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| Name: |
India
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Age: |
Two years old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
India Blue Peafowl
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| Home: |
Avon, New York, USA
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This is one of my peahens, India. Why is she special? First of all, what is more beautiful than peafowl? They come in as many color combinations as appaloosa horses, but mostly people know the India Blue, like this mother hen is. I also have white ones which are often misidentified as albino. They are white. I have some kid authors on Amazon Kindle in a book titled, Siegfried the Weird White Peacock. It's a good read. Peahens are not as exotic-looking as the males, but beautiful in their own right. They can be very good mothers as in this photo which I like to think of an ultimate Uber ride of sorts.
I have a flock of peafowl, and not all have names. They are free range and need to keep their defenses against a whole host of predators where I live. So while they will gallop to me for peanuts, I don't overdo the animal-to-human thing. At the same time, a few of them will come up on and porch and put their beaks into your lunch if they are given a chance to. People always question how many do you have? How do they know I have not a clue? I always say "eleven." They mostly look alike so it takes some real engineering to get them all together to count heads.
On the name issue giving them a name is sometimes impossible to avoid. Like the two white chicks I once had, which I called Siegfried and Roy for obvious reasons. Siegfried became the star of my book of photos with the story written by kids who came by school bus to meet the birds. I have had peafowl for about 40 years. They are very long lived. I have had a few for more than 25 years. They nest in spring with about 4-5 eggs but this year was hot and dry and the only two peahens who nested successfully (you have to stick close to the house for success and you can not pen them and expect it to happen), only hatched one egg each. So this chick may have been a bit spoiled, but Inida was a proud and protective mother.
As strong as their beauty is, they have their own pea brains and will do as they please. If you like the idea of getting some, they are timid and will get used to any dogs who are trained to leave them alone. One lone chick this spring was adopted by a friend's chicken. His kids took her (as it turns out) on. The other chickens were not welcoming but one hen took her under her wing (while she fit there!). The chick is now full grown and sticks with her chicken mom. Okay, it's time to face the music (sort of). What people do not not like about peafowl is that they can make a ghastly noise. One writer said they look like an angel and sound like the devil. Actually I think I read they can make about 17 different calls, depending on the reason. I like it. Peafowl people like it. Get a peafowl cry for your IPhone if you really want to clear a room! The distinctive racket happens for the most part in spring and it can go all night long. They are excellent watch birds, but not quite on a par as guinea hens and geese.
Talk about India in Pet Talk!
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