Back in January, we lost one of our two peacocks. We had kept them for 3 years in an aviary with attached house.
I foolishly opened the door to the house so some friends could see Farina, my blue pied peacock, He got spooked, and flew the coop, so to speak. He flew onto the barn roof where he spent the night. By morning he was gone, never to be seen again.
Winters here in northern Virginia can be harsh. This wasn’t the worst winter we’ve experienced, but there were weeks of below freezing temps, and many days of cold rain, sleet and snow, not to mention the days we had wind storms with gusts up to 60 mph. What was he going to find to eat with snow all over the ground? And all variety of predators, from the 4 legged variety: foxes, bobcats, and bears; to the sky borne great horned owls and red tail hawks that can grab a peacock in his sleep, high on his arboreal perch.
After 2 months, and no sign of Farina, we decided to get a companion for our remaining peacock, Buckwheat. We thought he might be happier with a girlfriend, so we brought home a young hen, whom we named Darla. It was love at first sight.
How could we have been more surprised when we saw Farina back at the ‘Pea Pod’ last week? He looks great. And he has a beautiful full tail. I might have thought it would look a bit rag tagly after being drug though the underbrush for months. But he has apparently eaten well. I wish I knew where all he’d been.
I have been feeding him on a screened box that sits about 6 inches off the ground. I have fed him peacock pellets, sunflower seeds, cracked corn, grapes, berries, spinach, but he doesn't see interested in eating it. I finally put the game camera by the food, and I saw him eating around 7:30 in the evening. But the squirrels are getting a lot of it.
questions:
1. Do you have any special feeders for your free ranging birds? I would like to keep the food dry and at the same time, keep all the wild critters from eating it.
2. Do you have any special shelter. He could go into the barn, but doesn't. I hesitate to waste time and money building a shelter that he won't use.
But the funny thing is, he has taken up with the llamas. The paddock behind the barn is just across the drive from the aviary, so he can be close to the other peas, and socialize at the same time with his new llama buddies. Almost any time of the day, he will be seen sitting on the fence rail next to the barn, or down in the paddock with the llamas, strutting his stuff and showing off his tail.
I foolishly opened the door to the house so some friends could see Farina, my blue pied peacock, He got spooked, and flew the coop, so to speak. He flew onto the barn roof where he spent the night. By morning he was gone, never to be seen again.
Winters here in northern Virginia can be harsh. This wasn’t the worst winter we’ve experienced, but there were weeks of below freezing temps, and many days of cold rain, sleet and snow, not to mention the days we had wind storms with gusts up to 60 mph. What was he going to find to eat with snow all over the ground? And all variety of predators, from the 4 legged variety: foxes, bobcats, and bears; to the sky borne great horned owls and red tail hawks that can grab a peacock in his sleep, high on his arboreal perch.
After 2 months, and no sign of Farina, we decided to get a companion for our remaining peacock, Buckwheat. We thought he might be happier with a girlfriend, so we brought home a young hen, whom we named Darla. It was love at first sight.
How could we have been more surprised when we saw Farina back at the ‘Pea Pod’ last week? He looks great. And he has a beautiful full tail. I might have thought it would look a bit rag tagly after being drug though the underbrush for months. But he has apparently eaten well. I wish I knew where all he’d been.
I have been feeding him on a screened box that sits about 6 inches off the ground. I have fed him peacock pellets, sunflower seeds, cracked corn, grapes, berries, spinach, but he doesn't see interested in eating it. I finally put the game camera by the food, and I saw him eating around 7:30 in the evening. But the squirrels are getting a lot of it.
questions:
1. Do you have any special feeders for your free ranging birds? I would like to keep the food dry and at the same time, keep all the wild critters from eating it.
2. Do you have any special shelter. He could go into the barn, but doesn't. I hesitate to waste time and money building a shelter that he won't use.
But the funny thing is, he has taken up with the llamas. The paddock behind the barn is just across the drive from the aviary, so he can be close to the other peas, and socialize at the same time with his new llama buddies. Almost any time of the day, he will be seen sitting on the fence rail next to the barn, or down in the paddock with the llamas, strutting his stuff and showing off his tail.
