A couple in Moorman have an unusual collection – a flock of birds with a rainbow of colorful feathers. Monica Bidwell said her husband, Jeff, bought their first pair of peacocks in 2016. The birds were an older, mated pair named Romeo and Juliet. What started with just the pair has turned into a menagerie of birds and a bustling side business for Bidwell.
Along with Indian blue peacocks, which now number seven, Bidwell raises white doves and Chinese red pheasants. She even has a white peacock, which looks a lot like a regular peacock, only with all snowy white feathers.
During the covid-19 pandemic, while many people took on baking or learning to play guitar as new hobbies, Bidwell took over the care of her growing flock. She would collect the eye feathers from the peacocks during molting season. She would keep some, and give some away to friends.
As she began to spend more time in the aviary caring for the birds, she noticed all the other colorful feathers they shed daily, and started to collect them as well.
Bidwell incorporated some of the gathered feathers into a workshop at a yoga studio in Owensboro, allowing people to use them to create wands, fans, or whatever participants could dream up. A few made earrings, which gave Bidwell the idea to create jewelry with the feathers.
Just around a year ago, Bidwell began selling her creations under the name Mo Be Jo, which include earrings, necklaces, and unique hat sprays. She is now creating items for a shop in Elizabethtown, and another in New Orleans, as well as some she sells online through her social media pages.
The climate here in Kentucky can be on the cold side, but the birds don’t seem to mind too much. Bidwell said she worries about them when we have extended periods that are below freezing and keeps an eye on them using a game camera installed in the aviary. Lamps to keep baby chicks warm are also installed inside their enclosure to keep the birds warm.
On warm days, the peacocks often sun themselves, which Bidwell said is a shocking sight. “They look like they’re dead because they sprawl out sideways.”
Cold isn’t the only thing that threatens the birds. She lost a pheasant to a predator that somehow slipped into the aviary, she said.
This time of year is mating season, and Bidwell said the peahens have been moved over to a neighbor’s house who also raises the birds. This keeps the male birds from being aggressive and fighting one another.
“If I see any fighting going on, I’m out here trying to break it up,” Bidwell said. Her husband Jeff laughs at her, and reminds her they fight when she’s not looking too. “Well, it’s not gonna happen in front of me!” she quips.
The male birds will begin dropping their tail feathers in late spring or early summer. “During that heavy molting seasons, they lose their tail feathers and the aggressiveness is not as bad,” Bidwell said. Once this happens, Bidwell can bring the female birds back to the aviary.
The peacocks like to eat fruit and vegetables, and Bidwell has planted grapes, blueberries and cherry tomatoes alongside the aviary, where they can help themselves. She also feeds them seeds and grains that help with their digestion.
The total size of the flock at this time is seven peacocks, eight Chinese red pheasants, and 10 white doves. This provides Bidwell with a wide variety of feathers to create her jewelry with.
She has a three-step process for cleaning the feathers and preparing them for use. She first picks through them and cleans and sorts them by hand. Next they go into a deep freeze for three months, to kill mites or anything else that might be living on the feathers. The final step is another hand cleaning and a cleansing process using smoke from burning cedar or pine that grows on her property.
Once the feathers are cleaned and ready to use, Bidwell creates her wearable art. Her items are unique and feature not only the classic eye feathers but also long tail feathers, soft fluffy white feathers, and the red pheasant feathers as well.
As she throws grapes to her birds, she said raising them is such a joy. She especially loves to breed the birds and watch them raise their young chicks. The peafowl mate and stay together as a family to raise the chicks. “The babies will be under the mama’s wings, which is my favorite part,” Bidwell said.
The flock chase down the grapes and the oldest males strut by, showing off nature’s adornments, meant to attract a mate. The teens in the flock have shorter tails, but are still just as bright and beautiful. Soon enough their shimmering, iridescent feathers will become jewelry, for people to adorn themselves with.
