My DH wants to have a flock of Peahens and Peacocks. We already have free ranging chickens. How do I find them to purchase, and what are their living requirements?
Thanks!
Looking for info. on Peahens & cocks
My opinion.. Beautiful birds.. first step.. EARPLUGS
They prefer to roost in trees...and yes they screech like crazy...You can't have too many cocks, or like Roosters, they will fight...
Try these sites for info and breeders:
http://www.peafowl.org/breeders.htm
http://www.gamebird.com/peacock.html
http://www.peafowl.com/
http://www.peacocksforever.com/pclass.htm
soniota,
Guinea Fowl go quite well with the Pea Fowl and the Game Fowl ... your free ranging chicken breed? They will all do exceptionally well together in your region - environment .... I'm assuming you have a few acres or more and places for the birds to perch ...... and find SHADE. All of them need shade in Arizona. I'd ask around at local farm feed stores for information on who has what. Enjoy. Kelly in Moxee
Thanks All!
Yes I live at 5300' elevation and am quite a bit cooler than Tucson or Phoenix. My barn is in an oak forest, so trees and shade are of no concern. My current flock is Bantam, Bantam mix (from the cock), and domestic layers. My DH does not want Guineas, don't know why, but oh well?! He says he likes the sound the Pea's make....go figure!
Well whatever you do decide... get them young and keep them penned and well fed until they mature into their teens before you release them to Free range...They are not cheap birds to buy and you will be out quite bit of money if they decide to take off or a varmint gets them before they are able to fly up to escape....
I know my Dh aunt has them and if I remember right she sells them for 75 bucks a pop. DH wont let me get any, he says they are to noisy.
What is considered "teen age"?
I don't know much about peacocks and peahens except they are very pricey. I saw a pic of a white one and thought it was one of the most beautiful birds I had ever seen. The tail feathers when spread look like beautiful lace. Breath taking! What kind are you wanting to get?
Christy
Christy, you are right. They are very pricey, they also scream loudly, they love to perch high like on your car and house. We know people that have them. Whenever we go out to their house, the peacocks are perched on their T.V. antenna or on top of their vehicles, or on their house.
GG
Yikes....I bet that leaves a lot of poo's all over the place. Though I guess the rain could take care of that. I don't think I could look the other way when they perched and pood on my car though. ugggg!
I've never heard them screech....I wonder just how loud it is?
Christy
It is not just earsplittingly loud--it sounds like a woman screaming!
It sounds really cool on a foggy misty morning... lol
lol......a screaming woman, oh my! Do they do it at night too?
that is why my Dh wont let me get any. I have still to convince him to let me get keets.
seriously though.. don't you think we are all just a wee bit jealous... I would love to have a few.. I don't have any neighbors to bother, I don't believe I have enough trees to maintain.. I have seen peafowl kept in cages.. I have no problem with it for some.. but its not for me.. They have the most beautiful spread of feathers.. why would I want them cooped up.. I want to see it all the time.... ;-)
But really.. Other than to make money on the eggs or chicks.. which are expensive.. $80ish each around here, I don't even know if you can eat the eggs?? but anyway.. they are just too noisy for me.. the screech is to piercing and I envy those that can take it.. My sis has some right behind her house and I don't remember them being noisey at night.. someone else would have to answer that.
But hey.. if you dh can take the noise.. and there are no neighbors to drive crazy... and you can manage.. then.. blessings to you.. I don't think there is a more beautiful display than a peafowl with their feathers in full plume.
Frans I so agree, i remember going to the zoo and seeing them run free around there. They are just so beautiful. When we go over to my DH's aunts house I never seem to hear the noise. They are just beautiful.
I have no neighbors with in 2 miles, so I'm clear there. My dogs will probably keep them down by the barn ~1/8 mile away. And I have never heard them at night when visiting a friend who's neighbors have them.
no noise at night.....now that I could probably deal with. I don't recall ever hearing them. I have seen them at the zoo and at critter auctions from time to time. Not a peep. There was a pea hen at the auction this last weekend....she didn't make any noise either.
If I told my DH about the noise they make he would probably laugh and say that he was used to having me around 'screaming' so it shouldn't make much difference! Just kidding.....although, that is probably what he would say anyway!
Are you going to be getting some soon Sonoita?
Christy
I am attempting to locate some for sale locally. If I can find them, yes I will purchase some.
