One of the most common questions I get about Peafowl from new people buying birds is what do you feed them?   That answer varies greatly. Sixteen years ago, I began ignorantly feeding my peafowl Layena pellets. This made perfect sense to me in my limited experience with poultry.  My chickens were doing well. I wanted my new peafowl to lay, so I gave them a layer formula.  It was a “no brainer” because I want to have baby Peachicks. In my ignorance I gave them feed that eventually led to the death of some of my birds.

Chicken layer has a very high calcium content for peafowl.   Chicken layer is formulated to help chickens in a confinement operation to lay eggs 365 days a year. It supplies those chickens with the necessary calcium to be able to produce hard shelled eggs for production.  Also chickens in an egg operation are usually only kept for 18 months maybe 2 years and then they’re sent off for chicken soup or other recipes. So long term health of the chicken is not affected by the calcium content.  But for peafowl I learned the hard way that that is a very deadly formula for them overtime. It took about 5 years for me to discover my mistake. My favorite male start limping and showing signs of sickness.  He stayed isolated, ruffled feathers and slowed his food consumption greatly.  I became very concerned. I took him to an avian vet and he asked me what I was feeding my birds.  I told him and was informed the calcium was killing my birds. My favorite peacock was dying from gout.  Over time, the calcium had set up in his kidneys, causing crystals to form on his internal organs and on his feet he died a painful death because of my ignorance. I still regret that I could have saved him but by the time I learned that he was even sick it was too late.

Since there is no peacock layer mash or peacock labeled food I had to go on a search for another kind of food for my birds.  I found game bird breeder pellets. The calcium content was lower that looked better so I started feeding that for their next rations year round.   I thought I was doing the best for my birds but a few years later I saw some problems starting in a bird, signs of gout. Back to the avian vet we went.  I discovered that the protein content was doing the same thing it was too rich too feed all year. So I had to change their food rations again. I’m learning constantly and willing to try new things. I currently feed game bird breeder pellet to the adults only during the breeding season.  When in production peafowl can use more protein for the males to court and the hens to lay. But during the off season I dropped them back to a little lower protein and a little lower calcium.  They are thriving on this.  During the remainder of the year, the off breeding season I give them a flight conditioner or a grower ration.   It’s the same feed that I feed my yearling birds until they’re ready for production.

I look for feed that has a protein content between 17 and 20%. I like the calcium to be between 1.5 to maximum 2.0% even in breeding season. Since the peahens only lay 20 to 30 eggs a year they just don’t need the 4% calcium that the chickens do. It sounds like a slight difference but it makes a difference between life-and-death, good health or sickly birds. So is a no brainer for me when I finally learned how to correctly feed my birds I’ve not had any more food related health issues.

Other things I do for the birds or recommend is to offer free choice calcium for the birds during laying season. The peahens will be able to get a little more calcium if they need it. Occasion  you may have a hen that will lay a soft shell. Do not ignore that warning sign!  If she’s not treated with a calcium shot she will likely die within a week. Calcium deficiency can hit peahens and its very unforgiving. It is a balancing act, you have to learn what your birds need to thrive and how to best care for them in confinement. If they were out in the wild they would be able to get the calcium  and protein they need from bugs, small creatures, plants and things that they would forage for. In confinement they depend on us for everything to stay alive and stay healthy.   We owe it to them to do the best that we can. The investment of time, energy, and money into our birds will be repaid tenfold with their beauty and longevity.  I’ve been told they can live 30-40 years with good care and barring sickness, accidents or predictors.  I currently have my original peacock.  He is almost 17 years old and doing great.