Horses and Peacocks...???

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MooreAcres

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Three days ago we had 2 peacocks make an appearence on our property (at my house, away from the horses), one male and one female.

Yesterday the male returned and spend the entire day up at my grandmothers, where the horses are. He doesn't seem to bother them much, just wanders around the place. I guess he got in with my stallion for a short period of time yesterday morning. Chip chased him around a bit and the bird flew back out of the field.

We my grandmother turned the horses out this morning, the peacock was in Chips field again. She put Chip in with him anyways, thinking Chip wouldn't scare the bird off again. WELL! The bird has been in there all day with Chip. Chip eats at one end, while the bird roams around the other end. They get close every once in awhile, but don't seem frightened of each other. With my luck they're probably best friends and I'll never be able to get the bird to leave.

Anyways, I wanted to find out about peacocks. I don't really want it around the place, but I don't know how to get rid of it. Any ideas, that don't involve hurting the animal? What should I do?

Thanks, Erin
 
We had 3 Peacocks at the boarding stable where I helped out at, while living in AZ. The owner owned a flower shop so when the Peacocks lost one or more of the wonderful tail feathers they would use them in Flower arrangements..The birds did not cause any problem there of course ewe also had over 200 chickens wonder around picking through the horse poo and keeping the fly population down. Peacocks wonderful birds and what a beautiful bird when they spread those big tail feathers...
 
About peafowl: They originated in India. The females are called peahens, the males peacocks, and the babies peachicks. They are a slow-growing bird; the males can take 5 years or more to reach full growth of the feathers. I've had birds that had feathers nearly 5' long. They are a long-ranging bird too, and can inhabit a territory nearly 5 miles in diameter. If there is nothing else around, they will stick by a place that has food and a safe place to roost for the night. They prefer to roost very high and like the tops of tall trees during the night, but in the day they spend a lot of time on the ground looking for food. In India, some sects consider them sacred and they are encouraged to stay in the area by putting out food.

As far as getting rid of them, you could try and find out who they belong to and see if that person will keep them in an aviary. That is what I do with mine. It is the best way I know of to keep them where you want them. Without an aviary, they can wander very far, up to 5 miles as I said. Not being the brightest things in the world, they often wander to a bad place (for the bird) and many is the tale I have been told of a peafowl getting shot for wandering into the wrong place. That is why I keep mine in an aviary.......

If the birds decide your place is a good place to live, I don't know how you would get rid of them other than shooting them OR trapping them and giving them to someone. They are hard to trap!!! Maybe lure them into a stall and shut the door?? If you get close enough to grab one (unlikely) hang on for dear life and try and keep the wings under control. They can really whap you with those wings, and they are amazingly strong. Once you get them under control, put a sock on their head. This will keep them pretty quiet, and make it easier to carry them to the cage or whatever you are going to put them in.

Or you could just decide that you are "blessed by the gods" and set out food for them. I love having mine around, but mine are not loose!
 
Don't be surprised if you hear children screaming -- that's what peacocks sound like when they call! Numerous times I would back my truck out of the drive way and slam on the brakes because it sounded just like a kid screaming!

They are beautiful and we enjoyed having them.
 
We had a blue shoulder male bird. He was raised from birth here (incubated egg). He was just fine until he was three years old and then decided to go visit the neighbors. They had lovely flower gardens and the bird used to strut around their gardens really looking pretty. So to keep him home we got him a lady friend. That worked good for about three weeks the he went back taking the female with him. So I went down and brought them home again (glad they were friendly). Then we tried caging up the female. that worked good for a few weeks the back he went. Down to the neighbors during the midday and back home at night. We ended up taking them to a sale because we did not like imposing on the neighbors.
 
Here is Solomon!

We have had him since he was a baby and he is now about 5 years old. Solomon has the run of our place, he stays right here with the minis. When they go out in the upper pasture he goes with them.

