Color genetics of Guinea Fowl

[moxeeguy]

It took my small flock of 10 guinea fowl 5 years before I learned I
had more than just Pearl and Royal Purple genetics in the background.
Out popped a nearly white keet in year 5. I had hatched 25 guineas in
a 5 year period to replace a few that were killed by coyotes, a few
roos that I ate and the remainder that I sold. I kept the flock size
at around 10 with 2 roos included...for a yr or so I had 3 roos and 9
hens. The next year my Buff roo became the Alpha male. Once he
became the primary genetic contributor...my hens started hatching out
colors galore. Last summer I hatched out about a dozen colors. I
expect to do the same this year if not more so. I've already got 3
colors of keets.

One thing I KNOW about guineas. Pearl Gray represents close to 99% of
the keets that are hatched. Royal Purple seems to be the next most
common. Most people start with a flock of Pearl Gray keets. About
the only way to get a flock to hatch keets that are of different
colors is to eliminate ALL the Pearl Gray guineas from the flock. I
have one healthy Pearl Gray hen. She lays enormous eggs that are
nearly double the size of egg laid by my Buff Dundotte colored hen.

The simplest means of hatching multi-colored keets from a guinea flock
is to have a flock of guinea hens that are multi-colored. I know that
sounds logical...and believe me...it is. Pearl Gray is VERY
dominant. I have 5 keets now 1 is Pearl Gray, 1 is RP and 3 are
Chocolate. There are currently 70 eggs incubating under hens as I
type...with close to 40 eggs ready to be set. There will be 15+ keets
hatching every 5 days between now and September. I'll be fortunate to
hatch 200 keets this summer based on egg laying projections and the
number of setting hens. I figure 200 keets out of 6 guinea hens is
not a small accomplishment. I expect I'll get a few Lavender, and
maybe get another Slate. I'm hoping for more of the Brown and
possibly a Violet, and Powder Blue would be nice again.

I noticed someone was disappointed about the lack of anyBuff or Buff
Dundotte keets hatching. My feelings are ...you have far too many
Pearl Gray hens and not near enough of the Royal Purple. Once there
are several colors of hens and a like number fewer of the Pearl Gray
hens...you can expect a reduced % of Pearl Gray keets that are
hatched.

Kelly

[moxeeguy]

Crossing a true Porcelain with a true Pearl Gray will always give you
close to 100% Pearl Gray keets. But the odds of having a true Pearl
Gray from a small flock that has a Porcelain hen...very small. You
might need only 25 keets to be logically at the point where a
Porcelain keet should be a result. So for those of you with keet
hatching and a Porcelain egg layer or a Porcelain hen...just be
patient.

I have a Porcelain roo. He is my most magnificent looking guinea. I
hope to hatch at least 2 Porcelain keets this summer. My flock has
just 1 Pearl Gray hen. She is big strong healthy. Her eggs are 25 to
50% larger than many of the eggs I collect daily. If nothing else
having her in the flock is a positive influence to the genetic pool.

Kelly

[Peeps]

BLAH @ more Pearl Grey keets. I will have to try and get more eggs from my friend with the Porcelain Hen, if she keeps laying without getting taken by a predator. I SO cannot wait until next year when I'll get a nice colored mix of keets. I am so bored with the 2 colors I am getting. The adults I have now bore me in my yard, the keets bore me in my hatcher, brooders and keet pens, lol. Oh well, I will ride it out, at least I am selling them and making some money. Most likely if I did get a mix of colors this time around I'd end up keeping them all instead of bringing new colors and genes in like I did by buying 30 keets from the lady down the road. At least I did get a couple Lavenders out of 125 keets so far, lol.

[K M Edgar]

Peeps,

Rome...wasn't built in a day...more like 600 years.

Oh yeah ! Good luck from me to you...because you're gonna need it if
it really takes 600 years to add color to your guinea flock. LOL

Kelly