Why keep peafowl?

Who knows what message God wanted to send you with her appearance. BTW, if that is a running bamboo they will hate you for sure. I planted some in the city and had to move to get away from it, it was overtaking my entire yard and I had ground barriers that obviously didn't work. I planted some here on the farm on the bank of the creek for ground erosion and it also works too well. Still, I would love to have some Moso, that stuff is incredible.
We've had a lot of strays show up here over the years. Nothing as fun as peafowl but still. We have several stray cats hanging around lately. One we've decided to call Creeper because it sits at a window on our back deck and stares at us through the window like an absolutely creepy stalker.

I do suspect the neighbors will hate us because of our bamboo...well, maybe not because of the bamboo specifically but it'll be one of the things on their list. :rolleyes: I don't particularly care. We bought our house primarily because of the 100+ acre forest next to us and had an agreement with the old man who owned it that he'd give us "first refusal" if he ever decided to sell. But then his kids put him in a home and sold the land to a timber company, who sold it to a developer. Now instead of looking at 100 yr old hardwood trees we have a big tacky house as the view from most of our windows. And neighbors from NJ. BUT, I worked with a bamboo grower who helped me pick bamboos that only shoot once a year. They may end up popping up all over the place but they're all edible bamboo species and any new shoots that we don't want can get harvested or stepped on. It shouldn't be as bad as the Golden Bamboo that can take over a backyard in a season. And I agree, Moso is a very cool bamboo! I can't resist petting the new Moso culms when I go out to check on them. They feel like velvet! We have some black bamboo and it's velvety too.
 
Same here for me...I dream of having a lawn ornament run around the yard to look at😊 30 acres and I'm surrounded by woods but the neighbors dogs...I should be able to have my chickens free range but noooo. Night time should be my worry not broad daylight. If I had no neighbors dogs to worry about I would have a peacock and more free ranging ducks. They killed my last pekins. I love the sound peacocks make..hubby does not 😞
I'm so sorry about your ducks! And the stress of worrying about daytime predators!! We used to let our chickens and ducks free range during the day but put an end to it a few years ago. We actually lost a lot more birds during the day than at night. Then again, our birds all go in houses at night. But when we had 100+ acres of forest next to us one of our neighbors was a fox and she considered our flock to be a buffet during kit season. She and her kits were still around last year but they didn't bother our birds inside their fenced yard so we left the fox family alone. They seemed to be willing to hunt for voles and I greatly appreciate any help killing those rotten little beasts. I guess the voles had a lot more roots to eat when they had a great big forest to munch on. I lost a few hundred $'s of plants last year because voles ate all the roots.

Also, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person who actually likes the sound of peacocks. I had a few different peafowl sounds as ringtones and notifications on my phone for several years. It started off as a joke when I told my husband that their noise wasn't that bad and that he'd like it. You should have seen the looks I'd get when my phone would ring, or I'd get a notification about whatever, when I was out in public. :lau Now my phone is too outdated and the fun peafowl sound effect app isn't compatible anymore so no more peafowl calls for me. I kind of feel like the noise from peacocks wouldn't be as bad as my other "dream bird". I'm a total quackhead and have felt like my flock isn't complete because I don't have call ducks. I keep telling myself that I can't get any because they really are too loud. At least peacocks are only supposed to be extra loud during breeding season. My ducks are loud all year so I'd expect that call ducks are extra loud all year.
 
I'm so sorry about your ducks! And the stress of worrying about daytime predators!! We used to let our chickens and ducks free range during the day but put an end to it a few years ago. We actually lost a lot more birds during the day than at night. Then again, our birds all go in houses at night. But when we had 100+ acres of forest next to us one of our neighbors was a fox and she considered our flock to be a buffet during kit season. She and her kits were still around last year but they didn't bother our birds inside their fenced yard so we left the fox family alone. They seemed to be willing to hunt for voles and I greatly appreciate any help killing those rotten little beasts. I guess the voles had a lot more roots to eat when they had a great big forest to munch on. I lost a few hundred $'s of plants last year because voles ate all the roots.

Also, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only person who actually likes the sound of peacocks. I had a few different peafowl sounds as ringtones and notifications on my phone for several years. It started off as a joke when I told my husband that their noise wasn't that bad and that he'd like it. You should have seen the looks I'd get when my phone would ring, or I'd get a notification about whatever, when I was out in public. :lau Now my phone is too outdated and the fun peafowl sound effect app isn't compatible anymore so no more peafowl calls for me. I kind of feel like the noise from peacocks wouldn't be as bad as my other "dream bird". I'm a total quackhead and have felt like my flock isn't complete because I don't have call ducks. I keep telling myself that I can't get any because they really are too loud. At least peacocks are only supposed to be extra loud during breeding season. My ducks are loud all year so I'd expect that call ducks are extra loud all year.
Fatty pekin ducks are adorable..I used to yell duckies, babies and they would do this wing flap fast/waddle/run thing🤣 It was sooooo cute. My chickens are fenced and locked up at night too but they have a big fenced area..I'd love to have more pekins though..but that would require more fencing and another house..and I have turkeys (4 and 5 weeks)..chicken math😳 who would of thought I would have a 100 percent hatch rate my first go on turkey eggs (thank God). Actually sold some of those suckers and bought feed (and gas) with the cash.
 
