ParadiseLostFarm wanted to know what was funny about ours so thought I'd share the story of our first one.
It begins with our good friend who has been a hot air balloonist for many years. My husband is his crew chief & I frequently help out as well. He holds a commercial pilots' license & in addition to flying for fun, frequently people buy rides for birthdays, anniversaries - we've even had a couple of wedding vows exchanged in the air!
One late summer about 10 years ago, a couple of schoolteachers bought a ride for their "back to school" adventure. They had a blast & we were visiting after the traditional "champagne ceremony" after their flight, when one of them mentioned she was looking to rehome a pet peacock. Seems her family had bought it for her for Mother's Day the previous May. It was a peahen & had spent the entire summer being played with by all the kids in the neighborhood, but was now getting too big for the cage they kept her in, and was roaming & making a nuisance of herself.
We knew absolutely nothing about peacocks, but I had a small flock of laying hens & so we agreed to take her, figuring she'd just hang w/our hens, so the next day the family brought Bisnu to our place & tearfully (I'm serious -the lady's husband took this very hard!) bid her farewell.
They left & we let her settle for a few hours, then turned her loose with our hens.
On my way back to the house, she passed me overhead, flying like I've never seen a bird that big fly! She went straight to the back door & settled on the doorstep. Turns out, Bisnu was imprinted on humans & had no idea she was a bird! Furthermore, she was terrified of chickens!
So - for the next several months, we lived with this peahen on our back step. Every time we opened our back door we had to step over Bisnu. she would frequently try to enter the house & once inside make a beeline for the dining room & perch on back of a chair. Of course, she wasn't housebroken and our cat wasn't happy one bit about this uninvited BIG house bird! She would freely take the cats' food both our inside cat & our outside barn cats , and the dogs as well - she had no problem bullying them away & helping herself to the best tidbits.
She spent each night roosting on the garage roof & sometimes would fly up to the 2nd story roof of the house as well. It was quite a sight from the road.
Jim drove a van with rails on top of it at the time, & when he came home every evening, he would stop the van at the end of our long driveway & get the mail out of the box. Bisnu would fly down to greet him, then fly on top of the van and ride the rails all the way back to the house. Several times we would start into town & realize Bisnu was riding the rails on top of the van, and have to go back & persuade her to stay home.
She adored to be petted & would approach you and bow her head & make this soft sound, inviting you to scratch her crown & neck feathers.
We tried to find a mate for her, but were unsuccessful in doing so, and after a few months, the constant harrassment of the dogs & cats plus the mess of cleaning up after her, plus worrying over when a hawk, owl, eagle or coyote would get her began to get to me, and I started to put out feelers for a home where she would be loved and safe.
I found it in a lady who worked out at the airport in the building next to me. She lived way out in the woods & her husband raised pheasants & had always wanted peacocks. So Bisnu went to live with them. And there she has been, happily ever after. They have a big old house with a porch all around it, & she stays on the porch where she has her own rocking chair. She is allowed to come inside the sliding patio doors & visit inside the house frequently. The spring after they got her, they found a mate and although he has never tamed down as much as Bisnu, they have raised several offspring who are very tame & come to greet visitors & get treats.
I never stopped wanting peacocks WHEN I got the right place to keep them -- we have so many predators & I knew it would have to be "Fort Knox". I started keeping a small laying flock again a couple of years ago & joined this forum. I have my "Fort Knox" built now - a 20 x 40 run with a coop & flight netting. So now we are "back in the saddle" again with our peas and looking forward to more adventures with them!
and yes, we do still do hot air ballooning, too!
edited for my terrible spelling.
It begins with our good friend who has been a hot air balloonist for many years. My husband is his crew chief & I frequently help out as well. He holds a commercial pilots' license & in addition to flying for fun, frequently people buy rides for birthdays, anniversaries - we've even had a couple of wedding vows exchanged in the air!
One late summer about 10 years ago, a couple of schoolteachers bought a ride for their "back to school" adventure. They had a blast & we were visiting after the traditional "champagne ceremony" after their flight, when one of them mentioned she was looking to rehome a pet peacock. Seems her family had bought it for her for Mother's Day the previous May. It was a peahen & had spent the entire summer being played with by all the kids in the neighborhood, but was now getting too big for the cage they kept her in, and was roaming & making a nuisance of herself.
We knew absolutely nothing about peacocks, but I had a small flock of laying hens & so we agreed to take her, figuring she'd just hang w/our hens, so the next day the family brought Bisnu to our place & tearfully (I'm serious -the lady's husband took this very hard!) bid her farewell.
They left & we let her settle for a few hours, then turned her loose with our hens.
On my way back to the house, she passed me overhead, flying like I've never seen a bird that big fly! She went straight to the back door & settled on the doorstep. Turns out, Bisnu was imprinted on humans & had no idea she was a bird! Furthermore, she was terrified of chickens!
So - for the next several months, we lived with this peahen on our back step. Every time we opened our back door we had to step over Bisnu. she would frequently try to enter the house & once inside make a beeline for the dining room & perch on back of a chair. Of course, she wasn't housebroken and our cat wasn't happy one bit about this uninvited BIG house bird! She would freely take the cats' food both our inside cat & our outside barn cats , and the dogs as well - she had no problem bullying them away & helping herself to the best tidbits.
She spent each night roosting on the garage roof & sometimes would fly up to the 2nd story roof of the house as well. It was quite a sight from the road.
Jim drove a van with rails on top of it at the time, & when he came home every evening, he would stop the van at the end of our long driveway & get the mail out of the box. Bisnu would fly down to greet him, then fly on top of the van and ride the rails all the way back to the house. Several times we would start into town & realize Bisnu was riding the rails on top of the van, and have to go back & persuade her to stay home.
She adored to be petted & would approach you and bow her head & make this soft sound, inviting you to scratch her crown & neck feathers.
We tried to find a mate for her, but were unsuccessful in doing so, and after a few months, the constant harrassment of the dogs & cats plus the mess of cleaning up after her, plus worrying over when a hawk, owl, eagle or coyote would get her began to get to me, and I started to put out feelers for a home where she would be loved and safe.
I found it in a lady who worked out at the airport in the building next to me. She lived way out in the woods & her husband raised pheasants & had always wanted peacocks. So Bisnu went to live with them. And there she has been, happily ever after. They have a big old house with a porch all around it, & she stays on the porch where she has her own rocking chair. She is allowed to come inside the sliding patio doors & visit inside the house frequently. The spring after they got her, they found a mate and although he has never tamed down as much as Bisnu, they have raised several offspring who are very tame & come to greet visitors & get treats.
I never stopped wanting peacocks WHEN I got the right place to keep them -- we have so many predators & I knew it would have to be "Fort Knox". I started keeping a small laying flock again a couple of years ago & joined this forum. I have my "Fort Knox" built now - a 20 x 40 run with a coop & flight netting. So now we are "back in the saddle" again with our peas and looking forward to more adventures with them!
and yes, we do still do hot air ballooning, too!
edited for my terrible spelling.
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