want to keep and raise peafowl and you want baby peachicks, you need to have both peacocks and peahens.
Even if eggs are unfertilized, peafowl may sit on them and try to incubate them as they can't tell if they're fertile or not.
This can cause some health issues as they spend almost all their time sitting on a clutch of eggs while trying to incubate them, so it's up to you to remove the eggs.
Related - Here is what happens if you try to hatch a peafowl egg under a chicken!
In Summary
Baby peacocks are called peachicks, and they're really cute!
If you're observing peachicks, it's hard to tell the sex of a peachick for the first few months after they're born.
But there's no mistaking those bright, iridescent feathers with that distinctive 'eye' pattern that separates peacocks from peahens as they mature.
