Newbie needs advice!

[Smurfy]

My husband would like to add peafowl to our menagerie. We live in Ky and already have chickens that free range during the day and a human toddler as well. Are there any varieties that are more hardy in cold or more friendly. What age would be best to start with? I have hatched chicks,ducks, and geese...are they hard to hatch? How early can they be sexed? Thank you in advance for any info!

 

[C&Rman]

I haven't tried to hatch any but I have heard they are really hard to hatch. I am new to peafowl as well. I have a pair that are Midnight and a white one. I love them they are so pretty. I would get a white peahen to start off with they are very tame and calm. The males are all so unique, they can be sexed at yearlings they may be able to be sexed earlier but I have only been able to identify them when they are yearlings. The best ones to start out with are India Blues but I went ahead with the ones I wanted. I got a 2yr old male because I didnt want to wait 2yrs for him to start growing tail feathers. If you want a male that can display with a train then you would need to buy one 2yrs or older.
Here are mine I have a "Midnight White-Eye" peacock and a "White Peahen."

 

[Glenmar]

If you free range them, you need to keep them penned up for 8 weeks, so they know where they live. Even then there is no guarentee they will stick around. I have had really good luck free ranging my two, but others are not so lucky.

 

[SuperPeacockman]

Greens are not hardy and aggressive. I would go with one of the common colors to start out with like India Blue, White, Pied, or Black Shoulder.

 

[greenbird]

I would start out with Indiana blues. They are the most common and usually the most lowly priced. It's what i started with. Plus they do well in winter.

 

[SuperPeacockman]

Quote:
Well all of the varieties that mutated of from India Blue are hardy and whites and black shoulders are often the same price or only like 10$ more, you could get a few different varieties