CandoAviary wrote:Thank you.
Debbie,
If they are YH what would the color look like? would it look different that the RH? (I know I won't have YH) ...and would it be YTB?
If RH would RTB? Why do you see the terms salmon, straw, etc.
Is this just for desciptive information. Like dirty white breast or ruddy red head?
The fathers were /black...forgot to note that
You won't see a visual difference between RH and OH genetic blues (which includes blues, pastels, and silvers).
My guess is the terms came about because not everyone pays attention to what the actual genetic make up of the bird is, so it is easier to say "Straw Head" and describe the visual appearance, rather than say "Either Red head or Yellow head, I'm not sure."
;)
The only way to be sure is by knowing the parents genetics (e.g., both were OH Normal/Blue) or by test breeding to an OH normal to see what babies you get. I am doing one of these tests right now with my "straw head" silver hen. I know she can produce OH because when paired to a split I got OH babies - but I want to know whether she's straight OH or not, so I have her paired to an OH Dilute that is possibly /Blue.
Because they can't produce the pigment (though not entirely) responsible for the color, they can't produce it in the beak either, so all genetic blues have ivory colored beaks that do not show red nor yellow.
I have found you get "straw" color red and yellow heads when the blues have PB, and you get "tan" or "sand" colored red and yellow heads when the breast is white.
I believe the presence of the white breast blowing out some of the melanin naturally lightens the color we see in the head (probably also the reason many OH WB birds have VERY bright tangerine Orange heads).
So what is the one in the last 3 photos? A RH or a BH....... seems to have a lot of black but in a strange pattern?
