Pheasant Chicken Hybrids

[Vasili]

Just so Im clear about this cross-breeding thing, if I cross a pheasant (whether golden or ringneck) with say a leghorn all offspring will be infertile? If that is the case then I dont see any point in doing it really. I was hoping for something that tasted more like pheasant than chicken but didnt only lay 60 eggs a year.

 

[chooks4life]

Just so Im clear about this cross-breeding thing, if I cross a pheasant (whether golden or ringneck) with say a leghorn all offspring will be infertile?

Almost certainly, yes. There's always the exception to the rule, but the odds are low... You might well get something that lays many more eggs than a pheasant, but the chances of those eggs being fertile probably aren't worth betting on.

Some random info I found... It's based in large part on old info, so I don't know whether it's useful or not, but I'm sharing anyway.
Quote:
Best wishes.

 

[ColesCreek]

Just so Im clear about this cross-breeding thing, if I cross a pheasant (whether golden or ringneck) with say a leghorn all offspring will be infertile? If that is the case then I dont see any point in doing it really. I was hoping for something that tasted more like pheasant than chicken but didnt only lay 60 eggs a year.

Yes Vasili 100% infertile thankfully

 

[Trexroo]

A very common market "mutant", the moulard, has reportedly 100 percent sterile offspring, while it's hybrid prodigies out lay its parent stock,

depending on the direction of the breeding.

 

[JimArcher]

The "moulard" is commonly producrd in S.E. Asia as a meat bird. It is always a cross between a Muscovy male and a laying breed such as the Tsaiya. THe female is of the "mallard" line of breeds. These birds are generally infertile, but occasionally a male can sire offspring. THe females do not lay, or only rarely.
The reciprocal cross, Mallard breed male X Muscovy female, is not used commercially. It is said that the females will lay, but the egg is smaller than normal and cannot be fertile. If the male parent is of a good laying stock like Indian Runner or Khaki Campbell, I very much doubt that the hybrid females would outlay that stock..If they were such great layers, they would have been produced commercially. I doubt thatbthebhybrid fenales would lay very well, if at all.

 

[Trexroo]

being that there are well documented cases of female mules reproducing, even with the common misconception that they are all sterile. I Wounder if persistance would prove a x pheasant mutant viable.

the reciprocal cross of the scovy. is known as a hinny, bred not only in s.e. Asia where traditionally they use a hands on approach in a pond to facilitate breeding. but also in France.

 

[JimArcher]

Please explain " x pheasant mutant". Not sure what you mean.
You would have to keep a very large flock of hybrid birds to find the occasional exceptional partially fertile hybrid. On the other hand, it may be that a bird produces only an occasionally egg capable of being fertilised or a fertile sperm cell. There would have to be active fertile sperm available in the females reproductive tract to take advantage of the situation. The sperm cell would have to be able to meet a viable egg yolk at the correct time. Hybrid females should then be kept with pure males of the parent species in order to maximise the chance of fertility. The hybrid males should be kept with females of the parent species. You might, and probably would, have a long wait. It might take years or never.
As I think I have mentioned before - I flock mated some first backcross ((Phasianus reevesi X colchicus) X P. colchicus). THe first year egg production was poor, egg quality was poor, fertility very poor, and hatchability not good. I mated the offspring of that flock mating together the next year and was very surprised to find I got good egg production, good fertility, and good hatchability. Just like a pure species.

 

[JimArcher]

I should have mentioned that the males of bird hybrids are much more likely to be at least partially fertile. My F1 males (reevesi X colchicus) proved to be quite fertile with colchicus hens. The hen F1 hybrid never layed even a single egg of any description and was small and not very vigorous.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

being that there are well documented cases of female mules reproducing, even with the common misconception that they are all sterile. I Wounder if persistance would prove a x pheasant mutant viable.

the reciprocal cross of the scovy. is known as a hinny, bred not only in s.e. Asia where traditionally they use a hands on approach in a pond to facilitate breeding. but also in France.

Mules are the result of a jack on a mare while hinnies are the result of a stallion on a jenny.

Hinnies are harder to produce, both because of chromosome count issues and the fact that jennys and stalllions appear to be
more choosy about whom they mate with than mares and jacks.

Hinnies have the more careful way of going of the donkey, while mules move more like horses. Since hinnies are more cautious
in their footing, they are considered by keepers to be superior to mules on rough dangerous and dangerous ground. They are
also apparently more willing to eat the tough forbs donkeys will eat and that many mules reject in favor of more horse type feeds.

I have heard that both a fertile hinny molly a fertile mule molly have been documented in China; I don't know the details. I could only access an abstract of the research
article:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3378453

The Lucky Three Ranch, a major trainer and breder of mule, states on their website:

Although hybrids are typically sterile, two documented cases of fertility do exist. One was known as Old Beck from Texas A&M, bred first by stallion, Pat Murphy, and yielded the hule, Pat Murphy, Jr. She was bred a second time to a jack and produced the jule, or donkule Kate. The other was Krause, belonging to Arthur Silvester in Champion, Nebraska. She was bred to a jack twice and foaled first with Blue Moon, and then with White Lightning. More numerous cases have emerged with the new technology and better national and international communication.
Mules are also used in the equine industry for embryo transplants.
There are no documented cases involving fertile male mules.

 

[Trexroo]

http://luckythreeranch.com/mule-facts/

what turn took us there.

the odds of the prodigy being able to reproduce would hinge on a mutation that would allow an adequate chromosomal mutation to occur in sutch a way to end in an equal division. just to begin with. like the mule/donkey/horse equations biggest denominator one having 62 chromosome the other having 64 and the offspring usually carrying 63.if they could breed is a significant first question. does anyone have first hand experience of butchering a pheasant x, were the reproductive organs viable or were they irregular and under developed like most scovy x are? if the organs are not there they won't make babies.