Will the femal pearl ginni's have the brilliant blue heads too?

[BarbaraNH]

I believe the Reichenow's is a recognized subspecies of the helmeted guineafowl. It is found in Kenya and central Tanzania. I think it could well be one of the African species that is genetically responsible for the blue heads coming out in U.S. bred helmeted guineas.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I think you are right. When they are young they have the "blue blush" for want of a better term. Four out of my seven have that blue blush at least one of those is a female. There are several sub breeds of helmeted guinea fowl that closely the only other one that I have found here in the US is the Reichenowi.

for that matter I suspect down the line importers probably didnt make the distinction between different guinea fowl and tossed them all in to create the domestic versions we have here..... It would be interesting to find out the percentages.

That blue color may also be influenced by diet and environment. Who knows what kind of little bug critter in Africa could contribute to the color.