Anyone hired an animal for a shoot before?

[Forkie]

I just sent what is possibly the weirdest email I've ever sent.

I'm planning a fashion shoot with a friend of mine and we had this crazy idea of having a peacock with it's tail feathers open in it. So a quick Google and an email to a film/TV animal supplier to enquire about cost and animal welfare procedures has set a weird thing in motion.

Anyone hired an animal before? Anyone have any clue about cost for this kind of thing?!!

If it's prohibitively expensive we might just go down the taxidermy route instead, but to have a real peacock in the studio would be fricking AWESOME!

 

[runnah]

There is an American hollywood expression coined by some actor "never work with children or animals".

 

[Forkie]

Yeah, I know. I've never been one to listen to good advice..!

 

[dennybeall]

Having been involved with horses and dogs and photography for well over 20 years I will suggest (strongly) that you look for a taxidermist in the area.
The animal will do what it wants, when it wants to do it. And somebody also has to clean up the mess on the floor..................

 

[TCampbell]

I think you're going to be disappointed.

Male peacocks normally keep their colorful plumage folded back. They unfold it and put it on display to impress the females.

 

[gsgary]

Be careful peacocks can be very aggressive I was attacked by one on a job once

 

[photoguy99]

Rubbish. Pea fowl are well known to hate Leicas. Other than that they're gentle as lambs.

 

[tirediron]

I think you're going to be disappointed.

Male peacocks normally keep their colorful plumage folded back. They unfold it and put it on display to impress the females.

Yep... even if you do find somewhere to rent the bird, it's unlikely to display on command, and it will be VERY expensive I would think, as well as messy. Taxidermy or composited would be my suggestions!

 

[Overread]

Yeah we had peafowl and they are not really all that trainable - they do what they want really. You can draw them somewhere with food but getting a full on display is going to be very hard to create, there might be some tricks to getting the display to take place, but I'm wagering that hiring a trained peacock and trainer is going to be on the high end of expensive.

A horse or dog, even a cat or parrot can at least be more easily trained to perform certain actions - some other birds are just more birdbrained

Be careful peacocks can be very aggressive I was attacked by one on a job once

I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything whilst I read this because that is funny!

 

[gsgary]

Yeah we had peafowl and they are not really all that trainable - they do what they want really. You can draw them somewhere with food but getting a full on display is going to be very hard to create, there might be some tricks to getting the display to take place, but I'm wagering that hiring a trained peacock and trainer is going to be on the high end of expensive.

A horse or dog, even a cat or parrot can at least be more easily trained to perform certain actions - some other birds are just more birdbrained

Be careful peacocks can be very aggressive I was attacked by one on a job once

I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything whilst I read this because that is funny!

I was hanging an exterior door and the bloody thing jumped on me still got a scar on my back where it was pecking me

 

[Overread]

Yeah we had peafowl and they are not really all that trainable - they do what they want really. You can draw them somewhere with food but getting a full on display is going to be very hard to create, there might be some tricks to getting the display to take place, but I'm wagering that hiring a trained peacock and trainer is going to be on the high end of expensive.

A horse or dog, even a cat or parrot can at least be more easily trained to perform certain actions - some other birds are just more birdbrained

Be careful peacocks can be very aggressive I was attacked by one on a job once

I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything whilst I read this because that is funny!

I was hanging an exterior door and the bloody thing jumped on me still got a scar on my back where it was pecking me

I'm still finding this amazingly funny!




Even though I know pheasants can be really dangerous if they want - my dads been attacked by the rheeves we keep (actually that male is gone now but he's got others) - those inch long spurs on their legs are sharp - deadly things too if they get up to any height to attack from cause they always go for the face.

 

[tirediron]

Yeah we had peafowl and they are not really all that trainable - they do what they want really. You can draw them somewhere with food but getting a full on display is going to be very hard to create, there might be some tricks to getting the display to take place, but I'm wagering that hiring a trained peacock and trainer is going to be on the high end of expensive.

A horse or dog, even a cat or parrot can at least be more easily trained to perform certain actions - some other birds are just more birdbrained

Be careful peacocks can be very aggressive I was attacked by one on a job once

I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything whilst I read this because that is funny!

I was hanging an exterior door and the bloody thing jumped on me still got a scar on my back where it was pecking me

Maybe the bird was a joinery critic?

 

[gsgary]

Yeah we had peafowl and they are not really all that trainable - they do what they want really. You can draw them somewhere with food but getting a full on display is going to be very hard to create, there might be some tricks to getting the display to take place, but I'm wagering that hiring a trained peacock and trainer is going to be on the high end of expensive.

A horse or dog, even a cat or parrot can at least be more easily trained to perform certain actions - some other birds are just more birdbrained

Be careful peacocks can be very aggressive I was attacked by one on a job once

I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything whilst I read this because that is funny!

I was hanging an exterior door and the bloody thing jumped on me still got a scar on my back where it was pecking me

I'm still finding this amazingly funny!




Even though I know pheasants can be really dangerous if they want - my dads been attacked by the rheeves we keep (actually that male is gone now but he's got others) - those inch long spurs on their legs are sharp - deadly things too if they get up to any height to attack from cause they always go for the face.

I had golden pheasants when I lived in Cornwall and the cock used to have a go at me

 

[Nevermore1]

Go with the taxidermist! My friend has a few peacocks and they will only display when they want to. Not to mention they will also do what they want when they want (my friend has had to get one of his off the roof multiple times, he still can't figure out how it gets up there).
Too bad you are in the UK or I'd get him to let you use one of his (if you are insistent on a live one), he has more than enough birds and probaly wouldn't notice a few missing (we're talking nearly 250, chicken, ducks, geese, peacocks, pheasants, turkeys - all different breeds).

 

[gsgary]

Yeah we had peafowl and they are not really all that trainable - they do what they want really. You can draw them somewhere with food but getting a full on display is going to be very hard to create, there might be some tricks to getting the display to take place, but I'm wagering that hiring a trained peacock and trainer is going to be on the high end of expensive.

A horse or dog, even a cat or parrot can at least be more easily trained to perform certain actions - some other birds are just more birdbrained

Be careful peacocks can be very aggressive I was attacked by one on a job once

I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything whilst I read this because that is funny!

I was hanging an exterior door and the bloody thing jumped on me still got a scar on my back where it was pecking me

Maybe the bird was a joinery critic?

Never had any complaints