Four days ago Trevor told me he had a great idea. We should decorate the peacock pen. I was thinking maybe holiday decorations would be on his mind, wondering what comes up next I asked, "What exactly is on your mind, son?" He said, "Oh, how about a jungle, with grass and trees and flowers, and maybe a waterfall and rocks. Then we should move the doves in with the peacocks so they will all be friends and won't be so lonely." I said, "That is a great idea, but no waterfall." I could just see how messy a waterfall would be to clean up after peacocks, full of feathers and what I will politely call 'pea dirt' here.
So the next day I went to Lowe's, and for slightly under $250 I purchased a plethora of grass seed, hooks, chain and plants. After school Trevor helped me haul all the potted plants and assorted goodies to the peacock pen. We spaced all the plants and put them all in a pleasing arrangement. He found a ladder and I installed hooks in the rafters while he held the ladder gave helpful manly advice, like, "Don't you fall off that ladder because you are way too big for me to pick up.", and "Watch out now, don't you get that sharp hook too close to your eye. You could poke an eye out! You're lookin' a little wobbly up there! You better hang on tight! Be careful!" Eventually we had ferns hanging from the roof and plants situated in the sunny spots, a bird feeder assembled and stuck on a pole and another hung from the rafters. The next day Jordan, Trevor and I dug holes, hauled manure and planted flowers and two bird of paradise trees, planted grass seed and were a muddy sweaty mess by quitting time. Trevor said, "I'm sorry, Mimi...this is a lot of hard work! It went a whole lot faster when I was just thinking it up!" Yesterday his older brother, Travis, helped haul rock which made a patio around the water pan and finished the project. Tomorrow I will take pictures and post them for you to see, but don't expect too much. Tonight I saw the doves are eating the grass seed and the peacocks have eaten the leaves off some of the flowers. Hopefully I have chosen animal friendly plants. I know the grass seed was supposed to be kid and pet friendly, non-coated seed, so it makes good, if not very expensive bird seed. Hopefully some will grow and eventually the peacock pen will turn into the peafowl and dove paradise Trevor imagined! He continues to search for other bird-friendly creatures to add to the bird zoo... he thinks perhaps a box turtle or two?
I neglected to mention we caught the dirty rotten skunk responsible for destroying the peace and tranquility of the flock, not to mention the murder of the white peahen and the blue juvenile peacock. Michael and Jordan reinforced the pen with 1 inch poultry netting last week, so we are hoping that eliminates further attacks on our bird family! Paul has decided keeping peafowl is a lot of bother, but none of the rest of us believe they are TOO much bother! :) We love them!
The peacock has been molting for a month and lost his last "eye feather" today. Only two more tail prop feathers to go and he can start in growing a whole new beautiful set of feathers for next year! The one remaining hen is a dummy. She lays her eggs while on the roost. I don't need to tell you how inappropriate that would be for survival of the species. I am hoping and believe I am right in assuming the tiny little three week old chick still in juvenile detention is another hen! She is mostly white and bronze and is very sweet. I hope she thrives! I was told by the woman who sold these birds to me that if you can raise a bird to a year old they are practically indestructible except to predators, but they are fragile during that first year. A scary thought: A normal lifespan of a peacock can be as long as 50 years. In that case, I will be around 110 if the peacock dies of old age!
No comments:
Post a Comment