I have a question about my golden.

[youdontknow32]

He is so pretty, I want to get some sooo bad.

 

[Tony K T]

I would say he is crossed with something.If you look at the back end of his beak there is brown there.This will not appear on a pure red golden.Now if he had a brown bib then he would be a dark throated golden,but that is not there.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[deerman]

Looks like a pure golden, but maybe a cross of the colors, like red and dark throat. Golden pheasants come in many colors.

 

[Tony K T]

Definetly not pure.True goldens are red goldens only.Everything else is a cross or mutation.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[deerman]

Birds can be true golden,ringnecks, and etc. Mutation of new colors, dont change the breed.
Like a white crow is still a crow.

 

[Lophura]

Quote:
They are not breeds in the first place.

If this bird was bred with a Yellow or other non-hybrid mutation, he would be all of something, the plumage mixture wouldn't happen. However, there is great debate on Dark-throated Golden and if Amherst were used in their "creation". I know of a few that are currently researching skins to determine this.

This bird does show something that isn't quite right about it, can't say for sure what it is. He is pretty and could become a good pet, just not a breeder. You could get him a hen to keep him company, just wouldn't hatch any or let her brood any eggs.

I think you did good taking the bird off that guy's hand. Now give him a good home and hope that the guy you got him from gets out of keeping pheasants, he gives pheasant aviculture a bad name.

Dan

 

[GPN]

why not breed him he is a pretty bird, I may not know much but I want to know more, and if you do breed him the babies would be pretty to!

 

[Lophura]

Quote:
Here's a section of the intro of http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/index.html

Pheasants have long been avicultural subjects. Egyptian pharaohs kept peafowl and Alexander the Great brought them to Greece some 2,500 years ago. It is reported that George Washington even kept Golden Pheasants at Mount Vernon. Their adaptability to aviculture is important in their survival. One species, the Edward's Pheasant, was once believed to be extinct in the jungles of Vietnam, but there were sustainable populations in aviaries and re-introduction programs are now in place. The Cheer Pheasant from Pakistan and Swinhoe's Pheasant from Taiwan are two species who have benefited from re-introductions of captive-bred birds. However, pheasants have also been one of the most mismanaged family of birds in captivity and the need for profit in American aviculture has lead to a number of hybrids, inbreeding issues, mutations and complete disappearances of species and subspecies. While mass production has been promoted in America for years, we must now realize that this is not an effective conservation tool and we need to establish a conservation breeding approach or we will lose these species.

What I haven't added yet is a statement about where these pheasants may never be imported from the natural range (either there are none left or the ban thanks to the panic of bird flu) again and that we have to work with what we have here or in European aviaries.

We are dealing with a natural, wild species, not a man-made domestic breed. You can do what you want with your birds, but it is not responsible aviculture to breed hybrids of pure species. I don't care if the bird is made of pure gold, doing so is risky in case the offspring make their way out to the general breeding pool. Yes this bird is pretty, but his origins are unknown. I get harped over on speaking out on this on all different bird forums, but will never waiver this stance and will always encourage responsible and a conservation approach to pheasant, quail, francolin (ALL wild species for that matter) aviculture.

Once pure species are gone, they are gone forever. When a pure breed is gone, you can always "create" another that is similar to the one that is gone. Think about it, how many Passenger Pigeon-like doves do we see in aviculture?

Dan

 

[Mahonri]

Shucks, I'd get him a hen and I'd breed him.

He is beautiful... and if you can't get him a pheasant hen, I'd throw a small banty game hen in with him.

 

[monarc23]

what bothers me is maybe breeders who want to conserve their birds should make pedigrees on them like they do for dogs, have a database and keep it pure....people do this for rabbits, cats dogs, horses you name it why not birds. I plan to do it with my birds...and i plan to try a hybridization with my quails...I plan to try to breed a button quail to a coturnix quail through AI and see if it breeds true...if it does the birds will be noted as what they are (hybrids) and I will keep pedigrees on them and have htem legbanneded for ID. Not to mention they wont be anywhere near my pure bred birds.

It's not that hard to keep hybrids away from the pure strains it just that obviously breeders of birds dont seem to realize it can be done as long as it's kept managed and on paperwork....not that hard IMO.

People should be allowed to breed what they want but be honest about what they breed.

Most good breeders wouldnt just buy pure stock from any joe schmoe anyhow...so with that said...they'd buy from well known breeders who breed only the purest of pure from other well known breeders...hence avoiding the problem of hybridization between their purebirds that they may use for reintroduction into the wild.

Another way to defend my plan, is the fact that from my research is that coturnix quail are interbred with their subspecies in the dawn of their domestication.......AKA they are not the wild form exactly. And button quails have been so mixed, that if reintroduced into the wild, their chicks wont all be the wild color....probably not good for staying alive around predators when you're a bold white, blue faced etc.