By Pat Lawrence
One of the beautiful peacocks at Marlow’s Fisheries flaunts
its grand display. |
People have been admiring peacocks and their exquisite plumage since
the Phoenicians sailed the seas. They were popular with early Romans,
medieval princes, and Victorian ladies. Originally found in India,
Burma, Java. Ceylon, Malaya and Congo, they can be found as close
as Little Hocking, Ohio. Vonda Marlow, of Marlow’s has been
successfully breeding them for years. She says “They are the
easiest birds to raise. One thing to be careful about is to give them
good shelters in the autumn and winter or anytime before they are
a year old.”
Although peacocks are a wild bird by nature, they are sociable and
have been successfully domesticated for centuries. Vonda says they
are hearty and easy to keep, and do not stray from home if they are
well fed and have adequate shelter and roosting space.. She keeps
hers in pairs, because, “if the male doesn’t have a female,
he might wander!” They are rarely sick and have a lifespan of
40-50 years.
Peacocks like peace and harmony, are able to survive Mid Ohio Valley
winters and summers, and handle the stress of daily activities best
when they have plenty of room.
Peacocks (Pavo cristatus) are members of the pheasant family. The
word peacock actually refers to the male bird, females are peahens,
and the young are peachicks. Together, they are called peafowl and
a group of them is a bevy. Vonda says most people choose peacocks
for their beauty, but one practical reason to keep them is that “they
eat bugs and snakes from the garden, but they don’t scratch
like chickens.”
In addition to walking around room, peacocks should have a shelter
or pen. Their pen needs to allow for a six foot wing span and a seven
foot tail span with room for them to turn around. “And, they
need to have a place to roost that is off the ground.” In the
winter, they need protection from wind and snow, ample straw or other
safe material for their bedding, along with food and water.
The females are kept in their cage while nesting on their eggs because
they will not leave the eggs, even if there is danger, like a marauding
raccoon. A mother peacock will sacrifice herself before she will leave
her eggs.
Peafowl are not finicky in what they eat. They like shelled corn,
cracked corn, oats, rabbit pellets, dog food, trout chow, sunflower
seed, grass, dandelions, insects, and table scraps. Vonda says hers
like cooked ramen noodles. “If they need medicine, I make up
some noodles and give it to them in the noodles.”
Vonda has 14 peacocks, 6 are females. The females lay 6-9 eggs at
a time. If the eggs are removed, the female will lay another batch.
If the eggs aren’t taken away, the female will not lay any more
eggs that year.
Once eggs are hatched, Vonda keeps them for a couple of months before
letting them go to their new owners. She sells them in pairs, male
and female. “I can tell their sex after a couple of weeks.”
The males have the long pretty tails, which they lose and grow back
every year.
Peafowl come in a wide variety of colors including blue, green.,
white. light brown. and purple.. The India blue and the green peafowl
are the most common colors, but whites, which were first imported
to the US in 1927, are rising in popularity.
The Indian Blue Peacock has produced several mutations, like the
Black-shouldered, when the male has blue, green and black wings and
the female is very pale; the White; and the Pied, which has the normal
plumage of the Indian Blue irregularly marked with white. Vonda keeps
breeding pairs in these as well as the whites.
Vonda got her start with peacocks when she went to buy a feather
for a decoration. “I decided I could buy the whole peacock for
not much more than the feather. And, I was right!” She has grown
to love them as affectionate pets, helpful gardeners and beautiful
embellishments to her landscaped grounds.
There is a waiting list for her eggs, but Vonda tries to raise peacocks
for as many people as she can each year. She says all that is necessary
for peacocks to know where they belong is “Keep them penned
for a couple of weeks after they arrive, make sure they are well fed
and they will stay with you for life.”
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