Breeding Pheasants

[PoultryPower]

I need a question answered rather quickly.
We are going to go buy a female for our Golden pheasant tomorrow at a fair.
Our pheasant is 75% Golden and 25% Lady Amherst.
We were wondering, if we buy a purebred Golden pheasant female for him, will their offspring be considered purebred?
Thanks!

 

[Tony K T]

How do you know the % of your birds?If you breed any cross breed to anythiong it is still a cross breed.Plus the bird you are buying may be crossed also.Everyone says they have pure birds,but not to many of them do have pure birds.
If you do buy a hen for him you can't just throw her in his pen,he will kill her even if it's a hen.This is his domain and he will protect it even if a hen steps in.You need to put her in a pen and then add him to that pen.Have that pen ready for laying season,with egg baskets hung filled with straw,and straw on the ground so you don't have to interupt their courtship which will start real soon.You will also need a place for the hen to hide in case he gets to rough for her she has a place to get away from him.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Lophura]

That's the big problem with referring to wild species like domestic fowl, something I badly wish would change. Domestic breed characteristics can be manipulated and the birds could appear as a pure specimen of that domestic breed. Once a species once crossed, they will forever carry that hybrid gene and birds such Chrysolophus will produce fertile offspring which has destroyed most pure birds in captivity.

Do every thing Tony said. If you still get the hen, eat her eggs.

 

[De Wet]

agree please do not breed with a crossbreed keep the species pure...

 

[Lophura]

It seems a losing battle as long people look at pheasants as nothing more than "exotic" poultry, treat them like chickens, and not as the avicultural wild species they are. Been banging my head against that wall for a long, long time. It's frustrating. These birds are in trouble in the wild, if people think I'm just blowing liberal tree-hugging smoke, just go check out some links for yourselves. We need to take some responsibility in keeping these species. I personally would like to see the big hatcheries stop selling them and stricter laws, may tick people off, but would benefit the conservation movement. Or we can just keep going, doing what we're doing, and let them go the way of the Passenger Pigeon, Heath Hen, and Labrador Duck (I chose those three species because their names along conjure up pretty much most topics here, simplicity: a pigeon, a hen, a duck; all three species are EXTINCT). Some links below for those who are concerned about the species survival, I will omit mine so I won't get in trouble.

BirdLife International: http://www.birdlife.org/
International Union for Conservation of Nature: http://www.iucn.org/
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: http://www.iucnredlist.org/
Conservation Breeding Specialist Group: http://www.cbsg.org/cbsg/
The American Ornithologist's Union: http://www.aou.org/
American Bird Conservancy: http://www.abcbirds.org/
ProAves: http://www.proaves.org/proaves/index.php/en
World Pheasant Association: http://www.pheasant.org.uk/
CITES: http://www.cites.org/
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature: http://iczn.org/

And there are so many more....

 

[Tony K T]

Hey Dan,I've been preaching the same words you say on here for years,but not many seem to care.They feel if they are their birds they can do as they wish.Not caring about the dwindling numbers of these beautful birds in the wild.I've been banned a few times on here about my opinions,which most are proven facts,so I will leave this alone for now.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Lophura]

Thank goodness there a still a few out there who know they aren't just glorified chickens!! Just hope the next generation can put the ipads, iphones, xboxes, and crap down long enough to appreciate what we have before it is too late.

Dan

 

[ducksliketoswim]

Its not like he's going to go into the birds natural habitat and release a bunch of crossbred birds. If he wants to experiment then I say by all means let him do what he wants. The species isnt going to die off because some people choose to crossbreed. Without crossbreeding we wouldnt have all these diverse breeds that we have today. What you are saying is we shouldnt have bred dogs because the gray wolf is an endangered species and it will some how mess them up, and we shouldnt have bred cats because one day they might magically destroy the african cats genetic makeup. I am not trying to sound rude, i just didnt like the way you both made it seem like he was ignorant for asking his question. I for one see no problem with it, he isnt a conservationist so he's not going to be claiming they are purebred birds, why keep one lonely bird when you can get him a family. And what does any of this have to do with ipads, iphones, xboxes, and crap? You do know that computers are technology too, and you're using it to force your opinion on byc. I dont think its next generation with the problem, I think its the old one is to stuck in there ways to realize that their way isnt the only way.

 

[Ntsees]

I think what Dan was referring to when he said about the iphones, etc. is that the number of young aviculturist is dwindling down (i.e. the younger generation these days are more interested with technology and they are not interested in nature, life, birds, etc.) and that without them as successors, the pure species that we have today in aviculture will no longer exist (coupled with ban of bird imports). My opinion on that is that there's nothing that can be done about it because you can bring a horse to water but can't make it drink. It's better off for the birds to be under the care of a young aviculturist who really does care than one who doesn't.

When it comes to conservation, I guess it just depends how you feel about it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Questions like are you ok with losing the original pure species that we have in aviculture (U.S.) and if we do lose them, will you ever be curious to know what the original birds looked like (the ones that brought about the beautiful birds you have today)? If it's important to you, it'll be important and if not, then it won't. For the pure species that we have today in aviculture, they exist because of the few conservation aviculturist that still have them. And for those that no longer exist in aviculture, we'll probably never see them again. With so many golden red crosses selling left and right, it makes me think that if I ever wanted to purchases pure specimens, I wonder how difficult it would be to get them.

It is a good and ethical value for aviculturist to be honest with what they have. The problem is when(if) the birds with high percentage of purity (it would make them difficult to distinguish it from the pure) are handed to the next person and that person hands it over (offspring) to the next. And let's say a novice conservation aviculturist (who does have the pure specimens) see those hybrid birds along the line and, not knowing that they are hybrids, purchases them to introduce new blood into his/her birds. At that point, (unawareness) his/her birds will no longer be pure. This is just a made-up example and I'm sure there are many variations. Birds are sometimes sold and claimed to be pure when they certainly are not.

 

[De Wet]

I think what Dan was referring to when he said about the iphones, etc. is that the number of young aviculturist is dwindling down (i.e. the younger generation these days are more interested with technology and they are not interested in nature, life, birds, etc.) and that without them as successors, the pure species that we have today in aviculture will no longer exist (coupled with ban of bird imports). My opinion on that is that there's nothing that can be done about it because you can bring a horse to water but can't make it drink. It's better off for the birds to be under the care of a young aviculturist who really does care than one who doesn't.

When it comes to conservation, I guess it just depends how you feel about it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Questions like are you ok with losing the original pure species that we have in aviculture (U.S.) and if we do lose them, will you ever be curious to know what the original birds looked like (the ones that brought about the beautiful birds you have today)? If it's important to you, it'll be important and if not, then it won't. For the pure species that we have today in aviculture, they exist because of the few conservation aviculturist that still have them. And for those that no longer exist in aviculture, we'll probably never see them again. With so many golden red crosses selling left and right, it makes me think that if I ever wanted to purchases pure specimens, I wonder how difficult it would be to get them.

It is a good and ethical value for aviculturist to be honest with what they have. The problem is when(if) the birds with high percentage of purity (it would make them difficult to distinguish it from the pure) are handed to the next person and that person hands it over (offspring) to the next. And let's say a novice conservation aviculturist (who does have the pure specimens) see those hybrid birds along the line and, not knowing that they are hybrids, purchases them to introduce new blood into his/her birds. At that point, (unawareness) his/her birds will no longer be pure. This is just a made-up example and I'm sure there are many variations. Birds are sometimes sold and claimed to be pure when they certainly are not.

agree 100% with this post