FINCHforum

could someone help me with star finches genetics?!?

what if i pair red-faced cock with yellow-faced hen, what would i get?

how about yellow-faced cock with red-faced hen?

thanks everybody!

I know nothing about genetics, but I have Star finches. Last year, I had 9 babies from a pair of red-faced Stars, 8 red-faced and 1 yellow-faced. So one of the parents must have been carrying the gene for yellow. This year, I have paired this yellow-faced hen with a red-faced cock, so I will see what will come from that. I couldn't find any yellow-faced cocks locally. They have been playing house for weeks now, and just this week, are acting like they might actually have eggs in the nest. She is just 11 months old, so still a little young, maybe.

Sally wrote:I know nothing about genetics, but I have Star finches. Last year, I had 9 babies from a pair of red-faced Stars, 8 red-faced and 1 yellow-faced. So one of the parents must have been carrying the gene for yellow. This year, I have paired this yellow-faced hen with a red-faced cock, so I will see what will come from that. I couldn't find any yellow-faced cocks locally. They have been playing house for weeks now, and just this week, are acting like they might actually have eggs in the nest. She is just 11 months old, so still a little young, maybe.

thanks for the reply!

good luck to your star! it seems that there is no one in your area who is into star finches.. may i know your location?

I know some breeders here that have star finches.. but the majority of breeders here are into african lovebirds. I myself used to have dozens of african lovebirds but still have some few pairs left. I am now concentrating on gouldians and stars..

I am in Texas, and there are Star breeders here, but not so many. At the Bird Mart, you see lots of Gouldians, Societies, and Zebras--not so many of the other species.

Sally wrote:I am in Texas, and there are Star breeders here, but not so many. At the Bird Mart, you see lots of Gouldians, Societies, and Zebras--not so many of the other species.

Good to know that! because I am planning to live there given the right opportunity..

My brother lives in Houston, TX. but he is into pigeon racing when he was still here..

At least if ever i could be there, I still can find gouldians to care for...

thanks!

There are lots of Gouldian breeders in the Houston area, too. In fact, Marigold, one of the members here, is a Gouldian breeder in New Caney, which is just north of Houston. I am in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

Sally wrote:There are lots of Gouldian breeders in the Houston area, too. In fact, Marigold, one of the members here, is a Gouldian breeder in New Caney, which is just north of Houston. I am in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

wow! that looks very promising for me!

here in manila, there are only few hobbyist who are into finches.. maybe because of the price..

but the price here is lower than in your area.. a juvy gouldian would only cost $20 and sometimes less... a pair of matured green backs is only $75.

the only problem is the availability of the birds...

star finch genetics

yellow headed is sexlinked, so you pairings -

red headed cock x yellow headed hen = all normal red headed, with cock offspring being split for yellow head.

yellow headed cock x red headed hen = all normal split yellow headed cock offspring and all yellowheaded hen offspring.

also Sally,
your pair of red headed pair that produce mainly red headed but the odd yellow headed hen is because the cock is split for yellow headed.

so you'll find 1/4 of the cocks will be split yellow head and 1/4 of the hens will be yellow headed.

Cheers
Dave

Do you want to send some of those my way? I have two yellow-headed brothers, and have never seen another YH since I got them. Still looking for girlfriends - I may just have to pair them with RHs (or just leave them as bachelors together - they're great buddies).

Thanks for the info, Dave, very helpful. So I paired my yellow-headed hen with a red-headed cock. I put them together months ago, and just now have a clutch from them. Looks like just two babies, but I don't want to disturb them too much. So these two babies will be red-headed, and only split to yellow if there is a cock, right? This yellow-headed hen was one of 9 I got from a pair that I have since lost. One baby died young, and then I had the 8 in a flight cage that was invaded by a snake, and he ate 3 babies--of the 5 I had left, all were females, so this one yellow-headed hen is my only chance at preserving this yellow gene, and only if I get cocks from her. Hilary, you could pair your boys with red-headed hens, and get yellow-headed hens from that combo, with cocks split to yellow. Yeah, Hilary, I need to send this little girl out your way--wonder what you get if you have two yellow-heads?

According to my book on star finches (I told you I had every finch book known to mankind ) we'd get 100% yellows. Of course, this was written before it was understood that the yellow was sex-linked, but it makes sense to me!

Hmmm...we just might need to have a 'mail-order' bride, here!

Silly question...so a red headed cock and a yellow headed hen could not make a yellow headed cock...is that correct? So what do you pair together to get a yellow headed cock?

Chase, from what I understand about sex-linked genes- a red headed male and a yellow headed female, could produce yellow headed cocks if your male is split for yellow headed. In this case, you could get both yellow and read headed cocks and hens.
If your cock is not split for yellow headed, you would have to pair your yellow headed hen with a yellowheaded cock.
I think...

I have a normal cock and pastel hen (red face).
What inherited Pastel mutation? Which babies I will receive? All split Pastel???