Instead of grabbing feathers as I would have done, he enlisted his uncle’s help and put eggs in our incubator. My oldest son wants peacock feathers for his homemade fishing flies.
Second tryįast forward eight years when I got word of a new peacock experiment happening in my neck of the woods.
We found them a new home, and I was officially done collecting peacock paraphernalia. I had to clean and spray down the porch daily. Little fecal Hershey kisses were everywhere on our porch. The birds are beautiful, but their guano is not. They started perching on the rails of the porch and the roof of the house instead of in the trees.
Instead of frolicking among the trees, they hung out on the porch near the cat food. That was when I realized my plan of forest birds wasn’t going to happen. The peacock experiment was operating smoothly until they discovered the cat food on our front porch. It even seemed fine when we transferred them outside and let them roam around. They looked like tiny Roman centurions marching around in the cardboard box. Most prominent were the corona feathers which created tiny little crowns on their heads. They already had a fair amount of their feathers. When the peachicks hatched in the incubator, we instantly fell in love. They would be like hummingbirds but on a larger scale, unexpected beauty darting in and out of the woods. I pictured the peacocks in our woods like the one we saw in Tennessee. I figured, why not add another species to our list? We already had chickens, ducks, turkey, and at one point guinea fowl. I became convinced that we should raise peacocks. I loved to see them thriving in our wacky Ohio climate. We have relatives nearby that have peacocks on their property. A couple of pins, a necklace and a few photos later and I was well on my way to having a quirky obsession. Some people inaccurately believe that peafowl mate when a peahen drinks the tears of a peacock.Īfter my surprise encounter in Tennessee, I inadvertently started to collect items related to peacocks. The tail feathers are shed after each mating season.
#PEACOCKS POULTRY FARM FULL#
They do not develop their full train of feathers until three years of age. This species is smaller and resembles a pheasant.Īfter six months, peacock feathers begin to change color, distinguishing them apart from peahens. Recently discovered, another species called the Congo peafowl can be found in Africa. Green peafowl can be found on the island of Java in Southeast Asia. The peacock I saw on the trail was an Indian peacock, known for its iridescent blue and green plumage. There are three known species of peafowl. Collectively, they are peafowl and a member of the pheasant family. I wanted to believe it was a natural phenomenon, but I knew it was most likely a descendant of a domesticated peacock that either escaped or was liberated from a local farm.Ī peacock is actually a male, while a female is called a peahen. Yet, there it was, adorning the trail like it was the king of the forest. Rationally, I knew that peacocks were not native to North America, let alone Tennessee. The most striking feature, of course, was the 5 foot tail of feathers. Its iridescent feathers shimmered in the sunlight. After we crested a small hill, a spectacular peacock casually stepped out of a group of saplings and walked across the trail. One particular trail hike stands out due to an unexpected wildlife encounter. We hiked many trails on that trip and made many memories. The quiet, solitude of two parents on the trail proved to be more suitable for wildlife viewing than trekking with four chattering children.įrom the front porch, we could see the ridge of the majestic Smoky Mountains in the distance. Without children, we woke up early and spent our days hiking and biking. We rented a small cabin just outside of Smoky Mountain National Park. Many years ago, my husband and I went on an anniversary trip to Tennessee.