FINCHforum

I purchased a pair of redheaded greenbacks and their first clutch produced one YH male, one RH male and two RH females. Clutch number two has produced three males and two females. Two males are already showing YH, I am assuming the third male will be RH? Is that how it works? And will the females always express RH, or was that just coincidence the first clutch? I've used the genetics calculator thing but I'm not clear on if it means they will just carry the gene or express it. Thanks for any information!

If you are getting YH chicks you know each of your parent birds are split to YH so you will get both RH and YH males and females. Also you will get RH and RH/YH of both male and female chicks.

Thanks Debbie. So the fact that both females from the first clutch are RH doesn't mean anything, some females from the second clutch may express the YH?
I love this genetics stuff but I am still learning.

To put it simply both parents have a gene for RH and a gene for YH so the chicks will get:
RH from each parent making them RH
RH from one parent and YH from the other making them RH/YH
YH from each parent making them YH

That's not exactly genetically correct but put in simple terms to help you understand.
There is a very good genetic area on the Finch Information Center site that you can click on at the left top of this page. It explains the gouldian genetics very well.
Here's the direct link
http://www.finchinfo.com/genetics/lady_ ... /index.php

Got it, thanks! I just thought it would be more evenly distributed, like one female would be RH and one would be YH.