He is an excellent watch dog and screeches whenever strangers come. We have never penned him up, he is also very tame and will come when I call him.

When he loses his feathers the flower shops are anxious to buy them.

Solomon.jpg
 
justaboutgeese said:
We had a blue shoulder male bird.  He was raised from birth here (incubated egg).  He was just fine until he was three years old and then decided to go visit the neighbors.  They had lovely flower gardens and the bird used to strut around their gardens really looking pretty.  So to keep him home we got him a lady friend.  That worked good for about three weeks the he went back taking the female with him.  So I went down and brought them home again (glad they were friendly).  Then we tried caging up the female.  that worked good for a few weeks the back he went.  Down to the neighbors during the midday and back home at night.  We ended up taking them to a sale because we did not like imposing on the neighbors.
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I just got there 4 month old peachicks , one peacock and two peahens. What do youfeed yours to keep their color so vibrant?

I have to keep mine pinned up for 8 weeks until they realize this is home.

BJ
 
We had a peacock show up at our place three weeks ago and he gets along fine with the horses, cats and dog. So as long as things goes well he can stay. I feed him corn chops and he gives me those lovely feathers.

I've been thinking of looking for a peahen for him but I don't know of anyone that has any. Do any of you live near Oklahoma and have a girlfriend that I can get for "Big Bird"?
wub.gif
 
If the female doesnt stay with him, then he will eventually leave to find girls. That is if you are sure you have one of each. Wish I lived closer, would come get them for our place. I love them, and think they sound so neat. We had 3 of them leave but right now we still have the male, 3 females and 6 chicks.
 
wub.gif
I love Solomon, Donna!

Dibbs on the old boy if you ever need to part with him...he'll have the run of the place here, too!

Cindy
 
I figured I'd mention that since Solomon's technically "my" bird, you should know that despite being a beautiful bird, it really brings questions from people. I am always having people ask how Solomon is doing, when can they get feathers from him, and more. It's like having your own little extra "exhibit" on the farm that eats all the ticks and other bugs he can find as well!
 
It just happens that I raise peacocks along with my mini horses. They get along very well together. The peas do tend to wander, however, and I would recommend keeping them penned up until there aren't any bugs around. Peacocks need high protien diets or they get kinked necks. I would recommend a game bird chow or a turkey starter crumble, something with at least 20% protien. I would try to get them to stay in an area like a shed or barn with rafters for them to roost in. Once they get used to it, they will continue to roost there. If you have only peacocks (no peahens) they will frequently wander off in the spring looking for love. If you have a pair (or more) they will usually stay put. For those of you trying to get rid of them, try to figure out where they are roosting. After dark you creep up on them and blast them in the face with a flashlight. They freeze, you grab, and off you go! I grab their legs first and then immediatly get an arm around their body to keep the wings under control so they don't hurt themselves. They are great at eating bugs out of the yard, but they can damage flower gardens too! Just like any pet, you ust have to decide what you are willing to tolerate. They really are good at giving a warning cry when something is amiss. I have learned to always trust them on this. Good luck! L
 
One other point is that pea fowl are very dominate birds. They tend to drive other birds away. Before we had the pea fowl we would have pheasants who made it through the hunts show up back at the pens where we could recapture them. The only thing around with the pea fowl were the wild turkeys that just plain never left.
 
Erin,

If it's possible to catch him (or both of them) and if they would stay, they would be welcome over here!
 
My dad has peafowl around the corner here on the farm. Most stay in pens he built for them but he keeps one India Blue male loose all summer. He wanders the yard, the garden , checks out the barn and garage, and once in a while crosses the road to the neighbors. He spends a good part of the day in the barnyard with the heifers. I think he is now 12+ years old. They are awesome watchdogs. they will holler when anything is wrong. If a gate bangs the will holler.

The minis do not get over to that part of the farm except when on a long walk but they never seem to pay attention when they see him walking around.

Mark
 

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