【】
Any predators looking to get a taste of some chicken are going to have to taste the rainbow instead. Meet Percival, a three year old peacock and protector of chickens.
When faced with the dilemma of protecting your fowl, most farmers default to a trained dog or even a shot-gun. Not Queensland farmer Mark Burgunder. He enlisted the help of a peacock named Percival (or Percy to his mates) to watch over his prized poultry.
SEE ALSO:6 ways climate change is threatening food security — and what we can do about itPercy not only protects the chickens, he's pretty fond of their company too, though the egg-laying birds aren't that impressed by his colourful plume. "It didn't take long for the chickens to realise that he was no danger at all. Now they mostly ignore him, in spite of Percival showing them his wheel of feathers quite a lot," Burgunder told Mashable.
Excuse me why don't you love me?Credit: Mark S BurgunderOriginally acquired keep the snake population down on the Sunshine Coast farm, Burgunder noticed a reduction in bird of prey-related chicken deaths since Percy's arrival.
Speaking with ABC RuralBurgunder said it was only when he realised that there hadn't been an attack from a carnivorous goshawk bird for a while, that he put the pieces together. "We think it's just because of his size, the goshawks see a big bird like a peacock in the pen and they say 'Nope, not going in there,'" Burgunder said.
via GfycatThough Percy's presence deters the goshawks, the peacock is apparently finicky when it comes to other types of pests he's willing to take on. "He doesn't do the foxes or the feral cats, because we had a feral cat attack recently," Burgunder told the ABC, adding that the colourful bird likes to spend most of his time with his chicken friends.
As for the bond between peacock and chicken, Burgunder toldMashable "Some of the chickens have become a bit cheeky around him, especially when he's showing off. Some chickens like to sneak behind his 'love radar' to peck at his long large feathers."
Percy puffs out an impressive plume when he's on chicken guard duties. He's certainly one bird whose feathers you wouldn't want to ruffle.
Lovely plumage
相关文章
J.K. Rowling makes 'Harry Potter' joke about Olympics event
LONDON -- For anyone who isn't familiar with the Olympics omnium events in the velodrome, the points2024-11-21There is a protective bubble around Earth and we put it there
Humans change every environment we inhabit on Earth, building cities, clearing forests, growing crop2024-11-21'Nancy' isn't a person, it's a podcast. Oh, and it's super, super gay.
When I ask the creators of new LGBTQ podcast Nancyhow gay their show is, they're caught a little off2024-11-21Rescue shelter posted an adoption listing for an 'utter bastard of a cat'
Be warned, this cat is not for the inexperienced or faint hearted.The Cat People of Melbourne are ho2024-11-21- The group behind a growing list of celebrity social media breaches has struck again, this time takin2024-11-21
Ellen grills Nicki Minaj on Nas dating rumors, and Nicki can't deal
Ellen has a magical way of getting her celebrity guests to reveal their deep, dark secrets, especial2024-11-21
最新评论