Curious about Peafowl

[4H kids and mom]

I am givin up on the poult thing I think, as I have just heard so many bad things, like they just fall over dead from just about anything and that they are, well, I'm sorry for lack of a kinder word but, stupid.

So the DH still wants something 'unusual' in the yard so I started thinking peacocks, which he LOVED! (And you think I"M nuts! lol) So now I'm trying to see what I can find out about THEM before I rush into anything...you know, better to be prepared and informed!

So.....whats the dish on the peafowl variety?

 

[Chelly]

We gonna have a peacockduck?

sounds good to me!
Peachickduck?

(sorry I've no info on peacocks, the only thing I know is they sound like children in distress when they "cry"!)

 

[cgjsmith]

I heard they sound like a woman screaming. I thought about getting one just to get back at the neighbors ound dogs that bay all night long

C

 

[joanm]

Ahem, I know I new to chickens, but when you say poult, you are talking about turkeys I hope?! Please don't tell me after all this work with my chicks, they will "fall over dead" of nothing!

 

[fowlweatherfriends]

Yes, they are referring to turkeys lol!

 

[Picco]

I have never raised peafowl myself but I cared for a few during a summer job I had a few years ago. They are beautiful but they are loud! They make this loud call oooooooohahhhhhhhh it sounds like something you'd hear in the Amazon. I personally love the sound. The fly all over and seem to prefer to be wild though they never stray too far. Males seem to be more friendly and will try to impress you by fanning. They will kill snakes and rodents which is a bonus. They do not like containment so free range is the way to go but they fly so its likely they will spend some time on your roof!

 

[4H kids and mom]

Are they easier to care for than turkeys? I know they sure are prettier! (Just my opinion, of course!)

I remember their calls from going to the Zoo as a kid, and I'd love to hear that around the yard.

And yes, I am referring to baby turkeys when I say poults. They are generally known (from what I can find out) to be rather dumb (they forget where the food and water are, and will just stand there when a predator is eating their friend, etc) and they can be perfectly fine one day and dead the next from nothing more than a cold. I have heard they are prone to all sorts of poultry diseases and are just not very hardy. People say that to get a good 'pair' of them, you should start with as many as 25 because you will loose almost all of them. Being 4x's the price of a normal chick, I can not afford losses like that! :|

I haven't heard anything really bad about peafowl, and I hear they are rather hardy, so I'm hoping I can just get a few and have them all survive because they usually run quite pricey (round the $20 range I think).

Anything else anyone knows about raising them would be helpful.

 

[BirdBrain]

So if you are giving up the poultry thing, what is going to happen to ChickenDuck? He goes to the higest bidder -- Right?

Tell us you are keeping him!!

 

[4H kids and mom]

I'm not giving up on poultry! I was thinking about ADDING baby turkeys, which are called "poults", but I have heard they are so hard to raise and keep that I am giving up on wanting THEM, not my chickens!

ChickenDuck aint goin nowhere! Das my boy!

 

[mlheran]

Backyard Poultry has a good article on peafowl in the current issue. I've never had peafowl myself, but we had a neighbor about a half-mile away who had a few and we sure knew it!

Whenever one of the males would yell, my grandma would say, "Ol' Jones is beating his wife again!" and when I was little I wasn't sure that she was joking (she has a strange sense of humor).

Basically, all I know is they are pretty! Oh, but I did learn from the article that the India Blue is more cold-hardy than the Green -I think they are also more common than the green.

I'm hoping to get some peas myself -once all my chickens are settled- so I'm going to be watching this thread!