Very unusual chick, Guinea / chicken hybrid!!

[Jpat]

Ps your rooster is beautiful.[/QUOTE]

What a handsome devil

Unusual, never heard of this combination. Im curious to see what it vrows up as.

Ps your rooster is beautiful.

i had to find out too i read threw and thats the oldest picture of him. Weird!

 

[Tacampbell1973]

Bemba! Just saw this post and I remember talking to you way back when that guy was running his yao about hybrids dying or some nonsense. I didn't have time right now to read back through the 33 pists since I was last here but hope your baby is very much alive and well! I am up to my ears in babies right now but I will catch up with the post later. I have my eye on a baby chick who has a VERY keet-like face, jumpy like a keet and yet born in a brood of chicken chicks. Would have posted a picture of her but can't remember how right now.

 

[natyvidal]

Hello everyone. What type of meat do the hybrids have? The guinea hens are mostly dark and gamey. Delicious. Chickens have a combination but the dark meat is not as flavorful!
Do anyone know. I have 5 hybrid eggs that I am considering hatching. But not if the meat is nothing out of the ordinary. Thank you.

 

[redranger209]

Hello everyone. What type of meat do the hybrids have? The guinea hens are mostly dark and gamey. Delicious. Chickens have a combination but the dark meat is not as flavorful!
Do anyone know. I have 5 hybrid eggs that I am considering hatching. But not if the meat is nothing out of the ordinary. Thank you.

They're too rare for anybody to eat. If those eggs are all actually fertile, the hatch rate will still be exponentially low. It's an interesting question, but if even one hatches, please don't eat it. They're simply too rare.

 

[natyvidal]

They're too rare for anybody to eat. If those eggs are all actually fertile, the hatch rate will still be exponentially low. It's an interesting question, but if even one hatches, please don't eat it. They're simply too rare.

Thank you for your warning, but I do not understand what you mean by "rare".
I am from the Carribbean where guinea hens are one of the major items in most restaurants menus. The meat is flavorful, gamey and dark. Correctly prepared its to die for.

So I am aware that the meat might be different from the well know chickens we eat, but, again, what do you mean by "rare"?

I do appreciate your warning, but I need to know more about the type of meat.

 

[tiny_tam]

Hi @natyvidal. It's a cross between two different species that is unviable in nature. It rarely occurs due to the fact that natural selection will act against it and the offspring will die. For that reason, fertile eggs are rare, as are those that hatch and grow. Incapacities between the bodies of guineafowl and chickens mean that their crosses have difficulty living and surviving. It would be very difficult for you to viably breed on a production basis. Plus the animals themselves would suffer from their physically mismatched bodies. I hope you find some better solution for flavorful meat. I find old, traditional breeds of any poultry are much tastier, especially when they are allowed to forage in healthy, natural pasture and live healthy, outdoor lives.

 

[redranger209]

Hi @natyvidal. It's a cross between two different species that is unviable in nature. It rarely occurs due to the fact that natural selection will act against it and the offspring will die. For that reason, fertile eggs are rare, as are those that hatch and grow. Incapacities between the bodies of guineafowl and chickens mean that their crosses have difficulty living and surviving. It would be very difficult for you to viably breed on a production basis. Plus the animals themselves would suffer from their physically mismatched bodies. I hope you find some better solution for flavorful meat. I find old, traditional breeds of any poultry are much tastier, especially when they are allowed to forage in healthy, natural pasture and live healthy, outdoor lives.

X2
This was a lot better worded than my answer.

 

[natyvidal]

Hi Tiny_tam,
You have convinced me It’s not worth it. Time consuming and a lot of effort for at the end maybe see babies hatching dead, sick, or with deformities, or if they survive see them be outcasts in the flock. I treat my flock well, and they are happy, (even when I know that at some point they will end in my pot,) at least I know they’ve had wonderful, happy, freerange, natural lives. Definitely not worth it to try to breed them, or the possible heartbreak or feeling of guilt for me.
I have decided to look for a bonded pair or two, quarantine them and then set them free to roam the property. Hopefully they will have babies and I’ll have my flavorful meat. I will just going to have to wait a bit longer. Thank you for the through explanation!

 

[tiny_tam]

@natyvidal you're making a wise decision. I am sure any hybrid enterprise would end in heartache. You only have to look at the story of Miracle on this forum. Especially as you clearly care for your animals and want them to have happy healthy lives.

@redranger209, thank you for the compliment. I'd really like to write about these facts and warn about the downsides that accompany this unusual phenomenon. If anyone has raised a guin-hen and has some photos, like @bemba, I would love to know how they fared and would like permission to use some photos.

 

[akostka1988]

I have an ameraucana rooster who’s been trying to mount my guinea hen...pretty sure he won’t be able to get in the right position lol but I’m super curious if anyone has heard of this specific breed successfully mating with a guinea