Quiet Peafowl, Anybody interested???

[MinxFox]

Is his voice always like that or is his voice not yet ready for this year? At the beginning of the breeding season my boys sound horse too and I laugh at them.

 

[cyndiego]

This thread just broke my heart! Dr. James, I hope you have not given up on the de-crowing project after so many tried to discourage you. Yes, I agree that for a peacock or rooster, vocal communication is important and interesting and a wonderful thing... for those very few who live somewhere they can enjoy it. For the rest of us... we would very much appreciate the ability to keep these animals too without making all our neighbors hate us, or violating zoning laws.

I think if you optimized the de-crowing, you might end up saving a lot of the heritage chicken breeds, and contribute significantly to our country's food resilience. Personally, I would love to raise a heritage breed, but even though we are lucky enough to be zoned for one rooster, I hesitate to alienate all my neighbors. (Plus it gives me less leverage when they do something I don't like!) I see raising chickens as part of my family's food resilience plan... but it's a bit of a joke if I have to keep ordering from a hatchery every few years.

Dr. James, my old genetics professor used to say "you get what you screened for". In other words, the exact situation you set up determines what may be a surprising outcome. I think you simply asked the wrong people, like asking about declawing at a PETA convention. (You should have asked the peacock-keepers' neighbors what they thought!) These less-than-ideal compromises with our animals have a valuable place if they expand the "niches" available for our pets to live in. I see decrowing as an important impetus for the local food movement. Please keep at it. Try a kickstarter campaign, and advertise that at farmer's markets -- then you will see a more accurate measure of interest.

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

I believe if we got a quite peacock he simply will dies later, i'm not a vet but, after years of watching how these birds lives i believe a male can't live without his voice during breeding season.

 

[DylansMom]

I believe if we got a quite peacock he simply will dies later, i'm not a vet but, after years of watching how these birds lives i believe a male can't live without his voice during breeding season.

X2, I agree with Q8, these birds are so much more vocal than my rooster. I can't imagine how they would be affected by losing their voices, probably similar to losing their hearing or sight.

 

[Birdrain92]

X2, I agree with Q8, these birds are so much more vocal than my rooster. I can't imagine how they would be affected by losing their voices, probably similar to losing their hearing or sight.

My rooster crows more than my peafowl combined.

 

[Birdrain92]

This thread just broke my heart! Dr. James, I hope you have not given up on the de-crowing project after so many tried to discourage you. Yes, I agree that for a peacock or rooster, vocal communication is important and interesting and a wonderful thing... for those very few who live somewhere they can enjoy it. For the rest of us... we would very much appreciate the ability to keep these animals too without making all our neighbors hate us, or violating zoning laws.

I think if you optimized the de-crowing, you might end up saving a lot of the heritage chicken breeds, and contribute significantly to our country's food resilience. Personally, I would love to raise a heritage breed, but even though we are lucky enough to be zoned for one rooster, I hesitate to alienate all my neighbors. (Plus it gives me less leverage when they do something I don't like!) I see raising chickens as part of my family's food resilience plan... but it's a bit of a joke if I have to keep ordering from a hatchery every few years.

Dr. James, my old genetics professor used to say "you get what you screened for". In other words, the exact situation you set up determines what may be a surprising outcome. I think you simply asked the wrong people, like asking about declawing at a PETA convention. (You should have asked the peacock-keepers' neighbors what they thought!) These less-than-ideal compromises with our animals have a valuable place if they expand the "niches" available for our pets to live in. I see decrowing as an important impetus for the local food movement. Please keep at it. Try a kickstarter campaign, and advertise that at farmer's markets -- then you will see a more accurate measure of interest.

I'm sorry but not everyone should be allowed. If the city allows it you'll be fine. If you can't supply an animal with basic needs, adequate nutrition, water, environment (space and shelter) laid out in the law or by a veterinarian you shouldn't own the animal no matter how bad you want to. That would be like a person that lives in an apartment wanting a cow or a goat because they want fresh milk


The people here though have been raising peafowl for a while and it's important to learn some information from peafowl breeders. If your not going to get info from peafowl breeders where else would you get the information? Peafowl breeders are your best resource on peafowl you can get. What does de-crowing have to deal with food? It's not a joke having to get outside blood lines. If you don't you get into line or inbreeding. This can cause problems, some minor and others are more serious. You would need at least three males and three females, none being related, to be able to keep far enough to not worry about inbreeding for a long time if you keep your records careful enough. It is still advised though to get a new blood line introduced.

