Zebra Finches

[Billion25]

I have a black Cheek and a Black face zebra finch, how can I produce a black cheek and black breasted and black face zebra?tnx

[Crystal]

The Black Breasted mutation is recessive. Birds which are carriers of a single copy of the black breasted gene ("splits") can sometimes be identified by the hour glass shape of the white spots on their tail coverts (photo at zebrafinch.com: http://www.zebrafinch.com/NewZebra/Bird ... athers.GIF)

The Black Cheek mutation is recessive as well, but the Black Face mutation is dominant.

In order to produce a Black Cheek, Black Face, Black Breasted zebra finch, you would need to create a bird which was carrying 2 Black Cheek genes (so both parents would need to carry at least 1 copy of the gene, preferably 2 copies in order to produce all black cheek babies and no splits), 2 black breasted genes (so again both parents would need to be carrying at least 1 black breast gene, but preferably 2 copies of the gene to produce black breasted babies and not splits), and at least 1 black face gene (so at least one parent would need to carry at least one copy of the gene, preferably one parent would be "double factor" for the gene [carrying 2 copies] so that all babies would receive at least 1 copy and all would be black faced).

If you currently have a black cheek, black face zebra, you could breed that bird to a black cheek, black breasted bird. The babies from that pairing would all have black cheeks. They would all be "split" for black breasted, and at least some of them would also be black faced.

If you then took one of the babies with a black face from that clutch and bred it to a black cheeked, black breasted bird, you would produce at least some babies which were black cheeked, black breasted, and black faced.