What do you keep your peafowl in?

[Chicken0Boy]

I am intrested in getting some peafowl. A pair or a trio to be exact! So, I wanted know what you guys keep them in? What else should I know about peafowl? Pics, advice, info, etc. are all greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Edited to: Read post #7!

 

[MinxFox]

Well I keep all five of mine in a 40x50 ft. aviary with a top that is 15ft. at the highest point. They need some height in the pen for displaying and they like to roost on perches at night. Free-range they like to roost several feet off the ground so the higher the perch the better and safer.

I like to keep plants in the pen for them. Here are some pictures from last year.

The crosses are perches that also hold up the netting.

Here is their pen extension, they rarely use it though except for when it is raining, then they perch inside of it.

When we built the pen, we built it around this pole in my grandma's yard that was used as the top of a fence. We got rid of the fence and the peafowl like to jump up on the pole and preen.

Fencing:

Here is when we first built the pen, uh it was so bare!

Pen door:

I hope you get some nice peafowl. Make sure you have enough space for a trio.

 

[jenlynn4]

that is a beautiful setup!

 

[konopswj]

I agree, very nice setup! I'd like to have that kind of an atmosphere for mine some day.

 

[AquaEyes]

Absolutely beautiful!



~Christopher

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have an aviary that was built from recycled pallets, so I didn't have to spend any money on lumber. I only spent money on the sand and 2 plants. Total cost was $38.00 to build the aviary. The measurements are 28 feet long - 10 feet wide - 8 feet tall. It has an enclosed run where they can hang out during the day. At night, they go into their enclosed area to roost. I started off with 2 males and then I purchased 2 females from TerriLAChicks from BYC. I will be painting it barn yard red and adding more plants and other decorations.

 

[Chicken0Boy]

These are both so nice! So I got some questions I've thought of...

1. What do peafowl eat?
2. What is the best breed for a begginer?
3. What is the inside roosting sqr, footage rule?
4. What is the outside 'run area' sqr, footage rule?
5. What are some good plants/trees to plant?
6. What type of bedding should I use?
7. For a trio, what should the coop & run measurments be?
8. How do you rasie them as 'pea'chicks?

 

[MinxFox]

I forgot what the required space is...We started off with a pen way too small and now we have a pen that is plenty enough for 5 peafowl so we still aren't experts on space lol.

Here let me answer the few I do know...
2. The best peafowl for a beginner is going to be the India Blue. Not only are they the least expensive, but they are also the easiest to come by.

5. Mainly good tough plants can withstand peafowl. They will tear up small soft plants. If you plant any trees in with them make sure the trees are tall enough so they can't reach all the leaves and mess up the tree.

We built the pen around a wild pear tree that we sawed the top off of. Now the tree has branches growing through the netting and lots of leaves. The peafowl trim the low branches eating off the leaves making the tree look nice. They also like to eat the yellow leaves that fall off in the Fall.

Some good plants would be things like clumping bamboo (it HAS to be clumping because if you get running bamboo it will spread), cast iron plants, fatsia (I love this plant), and of course evergreens are great too. I would visit local plant places to find plants that can grow in your area that look tough. So far a lot of the decorative grass I have planted in the pen hasn't been attacked by the peafowl. I planted grasses like zebra grass and then purple fountain grass, although now that it is warming up the purple fountain grass looks pretty dead when all the other grasses are growing new blades. I hope it isn't dead it was a cute little plant. I think maybe Camellias might be okay in a peafowl pen too as long as you don't plant really small ones. That is my dream plant to put in there this summer. I want a lot of blooming plants. Roses should work too. I have some vine roses in with the peafowl but they haven't bloomed yet...Maybe I cut them at the wrong time or something. Then there are some other plants I forgot the names of.
You can use this website to help you search for plants that can work in your area, you just have to find out what zone you are in and then you can find out in the plant info if it can be grown in your zone or not and find out about care for the plant,ect. I am in zone 8a.
http://davesgarden.com/

 

[jenlynn4]

That pallet coop and run is amazing!!!!!!!! When are you going to come build me one? LOL

 

[Chicken0Boy]

Does anybody have a plan/picture of a aviary for a trio of peacocks. I was thinking about 10x30 pen with a covered coopish/roosting area thing in it. With a few plants and roosts. IS there anything else I could/need to add to make it more like home for the peacocks?