In my opinion the only reason I would ask my neighbors about peafowl is mainly how noisy they are. One of my neighbors is familiar with peafowl so that would be fine. Peafowl are no longer used as meat. They are used for feathers and breeding purposes nowadays. How is it more accurate measure of interest? Most people when they hear peacock they think beautiful noisy bird and only want their feathers and nothing else to do with them. People that want to deal with peafowl are peafowl breeders.

If the owner has a problem with the noise perhaps they should just sell their peafowl. What's next putting a cork in a horse because you don't want to deal with the with horse poop but you want to ride it? If the city allows it and a neighbor has a problem, oh well for the neighbor in my opinion. It's an animal, you can't really silence them. Also that would be a very, very expensive surgery if you did want to go through with it. Very few veterinarians will touch a bird less likely perform surgery on one.

What actual good will it do for the PEAFOWL? Not the owner the peafowl, how does it help the peafowl's life?

Sorry this is a hot topic for me that can get me going.

 

[cyndiego]

I apologize for being confusing and off-thread. I am NOT planning to breed peafowl. I am NOT planning to eat peafowl! I googled "quiet peacock" out of curiosity, when in fantasy mode about possibly having a peacock someday, and stumbled on this thread. (I was reminded of how interesting they are when reading an article about how males use tail-shaking to attract mates with an auditory, not just visual signal...) I would be fully capable of taking care of an animal's needs if I took one on. However, as beautiful and fascinating as they are, peafowl will only be a fantasy because I know they would alienate my neighbors. I know because I used to live near one!

The heritage breed/food comments referred to CHICKENS. I would like to keep chickens, and would like to maintain a flock of a heritage breed. But that's not likely because of the crowing issue. Urban chickens have become a bit of a fad lately, which is positive for a variety of reasons. But as I see it, there are several issues that act as barriers to expanding home chicken keeping among more suburbanites: noise, old nonproductive hens, butchering and processing, and being able to go on vacation. I would love to see someone come up with a simple, humane surgery that snipped just the right nerve and solved the crowing problem at least. (Maybe not possible if the nerves are too multifunctional.) And you can argue that a silent rooster is angsty. But compare to the humanity of factory farmed chickens, and... I think decrowing would have a place. That's all.

But anyway, should've posted on the chicken decrowing threads that I discovered after the fact. Sorry! I shouldn't have gone off half-cocked

 

[casportpony]

I apologize for being confusing and off-thread. I am NOT planning to breed peafowl. I am NOT planning to eat peafowl! I googled "quiet peacock" out of curiosity, when in fantasy mode about possibly having a peacock someday, and stumbled on this thread. (I was reminded of how interesting they are when reading an article about how males use tail-shaking to attract mates with an auditory, not just visual signal...) I would be fully capable of taking care of an animal's needs if I took one on. However, as beautiful and fascinating as they are, peafowl will only be a fantasy because I know they would alienate my neighbors. I know because I used to live near one!

The heritage breed/food comments referred to CHICKENS. I would like to keep chickens, and would like to maintain a flock of a heritage breed. But that's not likely because of the crowing issue. Urban chickens have become a bit of a fad lately, which is positive for a variety of reasons. But as I see it, there are several issues that act as barriers to expanding home chicken keeping among more suburbanites: noise, old nonproductive hens, butchering and processing, and being able to go on vacation. I would love to see someone come up with a simple, humane surgery that snipped just the right nerve and solved the crowing problem at least. (Maybe not possible if the nerves are too multifunctional.) And you can argue that a silent rooster is angsty. But compare to the humanity of factory farmed chickens, and... I think decrowing would have a place. That's all.

But anyway, should've posted on the chicken decrowing threads that I discovered after the fact. Sorry! I shouldn't have gone off half-cocked

Welcome to BYC!

-Kathy

 

[libertyeggs]

I'd be VERY interested to the point of taking one of my males this afternoon! Now that it is breeding season, my neighbors are ready to ring my throat for keeping them up at night. Also, if it works, and I have no reason to believe it wouldn't, I would have my other peacock done as well. You in Ohio by chance?

 

[casportpony]

I'd be VERY interested to the point of taking one of my males this afternoon!  Now that it is breeding season, my neighbors are ready to ring my throat for keeping them up at night.  Also, if it works, and I have no reason to believe it wouldn't, I would have my other peacock done as well.  You in Ohio by chance?

Welcome to BYC!

-Kathy