Peacock Adventures

I love peacocks!  I love their beautiful colors.  I love the males long tail especially when he displays his feathers.  I even love their loud call.  Our neighbors (somewhere to the Northwest) have peacocks and we can hear them hollering from time to time.  I knew that I would love peacocks on the farm so I begin researching how to get some.  They are quite expensive, especially coming from a hatchery or a breeder.  I had been keeping my eyes out on Craig's list and the various livestock/farm groups that I am a part of on facebook.  We found some reasonably priced ones up near Astoria but with how busy we are, I knew I would have to drive up there myself with the children in order to pick them up.  I was planning on doing this in conjunction with a Portland speech therapy trip.  Then, I found someone selling some about 25 minutes away.  Off we went to make an afternoon of it!

The peacocks were NOT happy about being boxed up.  The owners had managed to cage them and then we rounded them up into various boxes (thanks to another lady coming to pick some up, who is an expert, and I now have her contact information so I can call with questions!).  We drove them home and quickly built a shelter (cause we like to jump first...and then figure things out out of necessity LOL).  It is small, very crude, using only a couple of 2X4's and found items around the property.  We laughed at the hideousness of it.  I made a sign.

The cage is way too small but it will have to do until we get into the house and can make something more permanent.  We can't let them out or they will likely fly to the neighbors.  I am thinking that we will clip their wings and make an outside peacock run until they are friendly enough to stick around.  I am sure excited to be able to devote our time to farm fun.  Just need to get the house done and get moved in!


LOL!

Time for release.  This is our "big" male.  We got a bigger male (older), a younger male, and two younger females. 

We brought all the boxes into the pen and then closed the door.  The children watched from the outside.  Then the birds went quite berserk.  The flew out of their boxes, trying to escape, banging in to the walls.  There was a space under the door and I was afraid they would squeeze through.  I was boxed into a corner and they all flew at me.  I cowered, covering my face with my hands, and shrieking and laughing hysterically as their wings beat my face, as they landed on my head, and as they perched on my shoulders.  Phil was trying to get between me and the birds and the children were concerned that I was hurt (I did get some good scratches on my arm, neck, and back) and crying because of all the commotion.  Oh my goodness, it was so funny! I was laughing so hard I was crying. I wish we had it on video.

Hello Handsome!

This is by the door where I was standing, once they stopped flying about.  One peacock is standing on the other.  

What a beautiful addition to the farm.  

Many feathers were dropped during the stressful transition and release!  I have a whole vase of beautiful tail feathers (including some white ones I picked up where we got them).  

Evi's feather headdress.  

B's feather behind the ear.

"Mom, I am a peacock."

Eating grass (I asked if he was channeling his inner Nebuchadnezzar).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Boots

Image
Last week, was snowy and cold cold cold, then rainy.  I continued to work on getting the yard cleaned up.  I dug out the ponds and refilled the holes with dirt.  I loaded up rocks, pavers, and bricks.  I cleaned out the water features.  I collected the strawberry runners so I would have starts to plant.  I unloaded 2 loads of bark dust.  The children were a tremendous help.  They loaded an entire trailer of firewood all by themselves and then helped with another load of rocks and bricks.  I am amazed at how much there is to load and fix just in the yard alone.  It is a lot of work for the simple concept of "curb" appeal.   Waiting for the snow to melt so I can put down the bark dust. Even with two pairs of socks, my feet were freezing so I broke down and bought a pair of Muck Boots.  The funny thing is, 2 years ago, I really wanted to have a new pair of winter boots but I just couldn't justify paying so much money just to have ...
Read more

Then Came Dense Fog and the Thunderstorm

Image
Sunday, I woke up to a dense fog and smoke cover combination.  I think this is probably the densest fog I have ever been in. Before the sun came up, it was white.  Once it got lighter outside the smoke color showed through. On the porch, looking toward the swimming pool (North) but unable to see it or the goat barn or the walnut trees. On the porch, looking toward the barn, only able to see the garden before the parking area. Outside the window looking at the tree block, barely 30 feet away. I am not sure how I let Phil talk me into (trying) going to the store...but the fog was supposed to lift by 11:00 and we were scheduled to gather at the Rawie's for church and I needed ingredients to put together something for the potluck.  (We ended up having to cancel our homechurch.) Our mailbox, we couldn't see any cars, so we had to roll down the windows and listen.  I was already terrified at this point and didn't want to continue. After having to slam on his brakes multipl...
Read more

More Hats

Image
The Etsy shop is still a work in progress and unfortunately the name Over the Top is already taken.  I have been tossing around the names Tip Top and Whimsy.  I managed to get 7 hats made during the month of November.  I have a couple that I can put on Etsy when we are ready to list them and several Christmas hats made for the children.  I have been timing how long it takes me to make a hat and I am surprised (and not in a good way LOL) at the number of hours I spend.  A baby hat takes over 5-6 hours, a child's hat takes about 7-8 hours, and an adult hat 10 plus hours.  It takes even longer if I decide to tear out the stitching because it isn't looking the way I had imagined.  The more yarn variety I use, the longer it takes me to weave in the ends.  I usually spend over an hour just with a tapestry needle making all the ends secure.  Minimum wage plus materials puts the hats in the 50-80 dollar range.  Yikes!  I would never pay th...
Read more