Can You Eat Peacock Eggs?

The eggs of peafowl are edible, and historically, humans have eaten both the eggs and the meat of these birds.

Before I delve into the details on how the eggs taste like and whether they’re available for mass consumption, I must clear something up.

Although the terms “peacock” and “peafowl” are used interchangeably, it must be noted that peacocks are the males of the species and as such, they don’t lay eggs. Only the females – the peahens – lay eggs.

Setting this distinction aside, let’s see if peafowl eggs are good to eat, what do they taste like, how easy is it to buy a peacock egg, and where exactly can you buy them from.

Are Peafowl Eggs Good to Eat?

Peafowl eggs are good to eat. They’re safe for human consumption. These eggs are almost twice as big as chicken eggs.

Of course, both chicken eggs and peafowl eggs vary in their size from species to species, but an average Blue peafowl egg is around 90-100 grams or 3.2-3.5 oz.

So, if you ever have the opportunity to taste a peafowl egg, you can safely do so, knowing it’s safe for human consumption.

What Does Peacock Eggs Taste?

Although I haven’t tasted it myself, accounts of people who have tasted peacock eggs say that it tastes a lot like chicken eggs.

Others claim that peacock eggs taste much better than chicken eggs because they have a richer, more gamey taste.

Those with experience in raising poultry know that the taste of the egg is very much tied to the diet of the poultry, and this holds true for peacocks as well.

It’s possible that peacock eggs collected from the wild may taste better than those of captive-raised peacocks, or vice versa.

In any event, there’s no accounting for taste, and you should try peacock eggs yourself to see if you like them.

Unfortunately, peacock eggs are not easy to come by. And there are good reasons for this, as I will explain a bit further on in this article.

Benefits of Eating Peacock Eggs

Some of the benefits of eating peacock eggs are the same as the benefits of eating the eggs of any type of poultry. If you’re unfamiliar with these benefits, here’s a quick breakdown:

– Rich source of protein

Peahen eggs are a source of animal protein, which is helpful in building body mass and in the repair of broken muscle fiber.

– High-fat content

Peacock eggs are also a rich source of fat including saturated, unsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol. Because of the size of the yolk, peacock eggs have a much higher fat content compared to chicken eggs.

Because of their high fat content, peahen eggs should be consumed as part of a varied and balanced diet.

– Source of vitamins and minerals

Peahen eggs are a rich source of vitamin B12 and B9 as well as other types of vitamin B (B1, B2, B3, B5 and B6). Other than B vitamins, peahen eggs also contain vitamin D, zinc, iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium, selenium, and trace amounts of other minerals.

Why You Can’t Buy Peacock Eggs in Stores?

If you wanted to buy peacock eggs in your local supermarket or grocery store, the chances of you finding peacock eggs for sale are slim.

The reasons why you can’t find these eggs in stores are multifold. For starters, they’re expensive, by far more expensive than chicken eggs.

Secondly, demand for these eggs isn’t as high, so it doesn’t make sense for stores to have them in stock.

But perhaps the most important reason is that peacocks simply don’t produce many eggs. On average, a peahen may lay around 20 eggs a year. Compared to this, chickens lay 5-6 eggs a week.

Peacocks themselves are expensive too, and the cost of raising peacocks is much higher than the cost of raising chicken.

So if you can’t buy peacock eggs in a store, where can you buy them from?

Whether you’re buying eggs to eat them or you want to hatch the eggs in an incubator, and raise the peachicks yourself, the only place you can buy peafowl eggs is from peafowl breeders.

Fertility of the eggs is obviously not guaranteed, so it’s a risk – and investment – that you may have to take if you’re buying peahen hatching eggs.

The cost of the eggs will vary depending on the species of peafowl, the size, and color of the eggs. The cost will also be driven by how many eggs a given peahen can lay.

How Much do Peacock Eggs Cost?

Peafowl eggs are expensive, especially when compared to chicken eggs. The cost of a single peahen egg can vary significantly, and it can cost anywhere between $25 to $100 for a single egg. The average cost of a peahen egg is around $45.

Without question, it’s a lot of money to spend on a single egg, especially if you’re looking to hatch them, without any guarantee that they’re even fertile.

Some might tell you that you’re better off just buying a peachick or an adult peafowl if your objective is to raise peafowls.

If you want the full experience of raising these birds from their very first day, it makes sense to buy the eggs and hatch them in an incubator yourself.

Conclusion

So, should you try peafowl eggs? Are they worth the high cost?

Clearly, the answer depends on how much you value the experience of eating a peafowl egg, or how much you want to hatch the eggs in an incubator.

Peafowl eggs are larger than chicken eggs. But they’re also much more expensive. The high cost is driven in part by the fact that, compared to chickens, peahens lay much fewer eggs a year. The scarcity and the higher cost of raising peafowl, make the cost of the eggs go up as well.

If you’d like to hatch peahen eggs in an incubator and you’re worried about the fertility of the eggs, the alternative is to buy either adult peafowls or peachicks.