Color

[PeepsCA]

see the difference in there tails.

Yep, I see there's quite a bit of difference there. And I can see his dark flank colors in this pic, I couldn't see them in the last pic you posted of him. He seems to be one of those hard to photograph birds that changes colors on ya in different lighting, lol. I have a bunch of those... gets frustrating!

 

[guineaguy]

So how long will these dang guinea males keep fighting I've had another knock down opaline/lt blue has lost his 2nd rank position to the blonde and bronze took him on and had him running so he is low man now. But I have now seen the royal p male breed a hen and the bronze/chocolate breed a hen as well. First 6 eggs were not fertile but thi next batch looks like 80% are these are first time rooster and hens. Lol

 

[JLeigh]

So how long will these dang guinea males keep fighting I've had another knock down opaline/lt blue has lost his 2nd rank position to the blonde and bronze took him on and had him running so he is low man now. But I have now seen the royal p male breed a hen and the bronze/chocolate breed a hen as well. First 6 eggs were not fertile but thi next batch looks like 80% are these are first time rooster and hens. Lol

LOL, you sound like a sports announcer guineaguy. PeepsCA says they calm down, but she never says they calm down in the spring...just the opposite. I think her words are "they lose their minds".

Congrats on the 6 fertile eggs. I'll bet fertility gets better as the season progresses. I'm right behind you with young pullets and roosters.

 

[PeepsCA]

Actually in my flocks the males are constantly chasing each other and changing the pecking order (fighting for the Alpha male position) pretty much all breeding season long. Even tho a male has already claimed/bred/paired up with a Hen, if there are extra males they will try to steal her as their own. If you watch them, the one chasing ends up getting chased and then they change who is chasing who is running, back and forth. Mine do this for hours, all around the property until one will get tired and head for a tree or other safe high spot for a break. Besides intimidating the other male/showing dominance, chasing each other around is the way they show the Hens who the "better man" is.

The only time my males really stop chasing during the breeding season is if I have more Hens than males and all the males are pre-occupied, or if it's 120 degrees in the Summer, lol. As soon as the Hens stop laying and start molting is when the chasing is officially done, until Spring.

When I said they calm down, I was probably referring to them being so noisy and so quick to sound off the alarm call at every little thing...

 

[guineaguy]

So what color keets you think I'm going to get from my bronze hen who has now decided that the opaline/lt blue rooster is the love of her life. Lol how does the bronze gene come into effect to me it seems to be different than the purple sheen of rp's though they claim them to be same. I have seen a blonde that had some red/brown wing feathers like a bronze but total blonde everywhere else. Any ideas

 

[guineaguy]

Lol this bronze hen runs to the opal to be bred then whoops on him after he's done? Course he siits there like he's stuck kinda like dogs. Not sure what's up but she' laying fertile eggs 2 more week til hatch

 

[PeepsCA]

So what color keets you think I'm going to get from my bronze hen who has now decided that the opaline/lt blue rooster is the love of her life. Lol how does the bronze gene come into effect to me it seems to be different than the purple sheen of rp's though they claim them to be same. I have seen a blonde that had some red/brown wing feathers like a bronze but total blonde everywhere else. Any ideas

I'd have to guess that you'll get mostly Bronze and Royal Purples keets since her base color is dominant, and she may only pass the Bronze coloring gene to half her clutch... but I've never bred a Bronze to anything but Pearl Grey or Royal Purple so I can't say for sure. Possibly some Coral Blues will show up, but if she is carrying anything else hidden you could end up with varied hatches with several base colors showing up (but probably all partially pearled keets), since the Opaline is carrying both the tan and blue genes... who knows maybe some Chocolates will show up. I really have no clue how the Bronze gene works, it just hasn't been a color I've spent much time/effort on breeding or working with. It will be interesting to see how different your Bronze keets look, and if there's any obvious difference between Bronze and Royal Purple keets (if you hatch both).

Congrats on the fertile eggs, I was wondering how they were doing. Is she your only Hen laying so far?

I have Hens that solicit breeding too (they rush by in front of the males in a low, squatty stance), but the males never get beat up afterwards, lol.

 

[guineaguy]

I don't know what's with her but she grabs and kicks him a couple of times after he's done and he stands and takes it. I have 4 laying regularly and the rest sporadic the buff ddottelsyed everyday for a week and I've not seen her breed and all her eggs were in fertile. I know one purple hen is laying everyday she's breeding with the bronze/chocolate male a coral blue who is breeding with the royal purple male and laying blonde hen is laying on and off bronze male again. Only male who I've yet see breed anybody is the blonde male but he follows one of the coral blue hens like a puppy dog he's never far away.