Crossbreeding/Backcrossing of Green Junglefowl With Domestic Chicken and Successive Offspring

[NagemTX]

Man I just love watching your birds! Very pretty and flashy.

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

Nicalandia, any progress on this project? Any luck sourcing greens or Besikers in the US?

I actually am in the infant stages of trying to do a Grey and Ceylon Jungle Faux, i have some hybrid stock from Will Lawrence, and i have a young Grey male over Red hens now as well. I'd like to try with Greens too.

I've managed to track down one deceased breeder (with the help of Rob) and a second via the US Jungle Fowl FB group. But, he strikes me as a dead end.

I don't believe I would have any luck with adult Greens due to my winter climate, unless I got a male of breeding age in the spring, which would eventually be a sacrifice and not something I'd like to do. But, I believe if I started with Besikers, I'd be off running.

There’s also the issue that a Green male might not be willing to breed a domestic hen if it isn’t raised with domestic hens and if you start with a young male he might not be fertile until he’s 4 1/2 years old. A male Bekisar only has a 33% chance of being fertile (according to reports). So even if you get one he’s most likely NOT fertile. Someone posted photos on Facebook once of two male Bekisars that he saw at an exotic animal auction but they had already been auctioned off. He talked to one guy who bought one but he wouldn’t sell it and it was destined to be TAXIDERMY! No idea who the breeder was. Of course these two males might have been non-fertile. Perhaps someone out there is using the fertile male (or males) but no idea how to find out who. I do wonder who got Cathy Vandenberg-Hill’s birds. Maybe after her death her husband just let them all go/turned them out to free-range.

 

[Klutch]

Wouldn't Sumatra's help with a one time breeding. They also go way back originally and they came from the mainland and became a landrace.