Why get a peacock?

[zazouse]

For kids part, I kept asking, telling them what I've learned about them, also I knew some people that raised them and one of them was willing to give me some of her yearlings for free. I think it was because my friends were able to convince my parents that having peafowl is a wonderful thing.

Pros: They are beautiful, they molt all of the feathers they grow and you can use them to decorate your house, make jewelry, fly fishing. You can also sell their feathers or things you've made from the feathers. They can keep rodents down and other pests. Grasshoppers seem to be something peafowl like just like a cat and mouse. Penned peafowl are loud but not as noisy as a rooster. They usually only call during mating season.

Cons: Some can be aggressive usually green peafowl but those that have been in fear of having little kids pluck their train feathers without being able to escape can also promote aggression. They may sometimes be difficult to make them tame. When starting with peachicks they are much easier to tame. Though some adults may wish to feel human affection but most prefer to be wild. They can be loud to those that don't enjoy their calls, they are expensive, they are prone to more problems than chickens are. They are strong flyers.

In my opinion peafowl are worth getting, they seem to liven up the place, some of us peafowl breeders get used to the call and actually enjoy the sounds they make. Also hatching out peachicks FYI peachicks can fly within a week of hatching. This is my 4 year are old Indian Blue peafowl this year.

IMO growing up on a farm helps get alot of animals you like

after all it is a farm with farm animals and peafowl are considered a farm animal

 

[MinxFox]

Well I spent years begging for my parents to let me have peafowl, and I think it was 100% worth it.

Sure they are more expensive than a chicken, but they are so much more than a chicken. At least they are not as expensive as a dog. No matter the age of peafowl you get, you can tame them down. Maybe not tame enough to touch them or easily pick them up, but certainly tame enough to hand feed. I have raised peachicks, bought yearlings, and bought adults and I was able to tame them all. The older ones I bought were not from breeders who spent time with them to make them used to people. You will often find this with peafowl that you buy, especially if you are buying from a large scale breeder. It just takes time to gain their trust, but it certainly can be done. The first peafowl I got were adults that were free-rangers at the zoo. I was able to tame them down which is pretty good considering who knows if the peacock was chased by children wanting to pull his train feathers. That is a reason why most zoo peafowl are extra spooky or more prone to attacking than regular peafowl.

I have not owned any other kind of bird, so I really can't compare them to chickens or anything. I have volunteered at a parrot rescue, and I can tell you for sure that they don't hurt or draw blood like a parrot will. Peafowl will eat very gently out of your hand. They can control their beak and I say this because I have noticed my peacock Peep will delicately eat out of my hand or peck at me for attention, but once I hold the little dog near him to see him, he will peck at her foot really hard and she will get scared. They don't always like dogs haha.

Major cons are the expense of building pens for them - especially if you want a nice large, tall pen for them with a nice shelter. Another major con is they can be harder to break even with. It certainly can be done though. AugeredIn amazes me because he not only breaks even but he has so much money left over from selling peafowl each year that he can buy more of them! Dylansmom does well selling shed feathers from her peacocks. I figure it is easier to sell chickens and of course selling their eggs must help a lot too.

Just like most birds, there are predators that can kill peafowl. The main predator I worry about is raccoons. I have lost 3 or so peafowl from raccoons. I once thought that such a large bird wouldn't have to worry about raccoons, but I was wrong. One of the peafowl they killed was an adult peacock!

Peafowl are very fun to watch. Zazouse has chickens, guineas, ducks, etc and she says the peafowl are always very curious unlike most of the other birds. They always like to see what you are up to. They don't eat 24/7 so they like to explore and see what is going on around them.

Of course breeding season is my favorite time! I will never get tired watching a peacock display. That is one of the best things about peafowl is their huge display. When you have a friendly peacock, it is great sitting down or squatting down on the ground in front of him while he displays and just staring at the wall of feathers in front of you and when he shakes those feathers, they sound kind of like a rattle snake. I love the noises they make as well. It makes me sad when breeding season is over and the males stop their loud calls. They only call during the breeding season.

If you are into getting eggs all year round, peafowl won't give you eggs all year. The peahen only lays eggs during the breeding season. For me, I like that because I don't want to have to worry about eggs or chicks all year. Peafowl eggs are about twice the size of a regular chicken egg, and they taste pretty much the same. For me though, I feel weird eating one of my peafowl's eggs because they just don't seem like they should be eaten. More like hatched or sold to someone wanting to hatch a peachick.