Fatty pekin ducks are adorable..I used to yell duckies, babies and they would do this wing flap fast/waddle/run thing🤣 It was sooooo cute. My chickens are fenced and locked up at night too but they have a big fenced area..I'd love to have more pekins though..but that would require more fencing and another house..and I have turkeys (4 and 5 weeks)..chicken math😳 who would of thought I would have a 100 percent hatch rate my first go on turkey eggs (thank God). Actually sold some of those suckers and bought feed (and gas) with the cash.
Our birds fenced yard is about 1/4 acre and I keep thinking we need to expand it. Then I look at real estate listings and see so many new houses for sale on lots less than 1/4 acre. I can't imagine a house with a yard smaller than one of my fowl yards. 😳

Those pekins sound like they were stinking precious! We had some dogs kill our bachelor flock of Cayugas a few years ago. I was devastated. The following spring I ended up getting 10 new ducklings. A Cayuga drake and hen, a Khaki drake and hen, and two Rouens, the second group was White Layers - 3 hens and a drake. White Layers aren't supposed to be a broody breed but one of mine went crazy broody and we ended up with 21 ducklings from them. And 10 ducklings from the other group. Then I had to buy more female ducklings to balance out our male/female ratio a bit...then I rescued a lone drake, and then I candled a few eggs before cracking them to make egg fu yung and saw they were starting to develop so into the incubator they went. 🤪 Thankfully my chickens aren't as prolific breeders as the ducks are because my darn chickens pretty much only produce roosters.
 
In cases like this, I always resign myself to God's will. Something may have frightened her off the roost and she is hiding or could just be exploring or foraging. If she is supposed to be with you she will come back.
I made the mistake of looking at the video of other mornings from the security camera trying to see what time she normally came down from her tree. Every other morning that she's been here, she stayed up in her tree until right around 5:45 when it was starting to get light. She flew down, landed outside the fence, walked around to the side with the gate and paced back and forth until my brother came out at 6:00 to let the birds out. He'd open the gate and she'd walk right through and go over to her part of the yard. Really frustrating that she learned where the gate was right away, and clearly wanted to get back inside the fenced yard. I wish I could figure out what happened to make her come down from the tree so early this morning and wander off instead of going to the gate. ☹️
 
😭 After searching our area for PP pretty much all day, and talking to neighbors asking if they'd seen her, we found out that PP wasn't the only peahen that had gone wandering last week. One of our neighbors said they saw a peahen that looked like PP early last week, before PP found us. The peahen our neighbor saw had been hit by a car and was dead on the side of the road. Another one of our neighbors saw PP heading up the road in the direction where her "sister" had been killed. Sadly, the last time I saw peafowl in our area was about 10 yrs ago when a peacock had been hit by a car and left in the road. Apparently we have some terrible, heartless drivers around here.
 
Our birds fenced yard is about 1/4 acre and I keep thinking we need to expand it. Then I look at real estate listings and see so many new houses for sale on lots less than 1/4 acre. I can't imagine a house with a yard smaller than one of my fowl yards. 😳

Those pekins sound like they were stinking precious! We had some dogs kill our bachelor flock of Cayugas a few years ago. I was devastated. The following spring I ended up getting 10 new ducklings. A Cayuga drake and hen, a Khaki drake and hen, and two Rouens, the second group was White Layers - 3 hens and a drake. White Layers aren't supposed to be a broody breed but one of mine went crazy broody and we ended up with 21 ducklings from them. And 10 ducklings from the other group. Then I had to buy more female ducklings to balance out our male/female ratio a bit...then I rescued a lone drake, and then I candled a few eggs before cracking them to make egg fu yung and saw they were starting to develop so into the incubator they went. 🤪 Thankfully my chickens aren't as prolific breeders as the ducks are because my darn chickens pretty much only produce roosters.
Duck math...very bad case😁 duck babies are sooo cute. I loved watching mine swim in there little pool. And I loved the little noises they make...😁 1/4 acre for a backyard does sound small. We live in an age of shopping, tv and gaming though, no one gets out. I think it's sad to see a five year old with a tablet or a cell phone...😳 When I was a kid I was outside as much as I could be.. preferably in a tree 😁
 
😭 After searching our area for PP pretty much all day, and talking to neighbors asking if they'd seen her, we found out that PP wasn't the only peahen that had gone wandering last week. One of our neighbors said they saw a peahen that looked like PP early last week, before PP found us. The peahen our neighbor saw had been hit by a car and was dead on the side of the road. Another one of our neighbors saw PP heading up the road in the direction where her "sister" had been killed. Sadly, the last time I saw peafowl in our area was about 10 yrs ago when a peacock had been hit by a car and left in the road. Apparently we have some terrible, heartless drivers around here.
Oh dear , I'm sorry :hugs
 
Duck math...very bad case😁 duck babies are sooo cute. I loved watching mine swim in there little pool. And I loved the little noises they make...😁 1/4 acre for a backyard does sound small. We live in an age of shopping, tv and gaming though, no one gets out. I think it's sad to see a five year old with a tablet or a cell phone...😳 When I was a kid I was outside as much as I could be.. preferably in a tree 😁
Yeah, I agree. I love that my 6 yr old niece likes doing outdoor stuff. She recently hatched some chicks under her broody hens and last summer grew tomatoes and made her own "farm stand" in their driveway to sell the tomatoes she harvested. :D
 

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