FINCHforum

Hi guys.

I was just wondering what zebra mutations can be lethal or cause disabled chicks. When paired with another of the same mutation that is.

I know that creasted, black face and fawn cheek are a risk factors.
I think I read that black cheek is a bit iffy too but I'm not sure with that one.

Are there any more?

Roy Beckham writes in regards to BF:
http://www.efinch.com/species/bfzeb.htm
"It is believed that the double factor Black Face is a lethal. That is to say that if an egg were to receive the BF gene from both its parents, it would not hatch but die in the shell. Although this may sound tragic, there are advantages to BF x BF matings. These matings can be used to improve the black extension towards the vent. There is also a theory that they double factor BF is not lethal and that such birds may exhibit greater extension of the color and perhaps effect the spots in the flanks. More statistical data is needed to determine if the gene is lethal or not."

Crested, I would not pair crest to crest
Roy writes:
http://www.efinch.com/species/crestzeb.htm
"The Crested mutation does not conflict with any other mutation, but a double factor Crested may be lethal. In this case the young would probably die in the egg and not hatch. To avoid this, only use Crested x normal headed pairings. This may be a good idea anyway since many have reported that Crested x Crested matings have produced Crested birds with really bad form. The crests would stand up rather than lay flat."

I have not seen anything in regards to fawn being lethal. I also have never had issue with fawn to fawn. Fawn is like gray according to Roy, a base color. I also reviewed Garrie Landry's site as well.

The other to watch for is Dominant silver Roy writes:
http://www.efinch.com/species/dszeb.htm
"It is believed that the double factor Dominant Silver is a lethal. That is to say that if an egg were to receive the Silver gene from both its parents, it would not hatch but die in the shell. I am not aware of any advantages to breeding a Dominant Silver to a Dominant Silver. Most breeders rely on a Dilute x Normal mating to produce more Dominant Silvers."

Good to know.

I didn't mean normal fawn but fawn cheek, didn't someone here get blind chicks because of the FC mutation?

Also since we are on this topic, can birds be split to BF or are they either just BF or not?

I remember something in regards to a post....I read up on FC, I will look at the mutation again.

Fawn cheek on efinch...Roy wrote:
http://www.efinch.com/species/fczeb.htm

"Notes
The first thing to be aware of when thinking of breeding FCs is that there is a genetic weakness towards producing blind chicks. It is unavoidable, but it has been reported that there are fewer incidence of blindness by pairing to Grays or Fawns rather than pairing two Fawn Cheeks. The blind birds that are produced are immediately noticed in the nest because as other chicks begin to grow and have alert looking eyes, the blind FCs will have a sunken appearance to the eye socket or large water filled eyes when quite young. Any birds showing this genetic weakness should obviously be removed from any breeding program. Also produced are some birds that have vision, but the shape of the eye is distorted. Whatever genetic weakness produces the blindness may also distort the eye socket in some way."