What Do Peacocks Eat? A List of Common Food Types

Peacocks grow in high-mountain trees and mainly live in hilly forests, dry semi-desertified grasslands, shrublands and deciduous forest areas. They especially like to live near water. At dawn and dusk they follow their flock to the fields to forage, build their nests on the ground, but roost in trees. They mainly feed on seeds, insects, fruits and small reptiles. Let's take a look below!

What Do Peacocks Eat?

Peacocks are omnivorous birds. They like to eat fruits such as Pyrus pashia (wild pear) and yellow raspberry, and also eat grass seeds, tree seeds, rice grains and seedlings. Their animal-based foods include locusts, crickets, lepidopteran and coleopteran insects, as well as frogs, lizards and so on.

Types of Feed for Peacocks

1. Protein: Plant-based feeds include soybean cake, soybean, peanut cake, sesame cake, rapeseed cake, cottonseed cake and sunflower seed cake, etc. These feeds contain 35-50% protein and can make up about 30% of the total feed. Animal-based feeds include fish meal, eggs, bone-and-meat meal, silkworm pupae, feather meal, blood meal, etc., which contain 40-80% protein and can make up 20-25% of the total feed.

2. Energy feed: This includes corn, wheat, barley, sorghum and rice grains, among which the energy content is about 13.0 MJ/kg. Bran feeds are low in energy, large in volume and rich in crude fiber, which exactly meets the nutritional needs of peacocks. So bran, rice bran, corn bran, sorghum bran and the like can make up 5% of the total feed.

3. Minerals: Shell powder, zeolite powder, bone meal and salt are also essential substances indispensable for the growth and development of peacocks, and can make up 2% of the total feed.

4. Green feed: Green vegetables, wild vegetables, pasture grass, etc., can make up 20-30% of the total feed.

5. Additives: These include amino acids, minerals, various vitamins, etc., and should be increased or decreased as appropriate according to the different rearing stages of peacocks and the different rearing conditions of the peacock flock.

Feed Formulas for Peacocks

1. Feed formula for young chicks: corn 40%, soybean cake 20%, bran 6%, fish meal 14%, millet 7%, wheat 6%, minerals 27%, salt 0.3%, bone meal 2%, yeast 2%. The crude protein content of the diet is 22.6%, and the metabolizable energy is 11.9 MJ/kg. This feed is used for peacocks before 50 days of age.

2. Feed formula for medium female peacocks: corn 45%, sorghum 5%, soybean cake 18%, soybean 3%, fish meal 8%, bone meal 4%, bran 10%, yeast 3%, salt 0.5%, shell powder 0.5%.

3. Feed formula for young peacocks: corn 38%, whole wheat flour 10%, bran 4.6%, sorghum 3%, soybean cake 21%, soybean flour 8%, fish meal 10%, yeast 3%, bone meal 1%, shell powder 1%, salt 0.4%. This feed is used for peacocks hatched the previous year before 22 months of age.

4. Feed formula for growing peacocks: corn 60%, bran 8.5%, soybean cake 18%, fish meal 8%, yeast 3%, shell powder 2%, salt 0.5%. This feed is used for adult peacocks.

5. Feed formula for laying peacocks: corn 45%, soybean cake 16%, soybean 10%, fish meal 10%, bran 8.5%, bone meal 5%, salt 0.5%. This feed is used for peacocks during the laying period.

6. Feed formula for breeding peacocks: corn 48%, whole wheat flour 5%, bran 5%, sorghum 2%, soybean cake 20%, soybean flour 5%, fish meal 8%, yeast 2%, bone meal 2%, shell powder 2.5%, salt 0.5%. This feed is used for breeding peacocks. The above feeds must have additives such as multivitamins and trace elements added as appropriate.