Fowl Play...

I have long been enamoured with the iridescent plumes of peacocks. I recall the first time I saw one up close was at Warwick Castle. It was stunning. 

Recently we have been offered a breeding pair by someone who read about Willowbrook in the NZ Lifestyle block magazine, so we thought we would give them a go. We have been warned by some people that they are noisy, and sometimes ill-behaved, but like the goats, we are prepared to try most things once.

Peafowl are from the same family as Pheasants. Their colours are created not only by pigmentation of the feathers, but by refraction of light through nano-structures on the feathers. White peacocks lack pigmentation, but are not albinos, as they have blue eyes still.

I have been chased by ferocious white peacocks before, during a visit to Kawau Island. They are not always wild though, and came be tamed, esp when raised from birth.

The chicks start life very plain, and then the covert feathers and combs start to develop, and they slowly become more colourful.

The peacock has many symbolic meanings in different cultures. To the Greeks the peacock symbolized immortality, to many cultures the eye on the tail feathers represents the all seeing eye of God.

In some cultures the peacock is seen as a symbol of vanity, due to the way it 'struts its stuff', hence the phrase, proud as a peacock.

It has also been associated with wealth and with royalty. In the middle ages, like pheasants, peacocks were served in elaborate pies, using their heads and tail feathers as garnishes...

In Victorian and Edwardian times the feathers were used in interior design (although some consider them to bring bad luck). They inspired arts and craft and art deco artists as well.

So, bring on the Peacocks I say.

This post is dedicated to my iridescent friend Keralyn.

Photos from Tumblr

All grown up....

Now that our Indian Runners have grown up and have a good sense of 'home' we have been able to dismantle Stalag 13 and let them range around the whole farm. They return at evenings to their hutch for dinner, and despite being hand fed every day since they were chicks, are still very wary of people (this photos belies the difficulty in capturing them!).

Life remains hectic, frantically packing up the house in our spare time. We have until the 1st of July to vacate the premises, but as a friend bought it there is no panic. We have found a place to stay a 1/4 mile down the road from Willowbrook. We hope to stay their until the manor is completed (about a year from now).

No need to build the farrowing pen just yet - our sows deflated over night. We have been told that they must have had phantom pregnancies, but to get 2 sows both with phantoms at the same time is unusual. Let's hope they have better luck next time.

Everything's a box of fluffy ducks...

Apologies for the silent treatment of late. Work has been all consuming, and so has the business side of getting the build started (still on target for next month). We have been busy boxing up the house, redressing the rooms, and getting the gardens in order before we put our villa on the market. However, I do have one small piece of breaking news...

You may recall our post on Indian Runners a little while ago. We were expecting we would re-home some adult ducks, but instead we have come into five of the cutest ducklings...

We have constructed a brutally functional Stalag 13 for the ducklings at the park until they get their bearings, but then they will be on their way, free-ranging with the rest of the menagerie.

Indian Runners....

We have been offered some Indian Runner ducks for the park. Indian Runners are an unusual breed of domestic duck. They stand erect like penguins and, rather than waddle, they run. The females lay typically 150-200 eggs a year, or more depending whether they are from exhibition or utility strains. They were found on the Indonesian Islands where they were 'walked' to market and sold as egg-layers or for meat. These ducks do not fly and only rarely form nests and incubate their own eggs. They run or walk, often dropping their eggs wherever they happen to be. Duck-breeders need to house their birds over night or be extremely vigilant in picking up the eggs to prevent them from being taken by other animals. Keeping the birds in sheds until well after dawn is reportedly the best solution.

The ducks vary in weight between 1.4 and 2.3 kg (3-4 ½ lbs). Their height (from crown to tail tip) ranges from 50 cm (20 inches) in small females to about 66 cm (26 inches) in the taller males. The eggs are often greenish-white in color, but these too vary.

Indian Runners love foraging. They also like swimming in ponds and streams, but they are likely to be preoccupied in running around grassy meadows looking for worms, slugs, even catching flies. They appreciate open spaces but are happy in gardens from which they cannot fly and where they make much less noise than other ducks. Only the females quack. All drakes are limited to a hoarse whisper. Runners eat less in the way of grain and pellet supplement than big table ducks. Of course, they should be given calcium and protein-rich food, especially the ducks during the extensive laying season.

We shall post some pictures of our ducks when they arrive.