The general term used for both male peacocks and female peahens is peafowl. Peafowls are native to India, Java, Myanmar, Congo, and Sri Lanka.
However, they’ve been domesticated in other parts of the world. Peafowls have attracted humans with their beautiful display of feathers.
Peafowls come in various colors, but it is peacocks that are truly magnificent. They have been domesticated since millenniums in royal palaces and noble families.
Kings and nobles have proudly shown off their collection of gamebirds throughout history. In the modern world, people like to keep these birds as backyard pets.
Raising peafowl is a truly rewarding activity. They can live up to half a century and can provide their caretakers with lifelong companionship.
If you’re raising peacocks or thinking about it, you may be curious about their dietary habits. We have compiled an extensive list of what to feed peacocks throughout the year. Let’s dive right into it:
Wild peafowl eat insects, plants, and small creatures. Like chickens, peafowl are omnivores and can eat a variety of foods. They’re not picky eaters, but they do have their favorites. They will eat anything except dairy products.
To ensure your pets’ health, you must provide them with a balanced and healthy diet.
What Is the Staple Food of Peacocks?
Peafowl eat a variety of food.
When it comes to staples, they prefer while millet seeds, rolled or wet corn cobs, sunflower seeds, etc.
You can consider feeding them special feed made for pheasants and game birds. These are meant to promote the health of their feathers and eggs.
You can buy live mealworms from your local pet store. Mealworms are highly nutritious and available at affordable prices.
Research how to store live mealworms to ensure their longevity so that your peafowl can enjoy them for quite a few days.
Remember always to give your peafowl access to plenty of clean water. Wash the water bowls regularly to prevent the growth of microorganisms.
What Treats Do Peacocks Enjoy?
Peafowl love peanuts, raisins, berries, grapes, seeded bread, fruits, etc. You can treat them in the evening with these easy snacks.
Most of these things are readily available at the local grocery store.
Peahens also love to consume fruits, vegetables, and all kinds of leafy greens. They even feed on flowers!
Beans, peas, boiled rice, tomatoes, papaya, watermelon, cabbage, celery, and peppers are some foods your peahen might enjoy. You can also feed them scrambled eggs and kitchen scrapes.
Peafowl will also eat the occasional reptiles and amphibians.
Frogs, toads, newts, lizards, and even snakes can be a part of their diet! Peafowl are great hunters. People often keep them to ward off reptiles and amphibians where they may be a menace.
Try out various foods and see how your pets react to them. You may keep a diary or make mental notes of what the peafowl seem to enjoy.
What Do Peacocks Eat during Summers?
In the summers, grasshoppers, termites, spiders, moths, grubs, ants other creepy crawlies are aplenty.
Peafowl love to hunt for bugs to snack on them. They will scratch on the ground searching for anything that moves and catches their eye and will quickly ingest it.
Bugs are high in proteins and vitamins and are a healthy source of food for peafowl.
You might consider buying these snacks from pet stores and sprinkle them on the ground where your peafowl usually enjoy their evening stroll in summers so that they can later have fun hunting for these delicious treats.
What Do Peacocks Eat in Winters?
Summers come with endless creatures buzzing and crawling around, making for a fun hunt for the peafowl, but the food is harder to forage in winters.
In winters, peacocks tend to molt. Molting is the process of shedding all the fancy feathers and regrowing them. Molting takes place in the last few weeks of summers.
Over the winter and spring, peacocks will then regrow their coverts. This is when they will need some extra protein in their diets. Consider feeding them kitten food, alfalfa, peanuts, or feed that is high in proteins.
Protein deficiency can lead to low-quality tail feathers, which might become harder to maintain and upkeep.
What Healthy Supplements Can I Feed Peacocks?
Peacocks are quite energetic animals that require nutritious diets and a rich food palette. Their brilliant feathers need some upkeep. You should occasionally consider feeding them rich and nutritious supplements.
Crushed oyster shells make for a great snack that’s packed with the calcium that peacocks need to ensure healthy feathers.
It also prevents a phenomenon known as egg binding, which can be fatal for birds if it happens. Other supplements recommended by professionals include cat chow, alfalfa, and grit.
All birds need to swallow grit, which are small rocks and dirt they pick from the ground. Grit aids in digestion and supplies essential minerals to the birds that are found plenty in dirt and rocks.
What do Peacocks Like To Drink?
Apart from a regular freshwater source, you can also feed your pets fruit juices such as apple juice and berry extract.
However, water should be enough for their hydration needs. Keep plenty of warm water in the winters and make sure that it doesn’t freeze overnight.
One trick is to fill up huge containers with water, which makes it harder to freeze.
Never feed birds tea, coffee, or alcoholic beverages.
What Does The Peacock’s Poop Tell You?
The peafowl’s poop tells a lot about their diet and health. Excessive protein in the peacock’s diet makes their poop stink.
You might want to change their feed and reduce the amount of cat chow or turkey feed if you notice a terrible smell.
Too much fat and oils in the diet make the poop sticky and look like tar. Sunflower seeds and other nuts and seeds are high in fats.
Too much moisture in their diet makes their poop runny and liquid. Keep the diet balanced to ensure the optimum health of your beloved birds.
You might want to keep an eye on their poop because it tells you a lot about their internal health.
Can The Diet of Peahens Effect The Gender of Peachicks?
The gender of the chicks can be affected by how much you feed peahens. When peahens are healthy, they tend to produce male eggs, and underfed peahens tend to produce females.
This doesn’t mean you should feed the peahens less when you want female chicks. This is just a general correlation, but you will get both genders of peachicks anyway.
How Soon Should I feed Peachicks After Birth?
Newly hatched peachicks don’t need to be fed for at least three days. They will feed on what’s left of their egg yolk.
After three days, peachicks may begin to feed on softened/moistened pellets or crumbs from a shallow dish. It should be the consistency of oatmeal.
If the peachicks aren’t attracted to the food, you may dip their beaks in or slosh around the food because the movement attracts young chicks.
You can also try live mealworms because it taps into the birds’ natural hunting instinct.
Peachicks should have at least 20% proteins in their diet to grow healthy and beautiful feathers.
Make sure that water is easily accessible to chicks.
You might want to install a smaller water bowl when the chicks hatch because it might be difficult for them to drink from the same bowl as the adult peafowl.
What Don’t Peacocks Eat And What Not To Feed Them?
Now that we’ve covered the diet of peacocks and peahens in great detail let’s see what peafowl shouldn’t be fed.
Firstly, please don’t feed them foods that are stuffed with fats such as avocados and chocolates. Never feed them leftover junk food such as pizzas, hotdogs, burgers, or other deep-fried or salty fast food.
Don’t feed them rotten food or moldy bread because it will make them sick. When feeding kitchen scraps, make sure they are healthy and fresh.
Conclusion
Growing Peafowl isn’t easy. They require constant care and attention. If you are new at this, it might take some time to adjust and get in sync with the dietary needs of your beautiful pets.
Their feeding habits can be quite challenging.
Like any other game birds, raising peafowl can be an amusing addition to your backyard. Their colorful feathers and unique companionship is quite attractive incentives for caretakers.
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