Many people are getting into raising chickens in their backyards lately. You might be taking care of chickens already and it can certainly be a good experience.
Some people don’t want to stop at just raising chickens, though. If you’re interested in raising different types of outdoor birds, then you might find peacocks to be appealing.
Of course, peacocks are very impressive birds with beautiful feathers that they use to make themselves appear bigger than they are. You might think that raising peacocks would be a lot of fun, but what if you don’t have room to raise them separately from the chickens?
Would it be possible for peacocks to live with chickens? Or will these two types of birds just wind up fighting with each other or worse?
Keep reading to learn about whether it’s okay for peacocks to live with chickens or not. You’ll get the information that you need to make an informed decision.
It Is Possible
Before you worry too much, you’ll be happy to hear that it is indeed possible to raise chickens and peacocks together. They can live together if you’re able to take the right approach, but that doesn’t mean things will always be simple.
You need to remember that peacocks and chickens are quite different in many ways. There are going to be some concerns that will make things tough, but you can manage this situation fine if you want to put in the effort.
Before you decide to raise chickens and peacocks in the same area, it’s important to be sure that you want to do this. If you don’t want things to be harder, then it would be easier to raise them separately.
The Potential for Fighting
Fighting is something that you’re going to want to avoid when raising peacocks and chickens together. This will sometimes happen, but it shouldn’t be too bad if you’ve raised peacocks alongside the chickens.
The chickens and peacocks will get used to each other and shouldn’t fight too much if you’re raising them side-by-side. So long as you’re being an attentive animal owner, it shouldn’t wind up being too problematic.
Some people get very concerned that the peacocks and the chickens will kill each other. This can indeed happen, but it shouldn’t be too likely if you’ve raised the peacocks with the chickens from a young age.
Essentially, the two types of birds get so used to each other that they won’t take things that far. There are stories of wild peacocks killing chickens because they’re looking for food, but that doesn’t generally happen with peacocks that are raised in captivity.
You should try to limit fighting and keep aggression to a minimum, though. Typically, peacocks are nice and they should be friendly to the chickens.
Chickens can become aggressive too sometimes, but that shouldn’t be a big problem. The chickens will get used to the peacocks eventually and they likely won’t act too aggressively toward the peacocks.
Theoretically, a big chicken might be able to hurt a peacock, but peacocks are much more dangerous than chickens. A peacock is better equipped for a fight and you likely won’t have to worry about a chicken killing one of your peacocks.
So long as you’re caring for the peacocks and the chickens properly, they’re not going to have too many reasons to fight. Keep caring for the peacocks and the chickens to the best of your abilities and you’ll likely have a good experience.
The Potential for Disease
The potential for disease is something that you might need to be more concerned with. There’s a disease known as blackhead disease that can be transferred from peacocks to chickens.
This disease specifically impacts game birds such as peacocks, quail, and partridges. The disease itself is spread by roundworms most often and it can cause damage to the digestive system.
Usually, chickens won’t have to worry so much about a disease such as this. However, the disease can cross from the peacocks to the chickens.
So raising peacocks and chickens together does make the risk of diseases such as this greater for the chickens. It’s essential to try to ensure that none of the birds in your flock have blackhead disease.
Conversely, you can catch early signs of blackhead disease to try to control it. It’s always good to keep an eye on your flock so that you can address concerns like this.
If you do your best to procure healthy peacocks that don’t have blackhead disease, it should be unlikely that you’ll have to deal with this. Even so, it’s good to be aware of the potential harm that the disease could cause.
Housing Differences
You’re going to want to ensure that the peacocks have the right type of housing situation on your property. Chickens and peacocks are different enough that they are going to need separate housing.
Peacocks should be kept in a fenced-in area or some type of aviary. They won’t be able to live in a coop with the chickens.
The peacocks will want to roam more than the chickens as well. Peacocks like to go pretty far out looking for insects and just scratching the ground in search of food.
If you don’t have a decently large area that the peacocks can explore, then it might not be a good idea to own peacocks. Try to make sure that the peacocks can free-range enough that they will be happy.
Keep Chicken and Peacock Feed Separate
Another thing that you’ll need to do to make this situation work is to keep the feed for the two birds separate. Peacock feed should be locked away so that the chickens can’t get to it and the same applies in the opposite direction.
Peacocks will eat things such as insects and various other food items that they find while roaming around. However, it’s still imperative to supplement the diet of the peacocks with the proper feed.
Chickens and peacocks are meant to have a different feed. Keep things separate and you’ll have an easier time raising chickens and peacocks together.
Different Fencing Is Needed for Peacocks
Have you considered the fact that peacocks are much better at taking to the air than chickens? Chickens can’t fly and it’s pretty simple to keep them in a fenced-in area overall.
Peacocks are going to be much better at escaping fenced-in areas due to being able to go much higher. A peacock could scale a pretty high fence if it wanted to.
Even if you get a peacock’s wings clipped, it’s still going to be able to leap about eight feet into the air. If you use standard fences that most people use for chicken pens, then you’re not going to be able to keep a peacock from escaping.
Higher fences will be able to help you keep the peacocks in a contained area. Just know that you’ll need to consider the capabilities of the peacocks when you’re trying to keep them safe on your property.
If you aren’t careful, a peacock could easily escape and it might not come back. Peacocks don’t have the same instincts to return to the chicken coop area that you’re used to seeing with chickens.
You Could Speak to a Veterinarian Before Moving Forward
If you’re still having trouble making up your mind about what you want to do, then you could speak to a veterinarian. A veterinarian will be able to give you information about peacocks that might help.
Of course, it’ll be good to have any peacocks inspected to ensure that they’re in good health before adding them to the flock. A veterinarian can also let you know if you have the right property to be able to raise peacocks happily.
You can learn a lot about peacock behavior and care recommendations by speaking to a skilled veterinarian. Assuming that your local veterinarian is familiar with peacocks, this is going to be a great idea.
Should Chickens and Peacocks Live Together?
Now that you know it’s possible for chickens and peacocks to live together, it should be easier for you to make up your mind about what to do. You could find success when raising peacocks and chickens together, but it can be problematic in certain ways.
Peacocks are a lot different than chickens and this means that you have to consider their unique capabilities. They can fly a lot better than chickens can and they’re going to want to roam a larger area.
If you’re considering keeping peacocks together with your chickens, then it’s possible that space is an issue on your property. In this situation, it might not be a good idea to get peacocks since they might not have the necessary land to roam.
You could raise peacocks and chickens together if you want to. In fact, some people say that it’s a very satisfying and fun thing to do, but whether it’s practical or not depends on your situation.
If you have enough room on your property for both peacocks and chickens, then it might be more practical to keep them separate. You wouldn’t have to be as concerned about the chickens getting into the peacock feed, and there wouldn’t be any fights if the two bird types were kept in separate parts of the yard.
Make the decision that works out best for your property. Peacocks are very friendly and interesting birds to own, but you do want to be sure that you’re prepared to care for them before moving forward.
Keep reading: Learn How To Keep Chickens Warm at Night.
I have a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When I’m not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, I’m at home with my wife, two daughters and a dog. Outside of family, I love grilling and barbequing on my Big Green Egg and working on projects around the house. Growing up, I had pet dogs, cats, deer, sugar gliders, chinchillas, a bird, chickens, fish, and a goat.