FINCHforum

I really like the idea of this program, but I feel somewhat dumb using it, even with the explanations I dont understand completely what "split" means or how to tell if my birds have any unseen genetics. Does split mean "heterozygous for"?

Also, When I put in these parents:

I put in that the male is a OH/PB/YB - DF(I only know this because the picture shows a green bird when "SF" was selected and he is visually yellow). The Female is put in as BH/PB/YB (she actually has a white head, but the program shows the correct picture colors when I select black...I think I read somewhere in the program that black is suppressed in yellow goulds?)


I get this offspring:

50% Male >> Red / Black / Orange (Head) - Purple (Chest) - DF Yellow (Body)
50% Female >> Red / Orange (Head) - Purple (Chest) - Yellow (Body)

I don't understand why it says 50% males red/black/orange headed!? I know I have a 50/50 shot of getting a male, but what is he going to look like??? How can he have a red/black/orange head??? and how can the female offspring have both a red and orange head? Why would they not be black headed like their mom? CONFUSED!!! Also, please dont think I have not done my research, I have, it is just really different terminology for me, I am used to simple recessive genetics and co-dominant stuff that you use punnett squares to figure out (though I suppose I could do one with the birds too...it just might take me a few minutes to figure out how to set it up.)

Picture of the gouldian parents (if it shows):

"Split" just means that a bird is carrying a gene recessively. Like a purple breast that is split to white breast, or a green normal backed bird split to blue back.

Black in yellow birds is suppressed hence the white head on your yellow hen in the same way that a yellow or red headed bird with a blue back is changed to tan or salmon.

The mode of inheritance for the head colors is very confusing. The hen offspring you'll get will be red headed that are split to yellow head.
The males will also be red headed that are split to black and also split to yellow.

The only way to know what is split for, or heterozygous impure for, is to either breed that bird or ask the breeder the bird's parentage.
I bred two red headed normals and one of the offspring looks like it's going to have a yellow head!

Atarasi,

Thanks for the explanation! It was really confusing with the new terms but I think I understand it pretty good. I didnt understand why the program indicated all three colors on the male offspring but now I understand that it means red will show but it will be "heterozygous" or split for the other two colors without showing them.

Thanks again!
Bonnie

One question I just thought of though, if the parents don't show red heads, then why will all of the offspring be red headed?

bonnies_gouldians wrote:One question I just thought of though, if the parents don't show red heads, then why will all of the offspring be red headed?

I know this is and old post, but I'm new here and digging through these genetics questions.
All of the offspring will be visually Red Head because of the father.
Although he is "Orange Head," Orange head cannot manifest itself without at least one sex linked "red" head gene.
It's just that the presence of the two autosomal (NOT on the Sex Chromosome) genes outweigh the red and result in an orange head color instead.
But because the hen is BH (and not split for OH), the red dominates, and this is what you are left with visually.
However -- all of the males would be triply split for head colors (red/black/orange) and all of the hens would be red/Orange head.