Very unusual chick, Guinea / chicken hybrid!!

[bemba]

OH Crumb. I never even thought of that

I keep joking on here that I am going to wind up getting myself on that show Hoarders.Not that there is anything funny about indescriminate breeding and animal overpopulation, but I am chomping at the bit for spring to come so I can hatch out just a few chickys. Just a few mind you. My husband gets that worried look every time I mention more chickens. Maybe he wont notice if I just get a few more....hee hee.

The best way to be, have that many that when a few extras arrive no one will know the difference, I do it all the time

 

[bemba]

Chicks doing really well, did I mention there are now 3?

How different is this guy?

With his older brother

What a unique bunch of babies... 2 hybrids, a Masked Lapwing, 2 cinnamon pied guineas and a silver pied guinea

I have them toilet trained

Latest addition to the clan is now up and pecking!

 

[Nickeyo]

That is so cute, do u have pics of the others

 

[bemba]

Here are a couple more pics of the hybrids! Unfortunately the black and white hybrid died, it just wasn't as thrifty as these 2. They are really full of character these 2.

 

[bemba]

Well since I last posted these guys have had a major growth spurt! Big kids now outside with no heat lamp

It's summer here but they still insist it's cold at night even when it's boiling hot and cram that tight together I don't know how they stand it

And here's a close up of that gorgeous face

Their mother is laying again too so maybe some more hybrids soon

 

[saz326]

.....Some people may not like this next comment but I would love to know the answer. Do they taste more like chicken or guinea?

it could be a gastronomical extravaganza


Sarah.

 

[Tacampbell1973]

I have a young Rhody Roo (I call him Goofy Foot for his huge feet, knock knees, and overall strange personality). He and three Helmeted Guineas have been CONSTANT companions since I brought a flock of mixed birds home when they were a month old... Yesterday I saw Goof, who is now about 5-6 mos old try to mount one of the Guineas... Perhaps if I can locate the eggs in the spring, I will get some of these strange ones too...

Is there any way to tell Guinea HEN from Cock???

The only real way to tell is by their call. The female will make a call that sounds like it is saying Buckwheat, buckwheat where the males make sort of a one syllable call. You can find examples of the calls on Youtube if Iyou search for Guinea Calls. Also I am told the helmet of the male will stand taller, but I never noticed this with our pair. Unless they were standing together I couldn';t tell them apart. Originally I had thought that the ones with white wingtips could be a pointer but another friend of mine who has guineas on this forum (Hi Starkasm

) has said this doesn't tell them apart. My male and female had very different personalities. The male wouldget alot closer to me when i fed them but the female would never get within ten feet of me. Also when they started nesting the male Gru would attack my poor dog. The female was a lot more docile and timid. Good luck with your birds, I am always looking for a better way to tell them apart too.

 

[drumstick diva]

Please keep good watch on their rubber band leg bands - with a growth spurt they could become too tight fast & cut off circulation. See already I am worried and anxious about them, as though they were my own.

When I used to raise dogs I put a splash of color nail polish on their back foot. It stayed on long enough till they developed enough to see the difference in them without need of a tag. There were so many colors of poodle nail polish back in1960's and 70's, I didn't need to duplicate the colors.

 

[ColesCreek]

Is there any way to tell Guinea HEN from Cock???

In Australia we only sex by the wattles not by voice its super easy to do and 101% accurate even my 3 year old daughter can sex them.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote:

... if I lock the turkey tom and say 2 sebrights in a cage 1.5 x 1 meter would that improve the chances of fertility?

Coincidentally enough I have seen a hen-raised turkey tom kept in a cage with a sebright hen, and the cage was literally a meter and a half square. He didn't try anything. She would have weighed as much as half his neck, there is absolutely no way she could have survived being mounted. Mating would not occur. Just crushing. She was possibly the best sebright hen I have ever seen, too bad her owner didn't appreciate her. Not that he was a bad sort, lol, just focused on breeding to eat, not to propagate and preserve good genetics. She'd been given to him, not his choice of bird.

If a male doesn't view a female as a mate, in the vast majority of cases mating will not happen, even if you confine them in a tiny cage with one another. You're better off, it seems, to raise a male under a female of the species you hope to cross to, and keep him with females of that species all his life so when his mating instincts kick in, all the females he has access to are of the species you want to cross to. It's always better to have the male be the smaller species. Dead females do not lay eggs, being the main reason why.

Also, a turkey tom who finds chicken hens attractive is nothing but a nuisance. He'll cost you hens on a regular basis until you separate or cull him. You are far better off with trying to ensure that you have a sebright rooster who is attracted to turkey hens, not a turkey tom attracted to sebright hens. With such an extreme size difference AI may be your best bet, really.

Best wishes to all. Love the hybrid's look. Keen to see how it goes.