Imprinting Experiment - Page 2  

I see nothing wrong with it and wish you luck. And let us know how it turns out.

First 3 posts ever....... 

 

 I am out of this thread.

Edited by rebelcowboysnb - 1/27/13 at 9:11pm

If it walks like a duck . . . , eh, reb?

 

 

 

I'll give it one shot.

 

I'd go with the pheasant, because it's an introduced species anyway. But I can tell you the probable result, because other people have done similar things in the past. The pheasant will think it's a chicken, and will stay put, and try to breed with the chickens - you can see some pictures of chicken/pheasant hybrids on feathersite:

 

http://www.sitelevel.com/click?url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.feathersite.com%2fPoultry%2f%2fNDG%2fPheas%2fRingN%2fBRKRingNHybrids.html&sid=67J2xav8R4EymVuo

 

(yikes! That's a long link!)

 

I am not aware of any way to induce broodiness in a hen, other than putting eggs or something similar in a nest and hoping she decides to sit on them. Whether a broody would accept a chick that wasn't hers is not a thing anyone can predict, because every hen is different. Some hens even kill their own chicks as they hatch - though since this bird stole a chick from another hen, she seems unlikely to do that. Hens have raised ducks countless times. I had a duck that was hatched in an incubator but raised with chicks; he took a while to figure out that he wasn't a chicken, but eventually he did. 

 

Realistically, all you will be able to observe in your experiment is what this bird does while it is still in your flock - assuming that the other birds in your flock don't kill it. I assume you feed your birds, so they only have to be passable foragers - that's a far cry from having the skills to find enough food to thrive. I hope you give your birds some type of night time shelter, too - something that would be totally foreign to a wild bird. There have been many attempts to augment depleted game bird stocks with captive raised birds (quail, primarily) that have failed miserably, because the captive raised birds simply hadn't the skills to survive, and couldn't adapt to the lifestyle change quickly enough. I believe that the most likely result of this experiment will be that, if your bird tries to "return to the wild", it won't survive, because life as a chicken won't have equipped it to do so.

I would not take a wild bird and try to have your chicken hatch it. If you are that interested, buy some ring neck pheasant eggs from a breeder or just use domestic duck eggs. Many others have done the same with birds and I'm sure with some research you could find all the answers you need without tampering with nature.

I don't blame you for wanting to experiment, but I don't think stealing eggs from the wild is a good idea either.

wooow haha, just because she just made the account doesnt mean she doesnt know anything. I think it sounds like a good experiment. She oughta look into it first, like the robin example, you have to make sure they feed the same way. and it cant be too small because you dont want to have the duck squash it, :/

There is nothing scientific about this, so change that to "personal curiosity".

You were already advised on how to do the exact same thing, only legally and with proper consideration given to wild ecosystems. Whether you choose to follow that is up to you, but unfortunately the effects are not limited to yourself and one bird.

As much money as the US wastes on scientific experiments I am sure this has. Even done before. It sounds like a fun experiment but I suggest you get an egg or chick from a breeder for obviously stated reasons but not from the wild just for mere stubbornness.

Plus the fact that you dont even know if this wild species is incubated the same amount of time and under the same conditions. You dont know if this egg in particular will not survive. This is just not right at all. It is sick and disturbing.