Dimitar, who breeds colourful explosions at his peacock farm in the village of Susam

published on 3/19/24 9:20 AM

Photo: Georgi Argirov

Dimitar Dimitrov breeds goats, fruit trees, California worms and, until recently, horses. But now his greatest love is peacocks.

In the village of Susam in the Haskovo region, he looks after 300 large and 200 small colourful birds of 26 varieties, reports BNR-Kardzhali. It is the largest collection of peafowl in Bulgaria. The owner is an agronomist by training, so he has expertise and years of experience to back up his hobby.

It all started by chance, says Dimitar. He wanted to have a vibrant, living piece of beauty in his garden and bought several peacocks. But this only fuelled his desire for more. So he started to raise his own breeds. Today, 5 years later, there are 500 multi-coloured birds on his farm. "This is something that gives me great pleasure, because you are both working and enjoying the beauty of the birds," Dimitar says, adding:

"By mating birds I can create beauty, I can create art. Through nature we can get even more beautiful things than in their original form... In the first years I didn't know what would happen if I crossed two species. There was no one to ask. But gradually, by learning from other people from abroad and by experimenting, I acquired skills," says the collector.

It's always curious what the result will be, because you don't know in generations what genes will be mixed in the new chicks, Dimitar tells us, not hiding his excitement. In practice, 90 per cent of peacocks are different from their parents. It turns out that the price of the birds doesn't depend on their beauty, because everyone has different tastes, but on how rare they are and how many there are in the world. Which are the most valuable birds on Dimitri's farm?

"We have the rarest peacock in the world, which is a 'charcoal' - almost entirely black. Apart from being attractive, it is very rare, meaning that there are very few such specimens in the world, and it is the result of many years of selection. It is one of our attractions because there are no other such specimens in Bulgaria. Its peahens do not produce offspring. Another interesting variety is our Spalding Pied, which is very valuable to me. Its parents are from America and it is also human bred after many years of selection and it is extremely rare and beautiful" - Dimitar is proud.

Customers of his farm usually buy peacocks with the idea of having them in their garden, villa, hotel or as an addition to their zoo. Dimitar has noticed that in 90% of cases white peacocks "catch the eyes of women". Customers have called to buy some of the beautiful birds for food, but the owner has flatly refused because he loves his peafowl. Two of them are his pets - a peacock and a peahen who follow him around and play with him. But these birds are not usually the cuddliest of creatures.

"I've bred horses, they're warm-blooded animals that show affection and you get attached to them. So when I had to sell them, I cried. It's not the same with peafowl. I still love them, but they're not affectionate. Maybe that's why I keep peacocks, because it's easier to part with them.

Prices for the birds can go up to 1,500 BGN (750 EUR) for the rarer varieties. Otherwise, the farm in the village of Susam is open to anyone who wants to get up close and personal with Dimitar's colourful feathered friends.

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Compiled by Veneta Nikolova (based on a story by Galina Stefanova, Mehmed Rejeb, Georgi Argirov from BNR-Kardzhali)

Photos: Georgi Argirov

Translated and posted by Elizabeth Radkova

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