I want to get a few female peacocks but I have 20 chickens and a few muscovy ducks and their ducklings, will they hurt each other..?? also would I have to keep them in a pen or can I let them roam around the yard? We have dogs and cats too but they dont bug the chickens or ducks.
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My family has had peacocks since the early 1980's, so I have some experience with this. They shouldn't "bother" your chickens or ducks. They'll compete for food with them, certainly, and since they're bigger... well... your chickens and ducks will learn to stay out of the way or get pecked in the behind.
We kept ours in a small pen for the first week or so, until they had a good idea where the free food was coming from. Then we turned them loose and they did fine. You should have a spot for them to get out of the extreme cold (not sure where you're from) if possible. Ours would fly into the trees sometimes in the winter with snow on the branches, and other times would find their way up under the crawl space below the house (maybe three feet high). If they reproduce really well, they will "disperse" from your property to make themselves at home at your neighbors. If you stay on top of the reproduction (selling off babies for example), this won't be a problem. And we had several dogs and cats with our peacocks/peahens... no problems really.
A couple of warnings... They are ground nesters, and will tend to wander off into the nearby woods or brush to nest. If you have coyotes in the area, this is a bad thing as they are very vulnerable. We lost a lot of females that way. And lastly, the males can be quite loud! If your neighbors are the sensitive types, this could be a problem. Most of the calling is seasonal, but they also make great "watch birds" and will call when people drive into the driveway, etc.
I always loved mine! We even had a few (females mostly) who acted like dogs and would follow you around the yard just to hang out and get petted once in awhile. Good luck!
We kept ours in a small pen for the first week or so, until they had a good idea where the free food was coming from. Then we turned them loose and they did fine. You should have a spot for them to get out of the extreme cold (not sure where you're from) if possible. Ours would fly into the trees sometimes in the winter with snow on the branches, and other times would find their way up under the crawl space below the house (maybe three feet high). If they reproduce really well, they will "disperse" from your property to make themselves at home at your neighbors. If you stay on top of the reproduction (selling off babies for example), this won't be a problem. And we had several dogs and cats with our peacocks/peahens... no problems really.
A couple of warnings... They are ground nesters, and will tend to wander off into the nearby woods or brush to nest. If you have coyotes in the area, this is a bad thing as they are very vulnerable. We lost a lot of females that way. And lastly, the males can be quite loud! If your neighbors are the sensitive types, this could be a problem. Most of the calling is seasonal, but they also make great "watch birds" and will call when people drive into the driveway, etc.
I always loved mine! We even had a few (females mostly) who acted like dogs and would follow you around the yard just to hang out and get petted once in awhile. Good luck!