My first ever try at incubating peafowl eggs! I have 2 living, breathing, cheeping peachicks!
I have peachicks!
It is hard to tell from this picture but they look like Pieds.
Mom is silver, daddy is blue.
Congratulations!
By Silver, you mean Silver Pied?
Adult Silver Pied cock.
Oh! You are so lucky! And you hatched them yourself!
I badly want peafowl...time to move.
Oh they are lovely!
Day 2 picture
Wow, those are really cute. Congrats!
those are cute chicks, beautiful adult Kenboy showed us. I know this sounds kinda corny but what good are peafowl? Do they really serve any use besides being beautiful? Alway wondered? Hay. Hey Jesaree. It
would really be alright to let the camera share you with your babies. We are not opposed to seeing some of the good folks we visit with.
Hey Kenboy I have always enjoyed the pic's of your birds, share more and more often. Hay
In my limited experience, peacocks are as good as guinaes in the sentinel department and a lot better looking.
Peacocks love snakes, then again, so do I. In India they have peafowl for the Thanksgiving and consider them quiet tasty. The government has advised against it because in areas where the numbers are low, the cobras are high. I have been into peafowl for 25 years and every time I go to a family reunion, someone asks what are they good for. I tell them nothing, so then they ask, why do you raise them, and I say BECAUSE I LIKE THEM. It sure isn't because I make any money off of them. Maggi is always happy when I can make enough to pay the feed bill.
I have heard lots of people say they are good watchdogs but I prefer Dobermans for that. Yes they do sound off when someone comes up but they also sound off if a loud truck goes down the road or if the moon is shining, etc.........
jessaree, they are Pieds but not Silver Pieds and may still carry the gene, 50% chance.
OK Haystack, this is a young Pied cock that has a lot of Java blood that I sent a friend a few years ago. I need to ask him to send me some updated pictures.
Jessaree, that is a very cool achievement! Best of luck to you and your two new babies!
Haystack, I've had my peacock for about seven months now (Thank You Very Much kenboy!!!). He lives with my pullets and one rooster and so far has shown them how to eat blueberries, various melons, and anything else they might like to eat but won't because they've never seen it before. Mr Chicken (peacock's name) has also shown them how to run under the coop when they see a hawk shadow. They are all in a covered chicken run, but I think its good that they're not tempting fate. And he doesn't like to hear coyotes. He doesn't inter-act much with the chickens, he just watches out for them in a casual sort of way. I don't know if all peacocks are that way, but several old timers around my neighborhood have told me that their grandparents kept peafowl in with the chickens. Anyway, Mr Chicken caught a mouse for me the other day so I'm good with just that. He is also kind of funny and seems to go out of his way to try and make me laugh. He's not a pet, just part of the family. They're not for everyone but he suits us just fine =).
I would post a recent photo but my usual laptop screen fried and I haven't got the new, fully reloaded, laptop from our IT guy yet. I think my peacock is a mutt but kenboy might remember. I think he's awfully pretty, though.
Good guards, are they? Because I think I've found my farm, and I would certainly like to consider peafowl for guarding purposes. (I don't expect them to take down a bear.) If I just got one peacock (NOT ready to breed anything any time soon) would it get horribly lonely? Or would the chickens be company enough? Do they get... ahem... randy if there is not a peahen around?
So far mine hasn't ahemed. He did call in the spring and seemed to be lonely until we got our little pullets in May. Now he seems to be quite content. He shows not particullar interest in the rooster as opposed to the hens. He just seems to casually like their company. Others may have more experience as I've only had mine since Feb. We were kind of worried about him being lonely but now don't plan on getting him any peahens as he seems to be happy the way things are. We really just like having one pretty peacock.
I don't let mine out of the chicken run (fairly large area) as I understand they do fly away. He seems to be happy with that. I wouldn't say he exactly guards the chickens. Just kind of looks out for them. Sort of like a big brother who's too rock star cool to be actually involved with his little sisters. But he wouldn't like to see anything bad happen to them so he steps in if he thinks he needs to. Without anthropomorphising (Is that really a word?!? If so, did I spell it right?) him too much, that is just my take on it.
Hope that helps.
Peafowl can hear each other for over 10 miles so if someone gets hens within that distance, he may go and pay her a visit. Terri, your cock is what is called a Dark Pied. He carries two Pied genes, a true Pied only carries one and one White gene. He is a Purple and he caries one Pied gene and one Silver Pied gene. He is 1/2 Java so he is a Hyb. If he was bred to a White hen, he would throw Pieds and Silver Pieds, with all the hens being Purple and all the cocks being split to Purple. Purple is a sex-link gene.
Well, thank you very much, kenboy. I think I'm going to have to print that out and put it in a saver sleeve in my garden notebook! Whatever he is he seems to be very happy in his home and we appreciate him very much! He's awfully pretty but doesn't brag about it or anything ;`).
Jessaree, your original photo shows other eggs. Will there be any new brothers or sisters for your two little bundles of joy?
Not yet...
Jessaree Where Did you get your Eggs? Paul
From her peafowl.
Grin :). Okay, let me phrase it differently. Where would be the best place to purchase Peacock eggs if I can't find them locally? Could my Silkies or Cochins hatch them, or should I use an incubator? I'd love to have some, but they awfully expensive to buy. My neighbor has a "pair", but to me, they look like two males, one India Blue and one Black Shouldered (my apologies if the names are wrong, I'm going from a senior memory [g]. He insists they were so to him as a pair. I guess time will tell....
I was lucky enough that my girls were happy & laid some for me. I got most of my peas in Bul Verde, TX, 4 more here locally.