How common are fawn chicks from normal grey parents?

merryweather · Post by **merryweather** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:35 pm

I am new to the finch world. We bought a pair of what looked to be normal gray Zebra finches. I expected that their proginy would also be all normal. Well, much to my surprise none of the chicks, five of them, are gray.

Are fawn colored chicks common to regular parents?

Do I even have fawn chicks? Are bothe parents 'normal'?

Please look at the picture and help me figure out if I have an anomaly or a common occurrence.

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:43 pm

I'm no expert on genes but from I can tell in your picture your zebras are a bit lighter than normal greys. I think that if this is the case they both have a gene somewhere in them that is for light/cream/fawn etc. I'm guessing since they both have it then somehow the % of chicks that will be fawn or lighter is greater. Maybe just so happen all this time are fawn/cream.

merryweather · Post by **merryweather** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:12 am

Thank you for the reply.

Now that you mention it the hen seems to have a fawn color on the belly.

Are these colors supposed to change after their first molt?

Here is one of the lightest chicks:

merryweather · Post by **merryweather** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:32 am

Here is a close up of Ma Finch. She is so cute and capable.

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:07 pm

The closeup of Ma actually gives me the impression she is normal. Could be lighting or anything. I'm not sure about color changes during the first molt. I only have black cheeks and they come out gray and stay that way. Also the fawn color on the belly is normal. They males are usually pure white while the female is dirty white (fawn). Just a natural selection thing I guess. Can you post a closup of Pa?

By the way the babies are adorable. Nice large family!! My largest clutch has only been 3.

merryweather · Post by **merryweather** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:43 pm

Here is Pa finch and his offspring. He looks a little ragged not only because he is raising five teenagers, but because he was picked on by other male finches before I brought him home. He has feathers missing form the back of his neck. Ma finch likes him a lot anyway. ;-D

Notice the really light color on the wings of the fledgling right next to Pa. This is the back of the little finch I have as my avatar. As you can see in the avatar image he has no tear drop mark under the eyes. He has just a little color where the orange cheek patch normally would be. He also has light color where the chestnut markings would be under the wing.

The other chick with no markings is the second to the last finch.

Interesting, don't you think?

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:04 pm

I would say that Pa has something light in him. You do have a great little mix of babies. The one you have as an avatar is awsome. Might try to find a pure white or other fawn for him when he's all grown. No telling what might come out.

lonchura_boi · Post by **lonchura_boi** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:43 pm

any fawns from this pairing of two greys will be female. if you look closely at the males flight fetheres you will see a bit if pale brown/fawn edging to each feather, this is an indication he is "split" for fawn, meaning he carries the fawn gene, and as fawn is a sex linked mutation, it means 50% of his female offspring when paired to another grey will be fawn. females cannot be split for sex linked genes.

do you have more pics of the male, perhaps side on? hes not a plain grey looking closer at him, but hes not a fawn either

ac12 · Post by **ac12** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:23 am

Hilljack

So if my F with a cream/light brown belly with a black teardrop, then she is NOT a fawn but a "normal" gray? So I was looking for a F that does not exist, gray with a WHITE belly. I ask this because I'm planning for my next clutch with another pair, and I would like to use a regular GRAY female to mate with my what I think is a silver penguin.

I'm still new at this and the variations are overwhelming.

My chicks are in the middle of their molt, so I'm not sure what the final coloring will be from them. All I know for sure is 2 of 4 are M, I "think" #3 is F but not sure about #4 as I'm still watching the cheek for a color change.
The 2 M chicks have a very light brown belly. I'm hoping the belly will be WHITE after the molt.

Nagdabit · Post by **Nagdabit** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:29 pm

We too are overwhelmed by the whole split thing as far as genetics are concerned. We've been breeding zebras for over 4 years and are always amazed at what is produced from one clutch to the next. One of our patriarchs is a white male with just a hint of the rust marking on his one side. His first mate was a fawn with a lighter color flecked throughout. Together they had a total of 5 offspring, and all 4 males were normal. The lone female was a CFW.

But then all of his boys that have reproduced have given us some interesting chicks. We've gotten everything from Fawns, to a Silver Isabel, a Florida Fancy, and one guy we never did identify. (Kind of like a Florida Fancy but a very light gray instead of a white or cream) However, there have been very few normals.

Then we gave our white male a pied female and he produced a mix of normals and whites. (Although we’re fairly certain he hooked up with a white female in between there somewhere and had a clutch of totally white chicks.)

We definitely agree that the variations are overwhelming, as is the process in trying to understand and guess what will result. But it sure has been entertaining.

Rory and Sherry

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 1:18 pm

I don't breed zebras, but that is one reason I love colony breeding and not always knowing the genetic of your birds. It is so fun to wait and see what you get. You never know! That is the fun part.

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:33 am

Donna, I can see why you have a "mixed pot" too. I've been enjoying watching just the 3 pairs of Gouldians interact. If you aren't breeding for a specific mutation, colony breeding definitely has it's rewards.

I don't breed Zebras either, but my pair of Shaft-tails are split to fawn and have produced a few fawns along with the normals. How you're supposed to know the normals that are split to fawn in STs, I have no clue!

readingfc · Post by **readingfc** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:11 pm

My normal and white zebra's produced this cuty

summert85 · Post by **summert85** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:30 pm

readingfc wrote:My normal and white zebra's produced this cuty

i love the pied babies like this. Makes them look like baby polar bear. which i adore and love. my pair haven't got any babies like this yet. the hen is white and dad is black cheeked normal gray.