There will be discussion of animal death in this post.
One of the questions I get asked a lot is: what do peafowl taste like/have I ever eaten them?
And the answer is that I haven't personally eaten them, but I've sold some for eating, particularly ones who were aggressive or deformed. I don't have a problem with them being eaten- they ARE livestock, after all, regardless of any other thing I may post here. They fall under the umbrella of "domestic wild game fowl" (as opposed to domestic game fowl, which are cockfighting chickens), and part of being "wild game" is being hunted for food. In this case, there's less hunting and more raising in captivity, but sometimes being food is a part of the deal.
And it should be! There are always going to be more males produced than people need; the birth ratio is going to be 50:50 males and females, but most people keep the birds in harems (one male to several hens), meaning there's a surplus. The males often just get sold cheap to unsuitable homes so the breeder can recoup some of the costs of keeping the birds, and this means those extra males may face inappropriate care and the prospect of a slow death through neglect, disease, or a violent end via predation. I see it happen all the time in groups and forums, and it's part of why my own breeding programs are slow; I produce only a few birds a year, and I will skip a year in order to give myself time to find suitable homes for the last year's babies if I haven't yet.
This year, I knew I was not going to find homes for all of the males; I HAD hoped that the ratio would be a little better (14 males to 5 hens was.... painful), but at the end of the day, I'm fine with having the extra males, because I had enough of them to raise for meat. To that end, I have officially separated the yearling males, and they will be going to a local butcher tomorrow for processing. They've put on good weight in the last month, and while I could probably have given them another extra month, I wanted to clear the pens for breeding season before February, when the males will start courting in earnest for late march/april eggs.
Different places have different notes about how long before processing to remove the feed, but it's generally 12-24 hours. I've split the difference and removed it at 18 hours. They still have water, as much of it as they want. This past week they've gotten a boatload of fresh treats and whole grains/peanuts, and up to yesterday the weather was pretty nice here so they were enjoying some winter sun. This morning, I spent a while cutting up some VERY sweet grapes, black cherries, and watermelon, to go with raspberries and blueberries. There was enough that everyone in the pen could eat whatever they wanted, and still have some to spare, so even the more timid boys got a belly full of yummy treats before I pulled food.
We'll be heading out early tomorrow morning. I'm a bit sad, but I know that they've had a great life here, and that in a few short months, there will be new life in their stead. I haven't raised large meat birds in a long time, but we also didn't get a deer this year, so this will also help to cover that gap in our household stores.
And as sad as I am about it, I am looking forward to being able to personally answer the question: what does peafowl taste like?
seananmcguire