One strange story...... Anyone else had this??

[teresa-78]

I had a phone call one morning from my mum... Her young hen has fallen in love......

With a wild pheasant

and they were spending the sunny days doing naughties in the garden...

She asked me my advice...?? I was rather dumbfounded, and told her
I have never heard anything like this before...

Anyway the pheasant set up home in her wildflower border.. Each morning he would wait for his girlfriend to be let out her coop.. spend the day romancing her, then go to bed in the flower border... to meet his new love again the next day.

This went on for a fair few weeks, now the hen is somewhere in the boundery hedge on eggs.. coming to grab a bite to eat and back off again to sit on her nest.. We have hunted the garden high and low, even followered her to find where this hidden nest is to no avail.. she is black which is making the job even more harder... The pheasant who romanced her is also a black pheasant.. maybe he got her confussed for a black lady pheasant???

Has anyone else had this problem with wild pheasants romancing their hens?? and will the eggs hatch with her being a young hen, around 6 months of age, and just started to lay???

P.S I hope this is in the right place? sorry if its not.......

 

[brahmapapa]

i hope someone else comes foward with a comment, i am real interested in the outcome, i do believe the mating would be a success and i think you will wind up with a cross. Best of luck, please post pics if they hatch.

 

[shortstaque]

Great love story.

I can't wait to hear the outcome. Do they live happily ever after with their baby chickants or pheasens?

Keep us posted!!!

ETA: I did have a male pheasant on my property for the first time this past year. I hadn't seen one in over 20 years I'm sure. I heard the native wild turkeys reclaimed their territory. Now the non-native pheasant seems to be making a comeback. In my case, I didn't notice any hanky panky though

I see you are in England, the pheasants are non-native there too aren't they?

 

[Sjisty]

What a sweet story! I can't wait to see what hatches!

 

[yinepu]

The only thing I have close to this is our male guinea fowl (yes, we're 100% sure he's male), he was in love with a rooster. They went everywhere together and the male guinea would protect his "love".. til one night a coyote ate the rooster. Now the guinea is frustrated and a pain to all the other birds. I suppose no other rooster has caught his fancy.

I'm not sure the eggs would be fertile between the pheasant and the hen. If they were the young would probably be sterile. Does anyone know how many chromosomes a pheasant has compared to a chicken?

 

[Imp]

Googled pheasant chicken cross and apparently it is possible.

Imp

 

[zookeeper15133]

Here's a link from a few years ago:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=81387

 

[teresa-78]

Hiya all, thanks for your replys... the pheasants are non-native here also, they originate from Asia.. They were brought over here for the sport of shooting season

lovely birds.

The have become very common though, even though they are not native.

My mums only concern would be if she cannot find the eggs, and they hatch, would a chicken x pheasant be sort after?? would the hen chicks lay eggs? even if they are sterile??? as if they did it would be easier to find homes for some if they did lay eggs.

I will keep you informed of whaqt happens .... Many thanks....

Oh and thankyou for all the links, I thought only something this weird could happen in my family

I feel better that others have had the same

 

[incubatingisfun]

Wow I hope they hatch

 

[wingsofglory]

There was a thread on here about 7 years ago. Someone on here named Isabeau had pheasant/chicken crosses. She eventually had a hen that was a quarter pheasant.

Said the chicks had an identity confusion.