Color mutations - genetics

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Wed May 09, 2007 12:42 pm

I know the picture of the BB fledgling was not a BB fawn. Tthe chick in question (the one belonging to 2-shoes), like I said, does not have the right shade of base color to be fawn. The chick belonging to 2-shoes is a light grey bird, not a light brown bird.

Also, like I said in an earlier post, "She looks like a recessive silver to me. Sometimes their tear drops are so washed out you can hardly see them." You may have noticed that different birds vary in the strength and size of their markings even when they are of the same mutation. This "individual variation" is why you can see a CFW male on a show bench with all markings intact, and a different CFW male in a pet store who practically has no breast bar. If the birds are not bred specifically to maintain the strength of certain markings, they may become reduced or far more faint than they "ideally" would be in a show bird.

I am happy that you are so knolwedgeable about finches and zebra mutations, though, as a lot of people ask questions about genetics and mutations, so it's always good to have someone on board who understands the genetics and is aware of what mutations exist for a given species. Also, Jave, my responses to you are not meant as an attack on your judgement; I am simply trying to explain why this chick appears to be closer to a recessive silver than a BB (fawn or not) as 2-shoes is looking to know what kind of mutation the chick is, and I feel all of this can be confusing without a definitive answer.

2-shoes, I am going to guess that your teardrop-less chick has barring on its tail and that the upper tail coverts are not completely buff colored. If this is the case, you definitely do not have a black breasted bird. You can post a picture of the chick's back and tail if you are not sure.

jave*finch* · Post by jave*finch* » Wed May 09, 2007 1:44 pm

i cant see the tail very well! but yes i can see that the tail has barrings so maybe it isn't a fawn BB sorry..im not yet really good..enough!!

Jave, my responses to you are not meant as an attack on your judgement; I am simply trying to explain why this chick appears to be closer to a recessive silver than a BB (fawn or not) well I'm just making sure that you are not going to get mad

since I have no friends here yet I don't want someone getting mad at me! and hopefully i find some friends here!

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Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Wed May 09, 2007 2:09 pm

I'm not mad; I appreciate debate, and I'm actually very impressed with how much you know. You're a welcome addition to this forum :)

jave*finch* · Post by jave*finch* » Wed May 09, 2007 3:00 pm

Crystal wrote:I'm not mad; I appreciate debate, and I'm actually very impressed with how much you know. You're a welcome addition to this forum

aw glad you appreciated "me"

2-shoes · Post by **2-shoes** » Wed May 09, 2007 5:36 pm

This has been great info. I have already learned more of what to look for in the coloration. Which brings me to - as I have observed better, one of the pieds doesn't have the black tear drop either and is a bit lighter than it's pied sib. Anything to that?

On the tail bars - some don't have black & white tail bars. I'll try to get some pics of the rear views. Should pieds have tail bars? Should silver recessive have tail bars?

Thanx so much for all the input.

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Wed May 09, 2007 6:24 pm

Recessive silver will have tail bars, pied may or may not depending on whether or not the upper tail coverts are pied (in which case they will be white and not barred).

I did notice that one of your pieds looked lighter, too--it may be a combination of recessive silver and pied.

jave*finch* · Post by jave*finch* » Thu May 10, 2007 3:51 am

I'll be waiting for the pics!!! hehe i hope i have my own silver! it's so rare here! my highest mutes now is BCBB (Black Cheek Black Breasted) Phaeo and OB (Orange Breast) how are your gouldians Crystal?

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Thu May 10, 2007 6:31 am

They are okay; I have the pododermatitis hen but so far no one else has any problems to speak of.

jave*finch* · Post by jave*finch* » Thu May 10, 2007 6:34 am

Crystal wrote:They are okay; I have the pododermatitis hen but so far no one else has any problems to speak of.

aww poor hen!

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 12:56 am

Am I seeing things or does the mother have a breast bar?

jave*finch* · Post by jave*finch* » Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:03 pm

it does sometimes hens have breast bars.