Over the past several years, incubating poultry and waterfowl eggs has been a popular project with the Carroll County Cooperative Extension Service.  Ducks, quail, and a wide variety of chickens have been successfully hatched, with the hatched birds being offered to Carroll County 4-H’ers for county fair projects.

The 2021 incubation project features a new bird species our Extension Office has yet to incubate:  peafowl.

Peafowl are native to Sri Lanka in India, where they were found living in open forests near streams.  Peafowl males, or peacocks, are most widely known for their beautiful, eye-catching plumage.  Peafowl females, or peahens, are any variation of browns, greys, and creams.   Peahens can lay only about five to nine eggs a year in their most reproductive years (fourth year and up).   The birds eat grains, insects, snakes, small fish, and frogs.

Six peafowl eggs were purchased from the Peafowl Information Center, a peafowl farm in Iowa.  We are awaiting their arrival (expected in May) so the incubation project can begin.   Incubation of peafowl eggs is approximately 28 days.