What in the world is a Velvet Guinea?

[RobG7aChattTN]

I haven't really seen any good pictures of adult Velvet guineas on the internet. The description is that they have the same purple as the Royal Purple but all over their bodies. Strangely, they say that the Royal Purple shows color best in full sun while Velvet shows better color in shade or on a cloudy day. I was hoping to see the adults when I picked up my Violet keets, but I got there after dark. The guy I purchased them from took me out to see the adults and used a flashlight to show me the adults. I don't know how they will look in regular daylight but apparently a flashlight at night made for an impressive show. It might be the best way to see the color...but they really did have an all-over purple flash that was much better than I expected.

 

[Incukahlan]

Sounds pretty. The colors can be so beautiful in these guys, it's really amazing.

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

I found a photo of a violet guinea from an eBay ad with a picture that was so beautiful I wondered if it had been photoshopped. It was almost as colorful as a vultureine guinea fowl. Not quite a bright blue but the blue was on more of it's body.

 

[a79hilton]

Im looking for 2 pairs of breeders or a dozen of hatching eggs. Royal purple Guinea

 

[ColesCreek]

We have the same problems in australia with fauls colours being offered sometimes like Mocha and Pinto and Skyblue most if not all are just scams

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

Well, my Violet Guineas (the two that weren't killed by a neighbor's dog and the ones that didn't run off to either live in the woods or join the neighbor's flock) are over 4 months old. Basically, out of a dozen I've still got one regular colored Violet Guinea and one that was very light colored as a chick (almost white) which looks like a Coral Blue. That one will really glow Violet if you shine a flashlight on it at night but I don't know if a Coral Blue will look like that or not. Anyhow, here's a few photos:

Here the light Violet is in the middle and the regular Violet is right behind her and they are surrounded by much larger Jumbo/French Guineas from McMurry Hatchery.


A bit out of focus (my phone) but you can see the color a bit on the Violet Guinea in front of this group.


This doesn't really capture it, but at night when you shine a light on one of these Violet Guineas they really, really glow Purple!


This is an older picture when they were younger and I had far more Violet Guineas. You can see the purple cast to the Violet Guineas which look to be a rather mid-grey and the lighter bird is actually also a Violet Guinea with both parents looking like a typical Violet Guinea. As chicks they had the same pattern as a regular Violet except so faint as to appear almost pure white.

 

[ColesCreek]

Nice Violet Guineas

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

Yeah, I really liked the Violet Guineas. I think if I were to start over I'd stick with all Violet. The Royal Purples are pretty darn nice though. Instead I've got mostly French/Jumbo which are big...but I'm not sure they will free range as well. They have much larger heads and legs in proportion to their bodies and they don't fly as well. They don't seem to stick together in a flock as tightly and I've had a few that simply got spooked and ran off instead of letting themselves be herded back to the barn for the night. I have zero Royal Purple now as they have gone to live with the neighbor's flock and I only have the two Violets left...one light and the other the more typical color...both hens. I don't know if you can successfully breed a Jumbo/French Rooster to a regular sized hen without the chicks being too large for the egg. I guess I'll probably find out. I'm just guessing that the pearl color will be dominant anyway.

 

[ColesCreek]

I agree the Violet is stunning, Those French jumbo are big guys hey do you know by chance what they weight?

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

I haven't weighed them. They are all just turning 4 months old and the Violet Guineas are two weeks older. I need to do a post just on the Jumbo/French Guineas. Not only are they a good bit larger but they have MUCH larger, thicker legs and larger heads in proportion to their bodies.