Latest batch of peacocks hatching

[John K Jordan]

This is the first hatchling of the 10 peafowl eggs I put in the incubator on May 1, a couple of hours out of the shell.

411338

A second one has hatched a little while ago and most of the rest are pipping and wobbling in the hatcher.

Those that hatched a couple of weeks ago are growing like crazy and are already developing tiny crest feathers. They can fly 3-4 days after hatching.

JKJ

[Frederick Skelly]

Cute little bugger John! Didnt know they can fly so quickly.

[Jamie Buxton]

A neighbor had a peacock which roamed the neighborhood. It was pretty, but quite annoying. The thing was really really loud, and it left droppings the size of a dog's everyplace.

[Jim Koepke]

A neighbor had a peacock which roamed the neighborhood. It was pretty, but quite annoying. The thing was really really loud, and it left droppings the size of a dog's everyplace.

It is kind of like free fertilizer when it is in your own garden. Though during my days in California keepping muscovy ducks my neighbors didn't see it that way. One neighbor did have me bring them over to eat the snails off of his onions.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

Cute little bugger John! Didnt know they can fly so quickly.

I can't believe how quick the wing feathers grow. The chicks are hatched with the feather shaft intact but only what looks like a tiny hair on the end. Just for fun I've been tracking the growth on a couple. Within two hours the soft feathers on the ends of the quill are around 3mm long. A few hours later I measured 5mm, then 11, then 19mm at seven hours. On those that are a couple of weeks old thesse wing feathers look between two and three inches long. That's would make an interesting time-lapse video!

The birds are very loud, especially during mating season. I asked my closest neighbor and he said he liked hearing them - made him imagine he was living in the jungle! Guineas are vocal too. I told the neighbors if the guineas got annoying to let me know if they really do taste like chicken. The neighbors said the like to see the guineas roaming around, especially after they found out they eat ticks.

I have a friend that has lost three females and two males so far to predators and wandering off. I keep mine in enclosures except for letting one or two females out at a time out to roam and eat grass and bugs for a couple of hours, then herd them back inside. This way they almost always stay around the barn. (I compost llama manure for fertilizer - every year I till 15-25 tractor bucketfulls into the garden soil. The neighbors who plant gardens and flowers love a bucket or two each spring.)

JKJ

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Apparently we had a neighbor down the road raising them many years ago and let some loose. We discovered this fact one evening when we heard strange sounds on our roof, followed by mating calls. It was rather fun watching momma walking past our house followed by a bunch of babies, and watch them grow each day. Sadly, there were fewer and fewer babies walking by each day. Couldn't help but feel sorry for momma.

[John K Jordan]

.... It was rather fun watching momma walking past our house followed by a bunch of babies, and watch them grow each day. Sadly, there were fewer and fewer babies walking by each day. Couldn't help but feel sorry for momma.

Usually the eggs don't make it to hatching (28 days in the bush), the reason I bought incubators. If a hen gets broody I'll let her sit on eggs in a nesting box in the peacock house. There is one sitting on 5 eggs now which are due to hatch the middle of next week.

Last year I had a guinea sitting on a nest of 12 eggs in the garden with a fence around it. Eight hatched and followed mama around - in fact all the females in the flock came and sat around her when the eggs started to hatch and they took turns watching the young. But still the chicks were all gone the next day - cats, dogs, skunks, hawks, don't know.

The year before I found another guinea sitting on a nest and snatched them up the day they hatched and put them in a brooder under a heat lamp. I couldn't catch two and they followed mama and her two handmaidens around for a few days and then they were gone. Incubating and raising them indoors is not nature's way but it lets most of them survive.

JKJ

[julian abram]

John, I was curious if you raise these for fun or profit? Didn't know if there might be some commercial market for them. I spent 20+ years managing commercial broiler hatcheries. When I left the business my facility was hatching 1.5 million/ week, I've seen a lot of eggs incubate over the years. I don't eat eggs anymore.:)

[John K Jordan]

John, I was curious if you raise these for fun or profit? Didn't know if there might be some commercial market for them. I spent 20+ years managing commercial broiler hatcheries. When I left the business my facility was hatching 1.5 million/ week, I've seen a lot of eggs incubate over the years. I don't eat eggs anymore.:)

I have had them for fun - I love to watch them and show them to kids and other farm visitors. Mine are all Indian Blues.

411399

I don't know the extent of the market, but so far I've had no problems selling those my peahens have hatched. My goal with the incubators is to raise and sell some to help offset general feed costs. (I also have llamas, alpacas, mini donkeys, horses, chickens, turkey, guineas, and honeybees.) We also sell chicken eggs and honey.

