Getting crazy Gouldian babies :-O

[BaceyBoop]

So this is my first post on this forum, be gentle! Anywho, I have a pair of gouldians that I'm breeding with unexpected results. The male is BH/PB/SF Yellow (dilute) and the female seems to be BH(YTB)/PB normal. They produced 4 babies that are now all starting to get their colors. The 2 female babies have lovely black feathers coming in on their heads. The 2 males, however, have red feathers coming in on their faces. I emailed the breeder I got the birds from and he told me what their parents were and said that since each of them has a red headed parent, it's understandable that their babies would have red heads. Everything I've read so far, however, indicates to me that 2 black headed birds shouldn't be able to produce red headed babies. My friend suggested to me that the female could possibally be "dirty" yellow headed instead of BH(YTB), which would explain the red headed males. But if she is YH she's hiding it very well because I examined her and there's absolutely no color but black in her head. Sorry if my post is kind of long-winded, but I thought giving the most possible info would help anyone that may know what's going on

[lovemyfinch]

Do you by any chance have any pictures of the hen in question?
It just might make it easier to try and help you figure it out..

[nixity]

Would have to see photos but either way you're right - two BH birds cannot produce anything other than more BH babies.
So if the males are red headed, your hen must just have a really dirty mask

[BaceyBoop]

sorry about the quality, but my phone actually takes better pics than my digital camera

[BaceyBoop]

one more

[nixity]

It's really tough to tell from the photos unfortunately.. I would need a bright flash on her head.
Her beaks shows tints of yellow though thinking she is at least genetically OH and maybe just shows very little color in her mask.

Either that, or she bred with a different male at some point. How long was she with the current male before she laid eggs? Had she always just been housed with him?

They can store sperm upwards of 14 days..

[BaceyBoop]

i'm trying to get my friend to come over with his fancy smancy camera equipment to take pictures for me, so stay tuned for that, i guess. and when they had their clutch of babies i had them in a cage by themselves because i wanted to ensure they'd choose each other as mates and once they were old enough i gave them a nest box, so she hadn't come in contact with any other male. i'm assuming she's orange headed and just has a very dirty head. maybe when she goes through her molt some orange feathers will pop out

[BaceyBoop]

ok, finally got my friend and his super fancy camera for pictures, so i hope these help more

[BaceyBoop]

and while i'm at it, here's a few pictures of the babies so you can see their wacky plumage!

[nixity]

In the last picture of her I think I see some really muddy looking orange feathers - perhaps when she molts you'll see more color.

[BaceyBoop]

well now my main concern is hoping that at least one of the male babies is dilute. they're both coloring up pretty interesting, but they seem to be getting black feathers in their faces guess only time will tell for all my birds!

[Justin-2-finches]

Hi you say the hen is YTB i think that means that it does carry the OH gene.

Can anyone else clear this up?

if the male is SF yellow then 50% of cocks will be SF YB
and 50% of the hens will be yellow (hens can not be SF)
the rest will be normal's

[BaceyBoop]

well, justin, this pair produced 6 babies. and, yes, 2 of them were yellow. unfortunatly, though, those are the only 2 that didn't survive i was left with 2 males and 2 females. the 2 females are both normal back. so, theoretically at least 1 of the males should be dilute. i'm keeping my fingers crossed

[nixity]

Both males look normal to me from the photos..

She is definitely YTB but she can't be BH or she wouldn't be producing RH sons.

[Justin-2-finches]

Yes they look like normal's to me too, looking at the black in their faces, SF's have no black on them really, just like a faded grey colour.
But look on the bright side - you have some beautiful babies and in my opinion a RH PB GB is the nicest bird in the world any way. Well done