Two Peachicks

Therese Ralston
5 min readFeb 8

After trying, waiting, and sitting eggs all summer long for a decade, my peahen has finally produced two fledgling peachicks.

On the 7th of January, my pet, Mrs. Pops, laid 3 eggs in the dry, dead grass on the western slope of our property. The afternoon sun hit it hard. She was parched and almost starved. Only leaving the nest with a squawk and a stretch for a couple of minutes once each afternoon. Not only did she survive eagles, foxes, and goannas, but electrical storms, a heatwave, and hail stones battering her body.

Hatch day was last Sunday, but she refused to leave the nest as the 3rd egg didn’t break.

At lunchtime on Monday, I took her some high-protein natural Greek yogurt and some budgie seed to feed the chicks chirping away beneath her belly. Very protective, she just wouldn’t move, almost pecking me when I swapped out the superheated water bowl for cooler stuff. The temperature climbed to 37 degrees C before she revealed her twins.

Scurrying to the garage, she hid in the cool under the car for an hour.

I scattered seeds where they were. Hoping to sustain all 3 of them.

Finally, Pea 1, Pea 2, and Mrs. Pops went on an adventure in the backyard.

Therese Ralston

Writing about the real life, farm life, reading life, birdlife, wildlife, pet life and school life I have in my life. My blog: birdlifesaving.blogspot.com