keeping free range peafowl

[princessparrot]

hey,

im thinking of getting a peacock or two for my new 7acre block, but im abit worried that they will go missing, so i have a few questions.

how do i make sure they stay at home?
how do i protect them from predators?
how high can they fly, even with their wings clipped?
ect...
any help would be good

also, do white ones require any special care or protection?

thanks

[avinet]

I know nothing from personal experience from about keeping them - but I do know they can fly and quite well - A friend a few years ago had some on a large block and they would regularly go missing to come back after a few days. They can be quite noisy - and when they did go missing he usually found out where they were by the complaints coming in

A couple of Youtube clips at



Danny Brown's book, A Guide to Pheasants & Waterfowl (Australian Birdkeeper) notes that they tend to stay in their home area unless dogs, cats foxes etc scare them away. He also notes that they love to forage - and effectively are a very destructive chicken that is death to any vegetable or flower patch. Over night they will fly up to the highest local roost site to spend the night.

He also describes the sound of the male rather colourfully but accurately as "lying somewhere between the scream of a woman in extreme agony and the bray of a particularly deprived donkey".

Not surprisingly many councils around Australia ban them from urban areas but with 7 acres you may be OK - although my local council bans them in anything under 40 acres.

I don't know of any specific problems with the white form, although most I have seen have looked rather dirty unless just out of moult.

good luck if you get some

cheers,

Mike