Birds of a feather

Tracie Boudreault sometimes takes her buddy Phoenix to work with her at Vivid Salon in Kelligrews. Mark Squibb photo

By Mark Squibb

The newest resident of Chapels Cove is unlike any other.

Phoenix is a two-month-old Indian Blue Peacock living in the Boudreault family living room.

Tracie Boudreault said her family decided to raise chickens for eating earlier this spring, citing the rising cost of groceries.

“I made a deal with my husband that if we were going to have ‘meat-birds’ I had to have at least one chicken that I was allowed to keep,” said Boudreault.

After purchasing several chickens and turkeys, they decided to buy some pygmy goats from a local farmer, who also owned a number of peacocks.

“We got on the conversation of why one would keep a peacock, because you don’t eat them, and he said that their eggs are really good,” Boudreault said. “So, he gave me two eggs, and I brought the eggs home and decided to put them in my incubator. And lo and behold, 26 days later, I went in one day and there was Phoenix peeking out at me.”

That was on July 31, which happens to be not only Boudreault’s birthday, but fictional wizard Harry Potter’s birthday as well.

“I went in on the morning of my birthday to get something out of the spare room, where the incubator was, and there he was peeking up at me, and so I thought he needed a Harry Potter related name,” said Boudreault. “And because I don’t know if he’s a male or female, I decided to go with Phoenix, which would work whether he was a boy a girl.”

Phoenixes, in both folklore and the Harry Potter franchise, were magical birds of red and gold plumage that would never die, but instead burst into flames only to be reborn from the ashes. The secret society the Order of the Phoenix, formed to oppose Lord Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters, was so named after the mythical bird.

Peacocks typically grow to the size of a medium turkey within a year. However, a male peacock can grow upwards of 10 or 12 feet.

“So, if he turns out to be a male, we haven’t quite figured out what we’re going to do yet,” laughed Boudreault. “But he’s a part of the family now so we’ll make space for him somewhere.”

Boudreault said they had an inkling that one of the eggs was developing an embryo, and so the family did some research into what’s involved in raising peacocks.

“We came to find out that a peacock is not allowed to be anywhere near chickens or turkeys for the first six months of their lives,” said Boudreault, who had assumed Phoenix would live in the barn with the rest of the livestock.

And so, Phoenix became a house peacock — for now, at least.

Born a week early, Phoenix fixated on Boudreault, the first person he saw.

“Birds imprint on the first person they see, so he instantly imprinted on me,” said Boudreault.

And so, Boudreault has taken to bringing Phoenix out and about, including to the salon in Kelligrews where she works.

“So far, he’s good with people,” said Boudreault. “I haven’t brought him to a really crowded place yet. I’m trying to acclimate him a bit. And so yesterday I went for a drive to the gas station, and he met a couple of people in there. People get really surprised by him because they don’t know what he is. Most people have never seen a baby peacock… I actually had a guy ask me if I’m breeding and selling peacocks because there’s not a lot of them around.”

Boudreault said personality-wise, Phoenix is comparable to a kitten.

“He’s pretty curious,” said Boudreault. “I crochet, and Phoenix doesn’t like to let me crochet. He will grab my wool and run off with it. So, he’s a little mischievous in that way. We call him Little Turkey because he’s like a little turkey all the time. He kind of gets on your last nerve but he’s cute so he gets away with it… He also likes to snuggle. He’ll get up into the crook of my neck and fall asleep.”

One thing you may not know about peacocks — they are born without a digestive system, which makes them difficult to feed.

“So, you have to be quite careful with them,” said Boudreault. “They’re very delicate and hard to keep alive.”

With that in mind, Phoenix is limited to baby chicken poultry feed.

“He’s only allowed to have Chick Starter for four months, which is really hard because he eats anything he can fit in his mouth right now,” said Boudreault. “I was eating a Pop Tart this morning and he was sitting on my shoulder trying to take bites out of it.”

After four months, Phoenix will switch to a higher protein diet and be allowed fruits and vegetables and worms.

If you’re reading this and now itching for a peacock of your own, Boudreault’s advice is to make sure you know what you’re getting into.

“We jumped into getting Phoenix without really doing the research and this is how we ended up with a house peacock,” said Boudreault. “We thought he would be in the house for a week and then out in the barn with the rest of the birds. But we’re looking now at least six months of him living in our living room. Some people at that point would say, “Oh, well, we’re going to get rid of him.’ But now he’s part of the family. I can’t imagine getting rid of him. So, we’re going to make the accommodations we have to make to make it work for him.”