As far as aggression goes - it seems rare. Almost always when someone finds out that I raise peafowl, they ask me if they are aggressive or mean. For me, this question is strange because I picture the scene I see every day when I feed my peafowl: They all come running to the pen door to see me and see what food I have for them, and they all crowd around me when I throw out treats or hand them treats. Each one eats out of my hand. They are all so nice. Peafowl are normally shy birds. Many members on here, including me, have hand raised at least one imprinted peacock and have not seen them grow up to be aggressive. Some people have said not to imprint a peacock to you because they will turn on you when they reach maturity. We really haven't seen this happen, but it does. It just seems to be rare.

Overall I really enjoy and love them and they make me happy. They are certainly pretty and each one has a personality. Some people have asked about peafowl before on here and decided they did not want any, because they were only looking for a bird that would "earn it's keep" by providing eggs all year, meat, etc. Peafowl are more of a fun pet than a food animal. I love them, but I am biased because I haven't raised any other kind of bird (or want to at the moment).

 

[PirateShipp]

Thanks everyone! For me, I would just love one as a pet. My neighbor had one and he was so pretty. We never had issues with him. I don't mind the noise, it was actually interesting to me. Very unique. However, we lived in a residential area and the peacock caused some trouble at others properties. Not sure what my neighbor ended up doing with him.
We have since moved and have about 20 acres and I was hoping to get one of our own to let roam. I wouldn't be getting it to make money or hatch more.

I wasn't aware they were more susceptible to disease/illness. That is good information to know! I will keep that in mind.
We both have great jobs and I'm not the type to buy an animal without money to care for it. We have a local vet that cares for farm animals of all sorts. I found this out before we got our other animals just so I would know where to go if needed.

I was hoping to let them free range - can you not train them like other birds that "this coop is home"
My only experience with peacocks are the ones from the zoo and of course my old neighbors. He stayed in our yard a lot but did eventually wander. Figured with the bigger property it might be enough, any opinions on that?

I DO have a new vehicle but I keep it in the garage...sorry hubs, your work truck might become peacock landing zone

We're still both pretty young. So long as noting catastrophic I think we'll be around for a while

Birdrain - that's a gorgeous bird! Even the hen is pretty!


Hate to hear about the raccoons and your birds Was hoping that they would ward of predators with their size. Was kinda my excuse to convince hubs. haha!

 

[Birdrain92]

Well sometimes the peacock will fan to warn off predators and they usually fly to try and get away. If you give a food pan or put them up at night with a routine then they usually forget it out. When they learn who gives them food they will stick around or come back to visit. You can get them tame like my other two hens.

 

[thndrdancr]

I guess I am lucky, the only time I ever had one wander off was when we moved and he couldn't find his way home. Never found him again. If you raise them from fairly young they will learn that is home. If you get them older you need to keep them penned for quite a period of time, some recommend 3 months or more but I never have penned mine quite that long and I have been quite lucky. I think it helps if you have a peahen and some other birds. My birds will wander over to anyone's house that has chickens. I guess they are curious and might think chickens = food.

I was lucky as I had 2 males that I raised for a year before I ever got a hen, but they weren't old enough to have those hormonal urges yet.

 

[MinxFox]

Hate to hear about the raccoons and your birds Was hoping that they would ward of predators with their size. Was kinda my excuse to convince hubs. haha!

The raccoons would kill them at night when they were sleeping or kill a peahen when she was nesting, so there wasn't much the peafowl could do. I would find feathers all over the pen so it was obvious that they at least put up a good fight. Peafowl are extremely good at spotting hawks. Sometimes my peafowl will puff up and make some noise and I will follow their stares up to the sky and after looking for a few minutes I finally see a tiny dot way up there and it gets closer and closer until I see that it is a hawk flying over. Their eyesight is incredible, and they recognize the alarm calls of local birds such as blue jays and mockingbirds so when they hear one of those birds warning about a hawk, they know what they are saying. They don't hide because they are usually too big for a hawk, but peachicks will run for cover.

I see that you have chickens in your avatar, so you can always say the peafowl will warn your chickens of danger. Not sure how good they will be at that - but it can make for a good excuse to get them.

 

[PirateShipp]

All good info :]
I'm sure he won't mind getting one. Just might be a little bit. Trying to hatch a few chicks and maybe get a couple turkeys.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Cate1960]

A few years back, a lady in our neighborhood was raising peacocks. When she moved a couple escaped. Now our neighborhood has approximately 20 wild ones. When we moved here it sounded like we had moved to the jungle. And they decimate my garden. Still haven't figured out how to keep them out.