Want to know more about peafowl?

[icequeen029]

I have been wanting to get some peacocks. I raise chickens, ducks, and even some guinea fowl but never peafowl. What do I feed them as adults and as chicks? I was planning on letting them roam free in my yard and pasture like my ducks and chickens. Will they nest in boxes like the chickens or do I need to do something special? Someone please help me learn.

 

[Catfish267]

All I know is that they sound like Kevin from the movie "UP"

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Greetings and

!
You will find a lot of great information about peas in the stickies:

"Sticky" Threads for the "Peafowl" forum:

• Peafowl - "Sticky" topics index

 

[MinxFox]

Everyone feeds their adults differently probably because I don't think there is a feed specifically for peafowl. Some people mix their own feed for their peas. I feed mine black oil sunflower seeds, catfish chow (not every day), and a scratch mix that they mainly just eat in the winter (they like to eat some corn in the winter). Other people feed theirs I think layer pellets? I think my peas are pickier than others...It is also good to give them some greens a few days a week like lettuce, grass cuttings, etc. They will also eat leftovers like leftover potatoes. As treats they like bread, unsalted unshelled peanuts, cherries, grapes, berries (blue berries, black berries, etc). Some people's birds like different things. I have one that really loves tomatoes. They like meal worms too (mine come running for meal worms). For peachicks give them a medicated chick starter grower around 20% (I think our feed store has 18% but that is good enough). It is easier for the peachicks to eat the starter when it is wet. They love it wet but not soupy wet. It is easier for them to gobble up that way. If you want them to free roam it might be best to start with peachicks or yearling peafowl and if you start with yearlings make sure they are penned for several months before you let them lose. Zazouse on here free-ranges a pretty flock of peafowl and she sometimes has had to herd them back to the yard so watch out because sometimes they wander off. When they free range they like to roost high up in a big tree.
Peafowl rarely nest in nest boxes. They would rather nest under a bush or someplace. We build a nice nest box in the pen for them and I have only had one use it (unfortunately a raccoon got her in the box). Here is my peahen Damsel nesting under a flower bush in their pen. My peahen Ice is on a nest right now and it is just in the sandy dirt in the corner of the pen but she loves to nest there. When they are free ranging they will probably choose some brush or tall grass to nest in.