Raising Peafowl??? Help!

[silkielover419]

I really, really want peafowl but, I need info. I always do my research first. So I have a few questions:

1) How much space do, let's say 3-4 peafowl's need (2 female, 1-2male)?
2) How many should a beginner get?
3) Are peafowl profitable? If so, what can I sell? (My dad says if we can't make money off it or get anything from it, we're not getting it)
4) What do they eat? Is there a special food for them?
5) How much does the average peacock, peahen and peachick cost?

Any other info or tips on raising peafowl will be appreciated. (You can see by my avatar, I like peacocks)

 

[barkerg]

I really, really want peafowl but, I need info. I always do my research first. So I have a few questions:


1) How much space do, let's say 3-4 peafowl's need (2 female, 1-2male)?
2) How many should a beginner get?
3) Are peafowl profitable? If so, what can I sell? (My dad says if we can't make money off it or get anything from it, we're not getting it)
4) What do they eat? Is there a special food for them?
5) How much does the average peacock, peahen and peachick cost?

Any other info or tips on raising peafowl will be appreciated. (You can see by my avatar, I like peacocks)

Ok here we go, I'll try to answer the best I can.

1) How much space do, let's say 3-4 peafowl's need (2 female, 1-2male)? A trio of India Blues will need approx 100-150 sq ft per bird. This is the bare minimum I would recommend.
2) How many should a beginner get? A pair to a trio of young' uns will teach you a lot as long as you keep researching the health aspect.
3) Are peafowl profitable? If so, what can I sell? (My dad says if we can't make money off it or get anything from it, we're not getting it) we are still behind on the profit side of things. Your gonna need a bunch of the right types of birds to make money. We treat it as a hobby to make us feel better about losing money.
4) What do they eat? Is there a special food for them? Peafowls are like turkeys, we feed ours 28% gamebird/turkey crumbles during the breeding season and switch to whole grains in the winter.
5) How much does the average peacock, peahen and peachick cost? To many factors at play to effectively answer this question, it depends mostly on: location, bird type, bird species etc... Around here in Central Texas, IB chicks can be found a from $25-$50 a piece on CL.

I hope I answered some of your questions.

If you FB, we have a wealth of knowledge here.
https://www.facebook.com/bobsgreenpeafowl/

Enjoy and keep us posted,

Gerald Barker

 

[silkielover419]

Thank you!

 

[Birdrain92]

I really, really want peafowl but, I need info. I always do my research first. So I have a few questions:


1) How much space do, let's say 3-4 peafowl's need (2 female, 1-2male)?
2) How many should a beginner get?
3) Are peafowl profitable? If so, what can I sell? (My dad says if we can't make money off it or get anything from it, we're not getting it)
4) What do they eat? Is there a special food for them?
5) How much does the average peacock, peahen and peachick cost?

Any other info or tips on raising peafowl will be appreciated. (You can see by my avatar, I like peacocks)

I recommend a run of 12' x 12' x 8' tall at least. And a run of 10' x 10' x 8'. In my opinion this could hold a pair. Trio would be pushing it.

For a beginner get a pair of Indian Blues. I recommend this because they're the most common, easiest to raise, easiest to find, cheapest of all peafowl varieties, pair is a lot better to get a feel of what it's like to have peafowl. When ready you can get more peafowl and more varieties.

Depends on variety and market. Right now my peafowl are still making me a profit. If you start off with day old chicks it's easily a three year investment before you make money. I sell train feathers, neck, and train covert feathers. I also sell peachicks. I have Indian Blues and Whites. My Whites have yet to produce. Luckily I had 2 years of savings from my Indian Blues so I still remain in the profit section though I'm losing a little bit of money. 2017 though I'll make that all up. The reason why is because I'll have White feathers and peachicks. White peafowl have the same requirements as Indian Blues but, because they're more rare I can charge more but the same expenses as an Indian Blue.

I feed my adults a 22% protein crumble. The chicks get a 28% protein. The important thing is make sure they're on a feed that is at least 20% protein.

That depends on market, variety, age, if they're sexed and if they're NPIP Certified For example I sell Indian Blues, 1 to 2 months old, straight run, some people ask if I can sex them, I tell them what it could be but no guarantee on sex since it's straight run, I'm not NPIP certified, and my price is $20.

 

[silkielover419]

Thank you! This is very helpful. For the food, does that mean they can just eat chicken or turkey as long as it has at least 20% protein?

 

[Birdrain92]

Yep.

 

[silkielover419]

Yep.

Thank you!

 

[Birdrain92]

You're welcome