Peacocks - anyone have them?

[MrsElle]

If (when !) we move to the house we are looking at at the moment we are considering getting a couple of peacocks.

Don't know too much about them though, does anyone here have any?

 

[samxmckeek]

Theres a few baby ones were i work. I personally don't no a lot about them but havee been told they get quite noisy when they get older and you need to get there wings clipped else they will fly away a few of ours have been flying over the fence but we manage to get them back in there stil not old enough to have there wings clipped though. Oh and there fast very fast lol!

 

[HumBugsey]

I used to look after some for a friend. They were pretty self sufficient though. Some stayed close, others roamed a little more. They were fed peanuts once a day and sometimes a bit of coarse mix and lived out 24/7/365. Watch out for them attacking clean cars (reflections) so it's a good reason for not cleaning it! lol

 

[artypants]

We have peacocks, they are very noisy indeed bless them! luckily ours roost miles away from the house so not too much of a problem, if you plan to breed from them the females are very clumsy with newly hatched chicks, we usually remove the eggs and hatch in an incubator, the hens trample the poor things to death most of the time.
having said that they are gorgeous and visitors are always enthralled by the males! if you can stand the noise at night go for it you get used to it eventually honest!!

 

[Dubsie]

The RS half a mile from us has them, I will warn you that they're very noisy in spring. Chickens are better.

 

[ibot]

there are some in the house next to the yard and they are always around the paddocks. i was riding paddy the other day and one ran across the arena making a racket and paddy did not bat an eye lid.

 

[alfirules]

There were loads on a riding school farm where i worked, They are pretty to look at, and they don't seem like much bother, BUT they are Bl**dy noisy!

 

[Echo Bravo]

had a stray peacock turn up last year, he lived across the field and he use to come and try and chat my hens up use to drive my cockerial mad. the horses didn't mind too much until I tried to walk them past him when he was sat on the fence and started to display his tail feathers and they use to try and take off with me, so I had a chat with his owners about roast peacock being a delicacy.

 

[competitiondiva]

I personally love the sound of them, but then I don't live with them!!! A stud locally used to have them, the place is very impressive and I think they added to the setting as a picture!! They do fly like pigeons so defo get their wings clipped unless you want to be losing them all the time! The ones at the stud used to roost in the eves of the stable barns, the horses were very used to them!

 

[Jane_Lou]

One of my neighbours had them - they drove the whole village demented as they roamed the whole (tiny) village and were so noisy - the male also had the habit of displaying in the middle of the road and refusing to move. One day they just vanished never to return

very odd

 

[Ravenwood]

There were peacocks where I used to keep the horses - bloomin' things! Yes they are noisy but very entertaining especially when the cock is displaying to the hens (or anyone he meets actually!). They shed their tail feathers and the children used to love collecting them.

The Hens are useless mothers, I made up a pen for one hen when she was nesting to try and give the chicks a chance but only one survived at each hatch I think. There were two males and one got booted off the premises by the other and lived in the car park up the road for ages! We had white ones too but they weren't very spectacular - much prefer the original ones.

Used to frighten the life out of the horses when they suddenly jumped out of a hedge in front of us even though they lived with them!

If you are going to get peacocks - go in with your eyes wide open

 

[kirstyhen]

Can't stand the ruddy things!!

At my old yard the neighbours ones used to regularly invade the horses fields, causing absolute carnage! 5 extremely wound up horse galloping around like headless chickens!

The make a bloomin' racket too

They are very pretty when the display though, but personally I would never have one!

They are supposed to taste good though

 

[PucciNPoni]

I used to work for a vet that bred them - and then my sister brought some home to our farm where we kept not only horses, but llamas, fancy chickens, exotic breeds of cats and all sorts (even later she got some ostrich). Anyway, they were entertaining indeed, a bit of a pain in the backside if they became territorial. The horses and other stock became rather used to them, but they were never what I'd consider dangerous.

However, fabby eggs from the hens.

Lovely color to the yolks. I used to love collecting feathers as well. I would rather listen to peacocks than roosters though. The first time I looked after her farm after she'd got the peacocks tho - I spent ages the first morning looking for a "cat" that sounded trapped - I even looked in the tumble dryer!

 

[camilla4]

[ QUOTE ]
Can't stand the ruddy things!! The make a bloomin' racket too

They are supposed to taste good though

[/ QUOTE ]

Both very, very true Henmeister, but I'm afraid you're not actually allowed to kill them - and believe me you will sometimes want to when they are shouting the odds waaaaay before you had intended waking up!!

 

[PucciNPoni]

why aren't you allowed to kill them?