Sonoita, I still think you'd love guinea fowl ... especially if you can put up with the racket from Pea Fowl. My wife and I married in Sonoma .... 20 yrs ago this fall. We love northern AZ but are not ready to call it home yet. We've spent 3 weeks over the last 20 at the North Rim of the GC Lodge .... in the largest cabins right near the end of Bright Angel Trail. The view there is .... "to die for" ... btw ... I have 4 kids so don't let my expressions send the wrong message of my "orientation" .... LOL. At night you can see the stars clearer there than any spot on the planet (just an opinion). I wish we could go again soon. Last summer we spent 5 days staying in the lodges at Glacier Nat. Park ... Many Glacier Inn ..... is the most endearing lodge in the National Park system. I should know ... we've stayed at all of them ... that is our big "To Do list" since we married. We've been checking off a list of about 20 lodges in the western states and are down to just Paradise and Longmire in Mt Rainier Nat. Park. I drive by them frequently but the lure of staying has just never been there .... because they're so close. Kelly in Moxee
Sure hope you can find some!
I'm wanting to add some Pea Fowl to our menagerie. Our neighbors sell them for about $50. I hear them in the late evenings. They make a rather plaintive "MEOW' sound in the distance. I tell my wife they're catbirds.... LOL. I've asked her several times when I hear them if she wants a catbird, but she always says; "NO more poultry". She knows what Pea Fowl are so I never ask for a Peacock cause I know her answer already. Kelly in Moxee
We are very familiar with Guinea, both wild ones in Africa, and domestic. One of my best friends breeds domestic Guinea, and he's not interested! Matter of fact I go my bantams from her.
I have a peahen, Beep. She is amazingly gentle and easy to keep. She calls ocasionally, but I don't find it intrusive.Right now she is nesting on eggs that aren't fertile, though I have a male coming for her in the next few weeks. She doesn't sleep near the house though there are lots of deck rails as such that she could use. She prefers the top of the chicken coop or the tree in the back yard. I kep her and her first mate (a neighbors dog jumped the fence and killed it before it was a year old) contained in a pen for the first three months. She has been loose ever since and rarely goes further than next door. She gets along with every one else in the yard and we are very attached to her.
The male that is coming to be her mate belongs to a friend and he says that he does call at night and during breeding season, it gets a bit noisy, but his neighbors have never complained. I'm one of thoes odd ones that likes the haunting call of peafowl.
Do a google search and you will find out lots about them.
My friend has three males in the same pen and they never fight. They are very hardy birds and eat lots of bugs. They will start to nest with fertile eggs the second year, but usually only hatch 4 to six keets.
jylgaskin,
You seem to have quite a bit more knowledge than I do about more than a few poultry related topics. Please tell me or all of us what environment of locations a Pea Fowl prefers for nesting. Is it in trees or shrubs or on the ground or slightly elevated in containers or shelf? I know little about them because I don't have them ; however, at this point ... they are my only real ... want as an addition to our poultry menagerie. Thanks, Kelly in Moxee
Jylg - I second Photograher's request. I have 80 acres of mostly forested land and would like to have an idea of where they might lay or how to create a desirable laying environment.
If I could find her nest, I'd tell you. I asume it's under one of the shrubs in the tree line. She hides so well, that last time I walked right past her for days. I trried to follow her this morning, but got distracted by the fawns all trying to follow too so I missed her. Last time she dug a shallow bowl under a gooseberry bush. She is almost exactly the color of the soil if she hides her head. Only the center under the eggs was lined with dry grass.
I tried to get her to sleep and nest inside a shelter, but she prefers to be outside and totally ignored the nest box. About the only time she chooses to sleep inside anything is when the weather is really bad. The person who raised her had them in a large pen with two open ended sheds and triangular nest boxes in the corners. She mentioned that she had to move the eggs into the boxes for most of the birds. The boxes were on the ground and only a few inches high.
My favorite place that she sleeps is on the peak of the roof and she is outlined by the moonlight. When she sleeps there she comes to my bedroom window in the morning and makes her "Beep" sound. That's how she got her name. Her mate was named Toot. She also makes the cry and a laughing sound.
The best way to incubate the eggs is with a broody silkie. eahens are like a lot of chickens nowdays, some will sit, some wont. The friend who has the male uses silkies and annother person localy who has peafowl and pheasants is waiting for some of my silkies. They will set anything.
Peafowl love wooded areas. Even here in Northern Michigan we had a flock of semi wild birds for several years till some jerk shot them and cut off their tails. They lived in a wooded area between several houses and would wander through yards looking for treats.
They do require extra protien, so I give mine catfood, critter mix (sunflower seeds, peanuts and corn) and of course she gets all the bugs she wants. They also eat a lot of vegatation and I have a hard time keeping her out of my garden. I noticed today that much of my young swiss chard is missing.
