Saw the Blue turkey today

So been a bit of talk around my way of a blue turkey living by one if the roads near my place. Well finally saw it today lol.


Ends up the folks on this road raise some exotics along with the rabbits chickens horses, goats cows and so on. I guess most folks have never seen a peacock up close, so they cause a stir when they get out and start wandering up and down the road there was a pretty white he with him as well almost looked like it had some silver. Regardless Imma bring this picture up the next time all the old guys are out back drinking and see how many arguments will get started

I got called once to capture one of them , it was hanging around this condo complex. People there were worried it would not survive the winter.

I was unsuccessful. I brought a throw net. I very quickly learned how fast they can get airborne. As I was winding up to throw the net it crouched down with it's long legs and jumped high into the air , it went up a good 10-15 feet straight up before it used it's wings and flew away. I told the people who lived at the condo complex , I bet it will do OK on it's own. Live and learn.

BTW , they are slightly related to turkeys , just a little bit. So calling it a blue turkey is not much of a stretch.

Wonder how they taste???

Taste? Imagine giant pheasant!

Like chicken ... Of corse...lol


Donnie

Tastes better than Owl

40+ years ago, there were wild peacocks a few miles from here that lived in the woods. I'm sure they had been someone's pets that got away. I don't know how long they were there before I came along. They are still around so they have obviously survived at least 40 years of NJ's winters and had several generations since then.

You can hear them from a mile away.

I shot one several years ago with a 223. Like shooting a pillow !

I know a Mexican who eats 40 some peafowl a year. He really likes them. It's his favorite bird to eat.

Keith

but not near as good as eagle

some friends of mine had peacocks gifted to them , something about they were good to have around the farm or something , I think the people who gave them to them were just pawning them off on someone else.

they were annoyingly loud and flew high into the trees near the house for the night

they did die on the 2nd winter but I think it was 37 below zero

no one at the farm was sad about them being gone

so they do ok in most winter weather

they also liked to look at them selves in the house windows then bang on them

like I said no one was sad.

you know the best way to get people to stop dropping animals off at your farm for you to feed. what ever it is shoot it and eat it. they will get the hint.

Historically peafowl was considered a delicacy eaten by kings and nobility.

I've seen pink elephants many times.

Moosetrot

They always laid there eggs on top of my grandpas Allis loader tractor he fed cows with. They would roll off cab, break on hood, run down on manifold and reek like burnt egg forever, he hated them, grandma loved them. She won obviously, but they did disappear eventually.

Neighbor had a white one that would fly up to the ridge of his house fan and sound off. I could see him from my front yard. Both he and the neighbor are long gone. I miss them.

There were 3 peacocks that used to stay with a large flock of wild turkeys about 6-7 miles from my house. Saw them in the fields with the turkeys year around. They would strut with gobblers in the spring and when they made that crazy racket that they make, ALL of the gobblers within hearing would gobble. I guess they finally died out, haven’t seen or heard them in 7-8 years

They're nice to have around during turkey season. Every time they sound off the turkeys shock gobble. Aside from that they are probably a pain in the butt.

Pete

I was at a cousins house one evening. Just as the sun set his hens started making a ruckus. He said something had been bothering them for a few days. Well we lit out to see what it was that was causin the ruckus. He slung the door open to the hen house and the gawd awfullest scream I have ever heard came out of that hen house. Skeered me most to death and didn't do my cousin any good either. He ran backards, plum over me, as I had already fell tryin to get out of there.

I had never heard a peacock make a racket like that before. I was sure the devil himself had gotten the both of us.

Found out later that peacock had run off from a farm over the big ridge behind the house. I don't think they ever did catch the thing. Nor did it ever go home as far as I know.

I like peafowl and would like to get more. The last 4 I had I sold for the exact money I needed to buy a truck I wanted. Prices on peafowl have been very good here for the last few years.

The peacocks sound like a woman yelling help to me, when they call. When I lived in town, I brooded one in my basement. I somewhat worried someone would walk by and think a woman was yelling for help from my basement. He was real tame and would perch on my hand when he was little and arm when he got big. He got killed by a coyote when he was 5 years old.

I like guineas too, which are much more obnoxious sounding. I've thought about artificially inseminating guinea hens with peacock sperm to make crosses. The hybrids are really neat and bring huge money. The hybrids are sterile.

I need 600 pounds of live guineas and I am having a hard time finding them at a decent price.

Keith

Close but I would Place it more like grouse then pheasant

Had some years ago and would eat them now and then when I had an extra that did not sell, I would rate them way better then turkey but not as good as grouse

To expensive to eat nowadays with what they bring at the auctions around here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCMhJsy4H_o

from New Zealand

[quote=swift4me]They're nice to have around during turkey season. Every time they sound off the turkeys shock gobble../quote]
That's a fact. Gobblers light up when they hear peacocks

My daughter and son in law have started raising "blue turkeys" (Made me laugh when I saw the picture) Things are noisy. i wouldnt want one. They can fend for themselves pretty good but bobcats and coyotes are both good hunters. They do lots better with some human protection. Takes a male about 3 years before it will breed hens. They are not real prolific breeders. I never thought much about eating one. An adult, especially one capable of breeding, is kinda valuable. Kinda cause of costs to care for them that long. The money is in selling the young and sometimes tailfeathers. Anyway they are mostly feathers. The actual body is not very big. Not much meat on one.

Many parts are edible! Ok the whole thing.

A friend somehow got ahold of 1. We cleaned it and had his wife cook it like a butterball. She overcooked it some so it was slightly dry. Not the birds fault.

When cleaned the carcass looked like a wild turkey.

I would eat it again. It tasted like turkey.

I used to visit this very elderly Armenian lady. She was quite wealthy but lived very simple. She had a few of them in her yard. Her dogs would chase them and pull out their tail feathers lol. Each time we'd stop by she would give us a few. She had bouquets of peacock feathers everywhere.

We had a pair that staked claim to one of my best pheasant hunting areas years ago. 3 setters locked down hard in the tall grass. Send the lab in and up comes a 8 pound pheasant. The look on the clients face was priceless. Lol had lots of good laughs when that happened. They finally moved off and joined a flock of turkeys for a couple years. Haven’t seen them in a while.

They sure make a loud call

why wouldn't he shoot it

"or any other species not listed " invasive species