Pheasant Chicken Hybrids

[bemba]

Well here comes the end of pheasants.They will be endangered forever and no one else will ever see a pure pheasant.Glad I had my 30 years of enjoying them.Why don't you guys just stick with chickens if you don't like pheasants?
In N.H.,Tony.

These birds will (more than likely ) be infertile so the line stops with them! I personally don't see any problem with it as long as the parent birds are not rare..... ringnecks are probably the most common pheasant! It is harder to breed this kind of hybrid than you might think! I have kept peafowl, guineas, pheasants together for years and I am yet to breed a hybrid! Take for example a very common hybrid in waterfowl between the Muscovy duck and the mallard derived domestic breeds, they have been mass produced for their meat for many many years! Yet how often do you see one? it's far from rare but they certainly aren't everywhere, and that's a hybrid that is very easy to create!

 

[chooks4life]

Don't worry Tony, there will always be diehard purists, the majority of fowl breeders/keepers aren't actually such scatterbrained fad-chasers as you might think. Even people who know next to nothing about animals in general tend to do a lot of research before getting any chooks; if only more people did such research before getting dogs and cats...

Look at all the heritage breed stewards, it was predicted all these breeds would be extinct by now, but the devotees have hung in there. Same for pheasants. For some, other birds will never compare, so there will always be those protecting the lines. And about any hybrids, as people have already said, they will likely be one-offs, they are rarely fertile beyond the first generation, never mind the second or third. There is basically no chance this will go anywhere except in an educational/entertaining direction, it's not likely to shake up the industry with a trend-setting popularity.

 

[Tony K T]

I understand that they might be infertile,but it still takes away 7 generations of pure birds in the process.With numbers in the wild diminishing,we need all the birds to remain pure.Take as look ast the endangered species list.There too many pheasants on there now that you would think are safe,like swinhoe,edwards,mikado.I know for a fact that there are 10 salvadoris in the U S.I think it's time to stop all the crossbreeding and help the species.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Well here comes the end of pheasants.They will be endangered forever and no one else will ever see a pure pheasant.Glad I had my 30 years of enjoying them.Why don't you guys just stick with chickens if you don't like pheasants?
In N.H.,Tony.

I am not sure whether it's the end for pheasants, a lot of people are saying they want to to try this so who knows. But I'm more concerned about the genetics side of this.
I hope these hybrids are not bred from other wise there could be some weird problems.
Tony your birds are amazing.
I think the pheasant thing must have been tried before and there might even been people who have got them right now and possibly for many years without people knowing.

 

[RedBaron]

So, it seems there is some controversy about my little cheasants. Who would have thought that something so small could destroy 7 generations of pheasants, and all the ringnecks in China? LOL

I have a trio of Melanistic Mutant pheasants, and I didn't plan on ever hatching any more ... they're far too wild for my taste. So I'm not sure how the "7 generations" comes into play. Plus, they're MUTANT and really shouldn't be released into the wild population. So it's not like I'm preserving the ringnecks species for the future. They are ornamental MUTANTS that are collected by hobbyists and that is all they are.

I agree you shouldn't mix pheasants which could further contaminate the limited gene pools ... like mixing Red Golden with Lady Amherst. I made sure (as much as is possible) that my Red Goldens are pure ... they came from zoo stock.

And yes, these hybrids are probably sterile, but if any turn out not to be, I would like to breed them back to chickens to get new colors in chickens. I don't see this as a problem since chickens are a domesticated animal and it's not certain what species went into producing them in the first place.

With all that said, I can continue to keep anyone who is interested updated on the hybrids progress, or I can have this thread removed. I really don't enjoy being put down for something that so fascinates me and doesn't harm anyone or anything.

 

[cukooformarans]

Nooooo! Please don't remove the thread! I am so curious!

 

[Ohgrr]

I can understand the desire to keep a breed pure but most lines were a hybrid once. If this destroys flocks then free ranging birds is a problem. If it can happen in captivity then it can happen in the wild. There are ring necks in the orchard behind me and I let my rooster out often, like many farm people. It hasn't killed them all off yet and I doubt it will.

 

[RedBaron]

I wanted to post some pictures of the rooster and hen that produced these hybrids, but the hen is so hyperactive that all my pictures of her are a blur. Here's the rooster, and I'll try to get some of the hen later.

 

[Ohgrr]

Pretty bird!

 

[mattperth]

If there is one topic that can fuel debate among bird keepers, it is hybrids! LOL. I wouldn't get upset by negative reaction, everyone has a different opinion on the topic and some people are passionate in their response. I agree that rare breeds and indeed species, should be conserved true to heritage, however these babies are certainly not a problem as both chickens and mutant pheasants are a dime a dozen! I personally find the chicks fascinating. Please keep us updated on their progress