She really is worth it though.
I really don't know that much, just what I've picked up along the way in 40 odd years of working with animals and vets and farmers.
Thank you!
Hey all!
I have raised peafowl for about 8 years now. I have been lucky that I have lived on a few acres at both my old home and new home. They do like to roam. Their range can be as large as 1 mile. Mine have always been free ranged. They raised their own young and I sold them. I even collected the feathers from the peacock and sold them on ebay for a buck a piece. My male is about 10 and my hen is only about 2. I had an India blue pair. They can tolerate our harsher winters here. I lost the hen this spring to egg bound. I bought another hen and she is a black shoulder. The hens take about 2 years to mature as well as the males. The older the male the bigger the tail and the older the hen the more eggs you get.
The are a little pricey. I paid 150.00 for the India blue pair, but they were a breeding pair and were local raised so already acclimated. The 2 year old black shoulder hen. I paid 75.00 for. Again the younger birds are cheaper. She was pen raised, but loves being free. We live on 100 wooded acres, so she goes everywhere. Mine always nested way away from all other animals in the woods. I never in 8 years found her nest. She would just show up with her peachicks. You truly only have about 3 days to catch them before they are fast as lightning and can even fly some. They are born with wing feathers. Fighting the hen for the babies is also a real challenge. I always had someone "guard" me while getting chicks.
Mine can be flat out mean to other animals. They have killed other chickens that were hurt and I have had to save my beagle puppies many times from being beat up. They are very friendly to me, but let a strange dog or cat come around and it's war! Their call I love. I think it sounds like tropical birds in a jungle. The male will call at night nothing major, but if he raises a ruckus. I know to get my gun and check it out. Great watch dogs. In my opinion they are prettier then any thing I have and it's like having exotic birds without cleaning their cages in the house. They also love my guineas. They all run in a gang. I am scared to death one day I will get one of those freaky looking guinea/peafowl hybrids. I have rambled enough. Can you tell I love my peafowl?? LOL
George
I love it when people love their peafowl! LOL.
George & jylgaskin,
Thanks for the feedback. I'm gonna try to get 2-3 of them next spring; India Blues.
Kelly in Moxee
Kelly in Moxee
You will love them(I hope!) This was my male in early spring. He has added about 3 more feet to tail.
George
How pretty... thank you all for the information. I think a few of us have learned a little more than the noise the peafowl make.
daylillydaddy, Thanks, I don't feel so bad about not being able to find Beep now. I only found the first one because I followed her. Your male is beautiful. My hen is a green, the green male I'm getting has a beginner tail and when he spread it was about 4 1/2 feet tall. is father is over six feet and it was an odd feeling standing there next to him and looking UP at the top of his tail.
I lucked out. I got my origionals for $15 each as chicks and my male is a trade for a thanksgiving turkey. (turkey, I got lots of!.
Daylillydaddy
Thanks for the added information. Every little bit is helpfull. Our city zoo says they may be culling their flock later this summer and will call me if they do. I am searching local feed store that stock a varriety of bird to inquire about ordering some. I'll even take eggs, I have access to an incubator, or one of my setting hens may do. What do you think?
Sonoita
If you can get eggs and have a hen thats the best route to go. I have used an incubator also for eggs I have bought off of egg.bid. I so wish I could have some of the peafowl that have the Java green in them. There are 2 types of peafowl the Java greens and India blues. The Java greens can't take our winters, but there are so many peafowl now that they have added some Java blood too that maybe I can get some green color in my peafowl in the future. The ones I want are the emerald spaldings. Check them out on line they are gorgeous. They have a mix of the blue and green blood and are supposed to be more hardy here, but unless I can buy local. I will have to wait.
George
How big are the eggs? I have a chicken hen that loves to set. I'll check out the link on the eggs. Thanks
Great news! The city zoo called and has a peahen with her chick they want to give me!!!!! They say the chick is close to flying, so I have opted out of the hen getting clipped to encourage her sticking around. I figure she needs to teach her chick survival skills, like flying. What do you think?
I also call a local feed store that happens to have 3-4 month old peachicks for $75/chick, no saying what sex they are. That's a lot of money for an unknown, and I'm concerned about introducing a strange chick to a hen & chick, just moved to a new home. I'd hate to have the hen kill the strange new chick vs. accept it. My momma chickens don't accept foreigners; I don't think peas would either. Any thoughts?
I wonder if you should have the mother clipped until she gets to know her new home? Or will you be able to keep her penned for a while?