Peafowl: Q & A

Last week "Out My Window" asked if peafowl were cranky?  I admit that I was not certain about peafowl when W first announced we were going to get some.  I had seen them from afar a time or two and a neighbor down the road used to have some.  I can say that our peafowl are not at all cranky.  When they first arrived they were skittish and did not like sudden movements.  Some are quite tame.  When the weather warms up, I plan to spend more time with them and hopefully tame them further.

Tammy asked if they were just for fun.  Yes, although we may raise some to sell in the future.  I cannot imagine eating one.  First of all they are too cute, and second they are too expensive to even consider for a meal. 



Part of our peacocks came from my cousin's girlfriend's parents.  They wanted to get rid of them as they were noisy all of the time.  Since they have been at our house, we have only heard them a couple of times.  W reminds me that they will be very noisy when they start to mate.

A Few Peafowl Facts

The males have to be at least three years old before they grow their fancy tail feathers.  As they get older, their tail feathers get bigger and more showy.  Each year they shred their tail feathers.  When W was moving them, one lost all of his feathers in one lump.

The males are peacocks.  The females are peahens, and the babies are called peachicks.  If peafowl are not raised on your property, they must be kept in pens.  Otherwise they usually will not stay.  Peachicks raised on the property will stay.  We have two large flight pens for our peafowl with several swings.  Our plan is to raise a few that can free range on the property during the day and go in flight pens at night.

Peafowl can live up to 20 years with some saying up to 40 in captivity.  The one in the picture above is about six years old.

Peacocks are not fans of snakes and will kill/eat them.  That alone makes me love them.

Our peafowl eat a mixed diet.  They get a grain and seed mixture.  We also feed them a bit of dry cat food each day.  It gives them an extra boost of protein.  Truthfully all of our birds would eat cat food or dog food if we let them.  I feed two of our outside cats in the rabbit house and one in a wire crate with the door closed but not latched.  The cat can open the crate with his paw to go in, but it keeps the chickens and turkeys out.  All of the birds get some vegetable scraps, but we will also give them fresh vegetables and fruits from the garden as it starts back producing.