Lady Amhurste Chick Colors

[Feathergardens]

I have hatched 13 Red Golden Pheasants this year from my own pair. All have looked very consistent in color. I purchased some lady amhurste hatching eggs and color had been all over the board. Is this normal? Two hatched dark brown to solid black with a little light on the face, no barring, and 3 others look quite similar to my red golden but possibly a hair darker. I'm wondering if this indicates hybred or if Lady Amhurste hatch with natural color variation?

 

[007Sean]

This chick is not a Amherst, looks to be a Melanistc.

 

[Feathergardens]

This chicken is not a Amherst, looks to be a Melanistc.
View attachment 3858276

Thank you. I was afraid of that.

 

[007Sean]

Thank you. I was afraid of that.

Auto-correct got me on my original post, I ment to type chick not chicken.

 

[Feathergardens]

Auto-correct got me on my original post, I ment to type chick not chicken.

Well thankfully there were at least 3 that appear to be lady amhurste. I'll see how true their colors look as they mature. The only other possibility on the black chicks is they hatched out of what was supposed to be peach eggs from a different breeder but I'm pretty positive they were marked LA.

 

[007Sean]

Well thankfully there were at least 3 that appear to be lady amhurste. I'll see how true their colors look as they mature. The only other possibility on the black chicks is they hatched out of what was supposed to be peach eggs from a different breeder but I'm pretty positive they were marked LA.

They are not peach.... here's a picture of some peach chick's along with several other species. The peach chick's are the light colored gray chicks.

 

[Feathergardens]

All the peach chicks I saw hatch were the silver color. I heard peach doesn't always breed true though so thought maybe I mixed up something and they came from the peach eggs. I was pretty positive they were marked LA though.

 

[007Sean]

All the peach chicks I saw hatch were the silver color. I heard peach doesn't always breed true though so thought maybe I mixed up something and they came from the peach eggs. I was pretty positive they were marked LA though.

They in general, don't breed true because of the way most where developed, their breeding program was not right. Most started out with a splash and this is why they won't breed true. You will get a splash, a cinnamon, a peach and a phenotypical yellow golden from such a pairing using a splash. You have to have two copies of the recessive genes in order to get a peach golden. I could tell you how to breed them correctly but it would take up about 3 or 4 pages on here and I don't want to fill up the forum with info that few will use.

 

[007Sean]

If I had to guess, I would say the eggs got mis-marked, melanistic egg will be a dark olive color, Amherst a beige or cream color, and Red Golden eggs a light cream color. You can also tell by leg color....Red Golden chick's will have pinkish/yellowish legs, Amherst will have dark colored legs and so will Melanistic's.

 

[Feathergardens]

If I had to guess, I would say the eggs got mis-marked, melanistic egg will be a dark olive color, Amherst a beige or cream color, and Red Golden eggs a light cream color. You can also tell by leg color....Red Golden chick's will have pinkish/yellowish legs, Amherst will have dark colored legs and so will Melanistic's.

These were all beige to light cream eggs. Pic attached.