How to Raise a Peacock and Peafowl Farm

Peafowl are birds in the pheasant family, best known for the bright colors and long tail of the male peacock. Female peafowl are drab in color and are referred to as hens. These birds can live several decades in captivity and will bond strongly to their owners if given proper care. Raising a peafowl farm requires caring for babies, providing adequate nutrition for all birds and giving peafowl adequate health care.

Things You'll Need

  • Peacock food
  • Pea-chick food
  • Water trough
  • Pen
  • Heater
  • Brooder
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Instructions

    • 1

      Build an appropriately-sized pen for your peafowl. The minimum pen size is 10 feet high by 10 feet wide by 8 feet high. Cover the pen to prevent peafowl from flying away and to prevent potential predators from harming your birds. You can accomplish this by purchasing a peafowl pen or by covering a dog or livestock kennel with mesh.

    • 2

      Provide appropriate care to baby peafowl, who are called chicks. Peafowl are considered babies until they are 1 years old, and hens typically provide intensive care to the young. They teach the babies how to eat by pecking at appropriate food sources and model normal peacock behavior. Allow mothers to care for their babies if they are able to do so. If you are hand-raising babies instead, it is vital that you teach the babies how to eat by pecking your fingers at the offered food and making a soft clucking sound. You must also keep the chicks in a brooder set at 95 degrees Fahrenheit for their first six weeks of life. Feed peafowl chicks a diet consisting of pea-chick starter food, cracked corn, oats, trout chow and rabbit pellets.

    • 3

      Give all peafowl constant access to water. Water dishes should be elevated off the ground to prevent water from becoming soiled. Check the water daily for cleanliness and change it as needed. A water trough is an excellent way to provide water to peafowl.

    • 4

      Feed adults an appropriate peafowl diet. Many pet and farm stores sell already mixed peafowl food. Alternatively, give the birds a mix of grains, such as barley, wheat and rice, combined with chicken pellets and corn.

    • 5

      Locate a qualified avian or livestock veterinarian. Many peafowl die in their first two years of life, but with appropriate veterinary care, these deaths are preventable. Take your birds to the vet annually for a check-up, and call your vet if the birds begin exhibiting any signs of disease, such as diarrhea, lethargy, vomiting or anorexia.

    • 6

      Provide an indoor area with a heater during cold weather months. Peafowl are tropical birds that cannot tolerate cold temperatures.