Anyone here keep peafowl?

[Snowy Celandine]

I'm considering getting a pair of peafowl but have had conflicting advice regarding their potential destructiveness. One chap who breeds them told me that they are no trouble but another chap said that his wife mad him get rid of theirs because they were destroying the garden. I'm a keen gardener so I don't want to get them and regret it. Any advice please?

 

[Nudibranch]

OH used to keep them...but he used to have neighbours. They made him rehome them in the end as they were so noisy and went in the gardens in the village. He said they didn't bother the plants but the noise was horrendous (and it is).

 

[PorkChop]

My friend has kept and bred them for years.

She has the most beautiful garden and they don't bother with it.

They are extremely vocal and poo on everything from a height

My friend keeps trying to persuade me to have some but we don't have anywhere suitable for them to roost unfortunately.

 

[PorkChop]

Also meant to say that they are a bit precious, think of them as the sheep of the bird world - not quite as bad as turkey's, but nearly

 

[Snowy Celandine]

OH used to keep them...but he used to have neighbours. They made him rehome them in the end as they were so noisy and went in the gardens in the village. He said they didn't bother the plants but the noise was horrendous (and it is).

Given how many squawking ducks and noisy chickens I keep I think I must have a high tolerance for bird noise, ha ha. My parents' friends had peacocks when we were young and I think the cry is quite haunting. I really like it. In Madrid I used to take my lunch down to the park and sit with the peacocks every day and I'm sure they used to have a slightly different call, more Spanish somehow. I might have been imagining that though because my head was filled with Spanish verbs I was trying to learn most of the time I was sitting in the park

I don't have neighbours nearby so I think that part would be ok, hopefully.

 

[Snowy Celandine]

My friend has kept and bred them for years.

She has the most beautiful garden and they don't bother with it.

They are extremely vocal and poo on everything from a height

My friend keeps trying to persuade me to have some but we don't have anywhere suitable for them to roost unfortunately.

It's so difficult to decide LJR because some people say they eat all your plants and others say they have no trouble. Maybe they are like Sebastapol and have different characters? The man from whom I buy my ducks knows my house well and he keeps trying to persuade me to get peacocks because he says I've got ideal conditions for them. I have got a lot of mature trees with branches where they could roost it's true but maybe he's just trying to sell peacocks?!!!

Hm, not sure I should be buying birds with a death wish. I honestly don't know what to do. Will have to ponder some more.

 

[PorkChop]

It's so difficult to decide LJR because some people say they eat all your plants and others say they have no trouble. Maybe they are like Sebastapol and have different characters? The man from whom I buy my ducks knows my house well and he keeps trying to persuade me to get peacocks because he says I've got ideal conditions for them. I have got a lot of mature trees with branches where they could roost it's true but maybe he's just trying to sell peacocks?!!!

Hm, not sure I should be buying birds with a death wish. I honestly don't know what to do. Will have to ponder some more.

They are gorgeous, so I understand why you are tempted

We have huge mature trees however most of them are bare in the middle of winter! I suppose it depends where you are in the country.

There is nothing quite as spectacular as a peacock showing off his plume

 

[Hoof_Prints]

We had a peacock, he is no problem and causes no damage to the garden etc. He just walks around with the chickens and is placid, however, we bought a peahen and she was a nightmare. We did everything by the book, kept her in for weeks and slowly introduced her outside.. she jumped on and scratched all the cars up, then one day just decided to fly off ... we had her wings clipped but I was not too upset to see her disappear into the distance after my new car got scratched. Completely brainless animals but the peacock is gorgeous, very noisy at times though !