A place near here sells a male/female peafowl pair for $250 and some breeders elsewhere price them higher; some exotic variations are priced at $500-$1000 each. Since I've kept peacocks I've lost over 100 eggs and some chicks to predators and other problems, such as the big black snake that scared two hens sitting on 30 eggs, and the skunk that killed and ate a young peahen. With the incubators and brooders safely inside the back of my shop I'm hoping to eliminate those problems! I certainly am not interested in making it into a career - I've been retired since 2006 and don't want or need another full-time job!

This is my first season incubating. My initial test run with the incubator and hatcher resulted in 40 chickens from 44 eggs - I sold some but still have 20 spares if you decide you want some. :) I've hatched a bunch of guinea fowl and gave most to a friend to sell. (I have another 24 guinea eggs in the incubator now) Some friends and I would also like to try introducing bobwhite quail to our properties.

I've known others who worked in commercial chicken and egg production and none of them want anything to do with chickens today!

JKJ

[julian abram]

Interesting and fun hobby for sure, they are beautiful birds.

[Patrick Walsh]

Lucky man...

Yet another reason I want to move out of suburbia and to the country.

I always wanted a peacock. And a mini donkey, and rooster and cow and a horse and room for my dogs to be dogs. And a greenhouse, and a 5k sq ft shop.

A old client used to keep these beautiful birds rainbow colored. I think they may have been the other bird you mention keeping?

At this point I bet I’d end up with a farm animal sanctuary..

[John K Jordan]

...At this point I bet I’d end up with a farm animal sanctuary..

That's easy to do! My dogs are strays or rescues and some of my llamas are too. I help out with the South East Llama Rescue organization for abandoned and abused animals and often keep some here for a while until they are treated by the vet and foster homes found. It is great to have the space and facilities for that!

The guineas are mostly drab grey, with occasional variations.

411404

Mini donkeys are so gentle and sweet, missing the attitudes some of the full-sized donkeys have.

411405

People usually come to see the llamas - very gentle, curious. I can give a 2-year-old kid a lead rope and she can walk a 350 lb llama around. This little girl is walking our young alpaca Dria. The other picture is a few minutes after the alpaca was born - her mother is a rescue and it was a complete surprise when the baby showed up one afternoon!

411406 411410

And I have "Wee Bee Suits" so even small kids can "help out" and see exactly what's in a bee hive.

411408 411409

All this is plenty of work but it's Good Clean Fun! (And it keeps me off the streets at night. :))

JKJ

[roger wiegand]

So much for peace and quiet in the countryside :D

[Patrick Walsh]

Man what a dream...

It’s funny how things change. Here I am nearing the end of a $100k exterior home renovation I began three years ago. At the time it was my dream to have a house all be it much smaller as nice as those I was building for a living. I also built a dream garden or mini arboretum.

Funny how things change as now all I want is space for farm animals. A proper shop, the ‘Tally Ho” thread has me convinced and determined to build a 50’ plus foot wooden sail boat. And to never see a neighbor again unless I want to.

I imagine the animals are expensive to keep and require a ton of work. I have had two dogs for over ten years now, well one passed last fall. But I never once left them alone without myself or my mother. This has meant neither of us have taken a vacation in over ten years. What do you do when you want to get away?

[John K Jordan]

I have a couple of friends that have animal knowledge who watch things. When we are in Europe for a couple of weeks or on a family trip one young fellow (a 17 year old sheep farmer!) comes twice a day and checks food, water, fencing, and animal health. He has worked here twice a week for a couple of years so he knows all the animals. Besides the farm animals we have both outside and inside cats and two dogs he feeds. For the dogs I fenced a 1/4 to 1/2 acre with 6' chain link and have a wooden platform with rain roof and dog house so the dogs have room to move when we are not there. The key is knowing someone you can trust!

JKJ


... I have had two dogs for over ten years now, well one passed last fall. But I never once left them alone without myself or my mother. This has meant neither of us have taken a vacation in over ten years. What do you do when you want to get away?

[Brian Tymchak]

I also have llamas, alpacas, mini donkeys, horses, chickens, turkey, guineas, and honeybees.
JKJ

..You aren't by chance building an arc in the backyard are you??.. ;)

[John K Jordan]

..You aren't by chance building an arc in the backyard are you??.. ;)

No, but if I found a few extra $1000 bills in my wallet I might consider getting a camel. And some more for another one to keep it company. Oh, and another $10K to build a camel barn. And then there would be the camel-rated fencing upgrades...

[Tom Bender]

I'm guessing horse fence is not camel rated

[John K Jordan]

I'm guessing horse fence is not camel rated

My horse fencing probably wouldn't even hold a cow! I use electrified tape and rope, the top strand a little almost 5' above the ground (to keep my jumper in). Since one horse is blind, I use white tape in case he is able to distinguish light and dark.

411746 411747 411748

From my brief reading, it appears that fences for camels are often 6' or taller, electrified, and sometimes strung with empty aluminum cans along the top to keep keep the camel's attention.

JKJ