South Carolina

[Patsy29332]

Thanks - I still have 2 pair of peafowl and 6 peachicks growing up so I'm hopeful that one of them will be black shoulder. I so wish I had a little Percy Jr. growing up.

Hoping for you! Are they loud and obnoxious like people tell me? I really have always wanted a peacock in my yard even before I had chickens...(I have only had chickens since late summer this year!) I really want to look into getting one or a pair but I do have an older couple that live practically in my back yard and would not want to bother them! Other than them I have NO neighbors!

 

[Patsy29332]

Hoping for you! Are they loud and obnoxious like people tell me? I really have always wanted a peacock in my yard even before I had chickens...(I have only had chickens since late summer this year!) I really want to look into getting one or a pair but I do have an older couple that live practically in my back yard and would not want to bother them! Other than them I have NO neighbors!

Oh...also how do they do free ranging with a RIR/Game rooster and his 4 old hens...he is very protective and watchful of them...he is a really good man in that respect...but not overly aggresive...he and his hens roam the yard with a feril cat I feed and she wanders the yard all day and night but he got her respect early on! LOL...she is big but he is too and sent her flying one time when he got here and she does not stalk his hens any more! LOL They free roam totally and roost in their favorite tree and I would like to have a peacock or pair that would live free in the yard like that. Is that possible...or not a good idea? I would appreciate any opinions on this...

 

[Joycats]

Hoping for you! Are they loud and obnoxious like people tell me? I really have always wanted a peacock in my yard even before I had chickens...(I have only had chickens since late summer this year!) I really want to look into getting one or a pair but I do have an older couple that live practically in my back yard and would not want to bother them! Other than them I have NO neighbors!

I can only give you my opinion - keep in mind that my farm is "Joyful Sounds Farm" and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the sounds from all the birds. EVEN the guineas, I actually like to hear my guineas too. But in my experience the peafowl are not loud at all. They really don't call very often, I haven't heard a sound from them since summer. In the summertime, they call to each other at night as they're going up to roost and it sounds kind of like "Yahoo, Yahoo, Yahoo". But that's only a couple of minutes and then they're quiet. If something spooks them they will call again. I don't find them to be any louder than a rooster and probably not as loud as the guineas. Maybe mine are just well mannered.

I've asked my neighbors if they're bothered by my roosters, guineas or peafowl and all have said no, they enjoy hearing the sounds while they're outside but nobody can hear them inside the house. I can hear them inside my house but my neighbors aren't real close.

I will tell you this, if you want a peacock to stay in your yard (without being penned) you will need a hen. Otherwise, come springtime he will leave in search of a mate. And if you don't pen them, they will roost on the highest point around. Sometimes that is the peak of your roof, chimney etc. This can be a big mess....literally. They also love to stand on your cars. I keep mine penned in a very large yard for their own safety. They are good flyers but owls will get them at night and coyotes will get them during the daytime. Hope this helps. I really enjoy my peafowl, maybe even more than the chickens. They are so elegant and majestic and beautiful, I could sit and watch them all day long (if I didn't have to get up and take care of those chickens).

 

[Joycats]

Oh...also how do they do free ranging with a RIR/Game rooster and his 4 old hens...he is very protective and watchful of them...he is a really good man in that respect...but not overly aggresive...he and his hens roam the yard with a feril cat I feed and she wanders the yard all day and night but he got her respect early on! LOL...she is big but he is too and sent her flying one time when he got here and she does not stalk his hens any more! LOL They free roam totally and roost in their favorite tree and I would like to have a peacock or pair that would live free in the yard like that. Is that possible...or not a good idea? I would appreciate any opinions on this...

I have a pair of pheasants and a flock of buff orpingtons that live in my peafowl yard. Everybody gets along just fine. The peafowl are big and they have the respect of the roosters because of size. But the Buff Orpingtons are pretty docile chickens. I really don't think any rooster would pick a fight with a peacock, at least not twice. Peacocks are incredibly strong and could hold their own with any other fowl. As for free ranging, that is something you will have to decide yourself. I tried free ranging my second peacock because I worried that he would fight with the first pair in the pen. He would pace back and forth beside the fence wanting in with the other peafowl. I opened the gate and let him in and he's never wanted back out. They do seem to be social, the peacocks don't really even fight during mating season. They have a pecking order but I didn't see a lot of aggression between them and I had 3 living together this past spring.

 

[RedBugPoultry]

Well, we ate guinea last night. It is not chicken! Now this was one of the small standard birds we tried first. The French are still in the freezer. There was more meat on it then I thought there would be and most of the meat of course is on the breast. When they say it is all dark meat they mean the legs and thighs are almost black meat and the breast is a lighter dark meat but the two taste totally different. Legs and thighs are very gamey to me where the breast was very good. The leg meat tastes almost like the giblets of a turkey if that makes sense--livery! The next one we are going to try smoking and see what we get. There is so much fat on the French birds not sure how that will smoke but they are a lot bigger than the standard birds by a couple of pounds. We were shocked at the amount of fat on the French because we really do not feed them that much and only at night.

They looked very well kept and maybe the fat had something to do with them not breeding last year. They were not as active a bird as the standard and were actually noisier than the standards. You can tell a big difference in the noise level here now. We also have a band of guinea hens that were staying with them that do not know what to do with themselves. It is funny how it changes the dynamics of a place when you remove something like that.

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Well, we ate guinea last night. It is not chicken! Now this was one of the small standard birds we tried first. The French are still in the freezer. There was more meat on it then I thought there would be and most of the meat of course is on the breast. When they say it is all dark meat they mean the legs and thighs are almost black meat and the breast is a lighter dark meat but the two taste totally different. Legs and thighs are very gamey to me where the breast was very good. The leg meat tastes almost like the giblets of a turkey if that makes sense--livery! The next one we are going to try smoking and see what we get. There is so much fat on the French birds not sure how that will smoke but they are a lot bigger than the standard birds by a couple of pounds. We were shocked at the amount of fat on the French because we really do not feed them that much and only at night.

They looked very well kept and maybe the fat had something to do with them not breeding last year. They were not as active a bird as the standard and were actually noisier than the standards. You can tell a big difference in the noise level here now. We also have a band of guinea hens that were staying with them that do not know what to do with themselves. It is funny how it changes the dynamics of a place when you remove something like that.

I will have to remember that in case DH ever decides to try it!

 

[elegant redneck]

Hi, I'm a new BYCer, and live in South Carolina. I've been raising Serama's for a couple of years and love them! Right now, I have too many.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Awesome update, Heidi! Thank you so much.

I just read this to DH and told my neighbor about it earlier today. He wants to try Guinea and if they breed like last year then I guess we may try a few.
So nice to know how they may taste and what to look forward to when we get around to it. We still have lots of chicken, deer and duck in the freezer.

 

[KrisH]

Hi, I'm a new BYCer, and live in South Carolina. I've been raising Serama's for a couple of years and love them! Right now, I have too many.

Welcome to BYC

Glad to have you here. What part of the state are you in? We (Kris & Robert) are in the upstate in gray court. We have Production Reds, Wyndottes, Guineas and now Turkeys.

you have to work hard to keep up with this group. and never ask for help with math. none of us seem very good at it.

RobertH

 

[huckleberryfarm]

Hi, I'm a new BYCer, and live in South Carolina. I've been raising Serama's for a couple of years and love them! Right now, I have too many.

Where in SC? I have three girls and really need a roo. And