© Photo: paunite.ovo.bg

They are really beautiful with their colored fantails. They show regal indifference towards visitors, while walking slowly or posing patiently in front of their cameras. The peacocks from the farm of Mr. Krastio Dabov have turned into local celebrities. There are over 80 birds at that place and those are all used to a life, spent in the spotlights, attracting the attention of both media and tourists..

Mr. Dabov didn’t know what huge interest his peacocks would attract, when he started to breed them 7 years ago in a unique of its kind farm near the town of Burgas. They were his hobby that turned into overwhelming passion, taking now all his time. The ex-teacher in biology, whose main business is organic farming is a proud owner of rare and attractive birds. Some of them are imported from abroad, others are result of long years of selection. Different species are crossed within this selection and thus interesting hybrids can be seen at the farm. It requires a lot of skills, patience and some imagination.
“One wants to have the best, the most beautiful and that’s normal", Krastio Dabov explains. "This year we are the peacock farm with most different species in Europe,” he praises. “We leave the best small peacocks for the future selection and the rest are sold to fans, who want to take them to their villa and enjoy their presence. All our hybrids originate from the Indian Peafowl that is the most beautiful one with its colorful fantail. The hybrids are a bit darker, with fewer colors, but are much rarer. Hence the wish to have such a peacock, to take care of it. The so-called peach peafowl is among the most precious species that we have, along with the purple one – it resembles Indian Peafowl, but changes constantly the colors of its fantail, going through all colors of the rainbow – from the dark ones to yellow.”

© Photo: paunite.ovo.bg

Peacocks are pretty capricious and difficult for breeding, unlike hens that are their distant relatives. The females lay no more than 8-12 eggs per year and barely half of those are hatched. They are fed with special corn that comes from enterprises nearby. Krastio Dabov also has a magnificent orchard, where he grows fruits according to all standards of contemporary organic farming. It is situated next to the farm and tourists visit it in the summer, attracted by the fresh scent of the fruits. The entrepreneur expects even more guests from the resorts nearby over the next months.

© Photo: paunite.ovo.bg

“Tourists enter the cages, we give them a talk on each of the species, we tell them what’s typical for it, we explain about its origin and during that time they are taking pictures,” Mr. Dabov explains. “We have little peacocks that are unique and attract the interest of the guests, turning into real models. Then tourists enter our orchard that is situated on 100 da and is full with peaches, cherries, apricots… Everyone can pick up any fruit that he or she likes. The good thing is that our fruits are not sprayed with detergents and can be consumed directly from the tree!” 

English version: Zhivko Stanchev