Hi, I’m sure you must get this question a lot but can you speak about peafowl as pets? I have a private, mostly secluded 5 acre farm with horses and chickens and I’m seriously considering adding peafowl into the mix.
I have indeed gotten this question a lot! I went through and grabbed what I could find from my blog. I’m sure there are ones I missed or things I could have added, but it should cover almost everything you could possibly want to know about peafowl. If you read through it all and still have specific questions, feel free to come ask, or drop me a PM!
General care article I wrote
Things you should know up front
Things you should REALLY know up front
no really, noise level (vocalizations)
The babies sleep like they’re dead and it’s terrifying
References (young pen construction)
References (Young pen finished)
Original pen construction
Original pen construction II
Original pen construction III
Original pen construction IV
Original pen construction V
Cold weather/emergency housing
Inside barn housing + babies
Outdoor pens need LESS cleaning, but still need scraped for waste and to have the feathers raked out after molting
Heated perches and radiant heaters
Peahens and babies also raise trains
Please give babies a stuffed animal
Can you eat their eggs? Yes.
More notes (graphic pictures)
Please stop putting peafowl on leashes
Get yourself a perch scraper
How children should hold baby birds
Even experienced handlers get injuries
Note that these were acquired while handling all the birds for NPIP certification testing to check for salmonella pullorum
You will have to deal with this at some point
And they won’t be nice about it
Masterpost of peafowl genetics (slightly outdated)
Further notes on inbreeding
Information about Leucism vs Albinism + Pied
Conformation notes for purple peafowl
Squat conformation health notes
Pattern comparison (angel wing pied)
Incubator vs Hen hatching
Cabinet incubators are best
Laying behavior to look for
Medical information on Stan and Artemis
Splayed legs (and curled toes) are often a result of a lack of vitamin E in the parent birds.
Panting/overheating behavior
My advice before acquiring peafowl is to locate a veterinarian that will see them if something goes wrong and assess whether they seem to know what they’re doing (a good vet that does not know much about peafowl will admit this to you up front). I would also ask if they’re willing to take consult from other vets, because a vet unwilling to talk to other vets for consult is a vet you do not want to see.
Masterpost of color photos
Purple blackshoulder pied peacock
Purple blackshoulder pied hen vs cock
Cameo blackshoulder white-eye
White peacock (tail visible)
Bronze, Peach, Montana, and Taupe
Taupe is a mixed-color bird; genetically it is both purple and opal at the same time.
Peach is a mixed-color bird; genetically it is both purple and cameo at the same time.
Montana is new and can have severe health problems.
Blue vs purple train feathers
Peafowl diapers information
picture of diaper off bird
Immediately after hatching
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