A peacock spread its feathers. A farmer saw a business

When one peacock spreads its tail, the others scarcely seem to notice. They continue pecking at the ground, wandering across the farm or standing in the sun as though a spectacle of blue, green and gold were an entirely ordinary interruption.

For Shah Ali, it no longer is.

In 2019, Ali bought seven peacocks because he liked watching them. There was no business plan, no calculation of breeding cycles and no ready market waiting in this village in Cumilla’s Homna upazila. There was simply the pleasure of seeing an extravagant bird open its feathers and dance.

Seven years later, the seven have become 150, the pastime has become an enterprise and Ali has acquired a new identity. In Babarkandi, asking for his address can be unnecessary. Visitors need only ask for “Shah Ali, the peacock farmer.”

The farm, in Nilakhi Union, is now a small kingdom of improbable colour. Peacocks move across its open spaces, searching for food or strolling with the self-possession of creatures apparently aware that people have travelled to look at them. Every few minutes, one stops and raises its tail into a shimmering fan.

Some visitors come only to watch. Others come to buy.

Ali estimates that the peacocks remaining on his farm are worth about 35 lakh taka, or roughly $29,000. He says he has already sold birds worth another 22 lakh taka. Depending on their age, size and appearance, a pair can sell for between 30,000 and 150,000 taka.

The farm’s growth was not entirely separate from family history. Ali’s father raised cattle, and after his death, the son took over the operation. Rather than abandoning the inherited business, he placed his unusual new venture beside it.

“My father used to run a cattle farm,” Ali told Daily Waadaa “After he died, I began raising peacocks alongside the cattle.”

His cattle shed now contains 12 high-yielding cows, which together produce about 120 kilograms of milk a day. The cows provide the steadier business; the peacocks provide the more striking one.

“I started with seven peacocks,” he said. “By hatching their eggs and raising the chicks, I now have 150.”

An unusual choice 

Peacock farming occupies an unusual corner of Bangladesh’s livestock economy. Unlike chickens, ducks or cattle, the birds do not supply an everyday necessity. Their value rests largely on beauty and rarity, making their market narrower and less predictable.

The buyers are mostly affluent hobbyists. Some want peacocks walking through a garden or country home. Others keep them at private farms. A few simply want to possess a bird whose appearance is its principal commercial asset.

That distinction makes peacock farming potentially profitable but difficult to scale. Chicken can be sold because somebody needs food. A peacock must wait until somebody falls in love with it.

“Peacocks cannot be sold whenever you want,” Ali said. “People will buy them only if they like them.”

His largest sale was a fully grown pair for 150,000 taka. Smaller or younger pairs command considerably less. Income also comes from the products the birds shed or produce: individual feathers sell for 20 to 50 taka, while four eggs can bring as much as 10,000 taka.

Ali calculates that he has spent about 12 lakh taka on the operation so far. His reported sales suggest a healthy return, although much of the farm’s value remains tied up in living birds awaiting the right buyers.

The daily costs are modest. A peacock eats much the same feed as a chicken, he said, costing about six taka a day. Vitamins, calcium and other supplements raise the total to seven or eight taka.

But cheap feed does not eliminate commercial risk. Ali warns prospective farmers against seeing his flock of 150 and immediately attempting to reproduce it. The market for ornamental birds is governed by taste and patience rather than routine demand.

“Nobody should make the mistake of starting with a large farm,” he said. “Begin with one or two pairs and see how it goes. If you believe you can manage it, then consider expanding.”

Advice for newcomers 

He also advises newcomers to retain another source of income. His own cattle business provides such protection. Milk can be sold each day; a peacock may remain on the farm for months before finding a buyer.

That uncertainty has not prevented the farm from becoming a local attraction. Visitors arrive from other areas to see the birds and, occasionally, to take a pair home. For Babarkandi, a village unlikely to have expected peacock tourism, Ali’s experiment has produced both curiosity and pride.

“Shah Ali has created a stir in the area by raising peacocks,” said Nur Islam, a local resident. “People come from far away to see and buy them. He is a hardworking farmer.”

Government officials have also taken notice. Md Shafiqul Alam, the livestock officer for Homna upazila, told Waadaa that Ali’s was the only peacock farm in the area. Livestock officials inspect it regularly and are trying to provide technical assistance, he said.

The birds also raise regulatory questions because peacocks occupy a less familiar category than conventional livestock.

Md Mazharul Islam, the Forest Department’s Chandina range officer, said licensing rules apply to certain native wild animals. Peacocks, however, are treated as foreign animals in Bangladesh, placing them under different requirements. Farmers must still notify the Forest Department before establishing such an operation, he said.

Ali has renewed the authorization for his farm, according to the official.

For now, he has no intention of treating 150 peacocks as the natural limit. He wants to expand, convinced that careful breeding and a better understanding of the market can turn an ornamental bird into a durable source of income.

The ambition is visible amid the daily routine of the farm: feeding, cleaning, collecting eggs and waiting for customers whose arrival cannot be scheduled.

Then a peacock spreads its feathers.

Visitors stop to stare. Ali looks, too, but his gaze is no longer that of a hobbyist alone. 

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