fancy zebras?

Winston · Post by **Winston** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:17 pm

I recently purchased two zebra finches from a pet store that the breeder claimed were fancy zebras, and told me that all the mutations outside of the normal grey zebra were called fancies. But the only fancy I know of is the Florida Fancy with the absence of black markings. So was Fancy the proper term?

The female was white with brownish grey on her back and black eyes and stripe. The male looked normal grey except for white spots covering most of the body, which the breeder said would disappear soon. But I thought it looked like a pied.

The breeder also said that fancies were a result of inbreeding. But wouldn't that result in deformity?

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:33 pm

I think fancy is a term pet stores throw around to describe anything that is not wild type. Pet stores local to me sell "fancy mice," for example, which are just mice with spots or special markings instead of solid colored mice. The more 'proper' term most breeders use is 'mutation.'

Although I'd need to see a photo to be sure that I am interpreting how you are describing your birds correctly, they both sound like they might be pied.

If the cock is pied, he will not "moult out" of his white blotches.

Mutation birds, once established, do not need to result from inbreeding. However, when mutations are first discovered and are in the process of being established, many breeders rely on inbreeding to enhance or produce more of the desired/mutation trait.

Inbreeding can result in a lot of problems for the bird, including some deformities, but may result in problems which are not really grossly visible (such as a weakened immune system).

Winston · Post by **Winston** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:01 pm

Thank you.

I uploaded a picture of the female here: http://www.finchforum.com/gallery/displ ... um=1&pos=9

Note the interesting tail markings...

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:04 pm

*squints* That's not a regular chestnut flanked white female is it? it looks like it could be, but I'm new to finches..

Jeannette

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:40 am

I agree with Jeanette that your hen looks like a Chestnut Flanked White (CFW) hen.

2 photos of CFW hens:
http://www.zebrafinch.com/NewZebra/New_ ... FWhens.jpg
http://www.efinch.com/birdpix/fawncfw1.jpg

CFW is a sex-linked recessive trait. If your cock is pied (an autosomal recessive trait) and not carrying any other hidden traits, their chicks will all look like normal greys. However, all the chicks will be "split" for pied, and all of the cocks will be "split" for CFW.

Winston · Post by **Winston** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:24 am

Thanks.

The hen is currently paired up with a normal grey, and they have eggs. So we'll see...

The bird in the second picture really looks like her, with the fawn mix.

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 10:58 am

I have a CFW cock and his female offspring look like the bird in your photo. So I would agree she is a CFW.

My cfw cock is paired with a normal hen. Their first clutch last spring consisted of one normal cock and two cfw's hens. From their second clutch I got four normal males.

Breeding these birds is like opening a box of chocolates!

TammieB.

Winston · Post by **Winston** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:42 pm

Breeding these birds is like opening a box of chocolates!

Isn't it?

(<-- what is this emoticon supposed to be??)

I also have a CFW paired with a BC hen, and they have chicks. I'm curious to see how they look.

Here's a picture of them:
http://www.finchforum.com/gallery/displ ... um=1&pos=7

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:00 pm

Winston wrote: I also have a CFW paired with a BC hen, and they have chicks. I'm curious to see how they look.

CFW cock x black-cheek hen will result in the following chicks:

-CFW hens
-normal (split CFW) cocks

-all babies will also be split for black cheek, but won't have black cheeks themselves, unless your CFW cock is also split for black cheek.

This is because CFW is sex linked recessive and Black Cheek is autosomal recessive.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:06 pm

I look forward to seeing the Zebra Finch Genetics page on the main site.

Winston · Post by **Winston** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:07 pm

eeps, i forgot to sign in...

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 10:14 pm

I'm with TAmmieB on this one! My goodness what a variety!

I got two zebras back in the beginning of October and only had them a couple weeks before I had eggs. The male looks like the white mutation, no black on his whatsoever, and the female looks fawn to me, but her tear drops are black not dark brown. I've been told she's a dominant silver. Between the two of them, they've had 1 pied female, 1 normal grey male, 1 diluted lightback male. And that was just the first clutch!

By the looks of it this second clutch is going to have 2 normal greys, 1 regular CFW, and 4 that the jury is still out on. They've very light cream colored.

What a genetic goulash!

Jeannette

Winston · Post by **Winston** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 12:59 pm

I also have a CFW paired with a BC hen, and they have chicks. I'm curious to see how they look.

CFW cock x black-cheek hen will result in the following chicks:

-CFW hens
-normal (split CFW) cocks

-all babies will also be split for black cheek, but won't have black cheeks themselves, unless your CFW cock is also split for black cheek.

This is because CFW is sex linked recessive and Black Cheek is autosomal recessive.

The two chicks are almost fledging now. One has a white beak and the other has a black beak. Is this common?

Also, the black beaked chick appears to be light grey with white cheeks. Could it be a Silver [cheeked] Zebra? I've only seen them in pictures.

Also, the CFW female I mentioned earlier (paired with a normal grey) has chicks now, which might give some clue as to what her exact mutation is (if she isn't only cfw). I suspect she's a Continental due to her strong tail markings and ruby colored eyes.

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 1:18 am

<I suspect she's a Continental due to her strong tail markings and ruby <colored eyes.

I suspect you're right. My R-CFW (not sure if it's male or female) has no mouth markings that I could see, but has almost completly invisible tail bar markings.

I've read that the C-CFW can have ruby eyes, as well as strong tail markings.

I'm going t post some pictures of my newest clutch soon, now that they're 2 months old and I'm going to need help determining their genetic makeup.

So sharpen your pencils guys! hee hee

Jeannette

ghostbride · Post by **ghostbride** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 4:23 pm

***The two chicks are almost fledging now. One has a white beak and the other has a black beak. Is this common?***

Hi all. I am new here and this is my first post. I have been reading and watching alot of forums. I noticed this question, I am trying to learn all of this since I stumbled blindly into finches when I saved a large cage of 7 finches and 2 parakeets. They really needed somewhere to go. Now I have removed the parakeets and have successfully had 8 finches fledged. Thing is, This last clutch made me look more into pied. I have one that has a very interesting beak. Hatched on 2/24/07 the beak is now silver or white looking with a black stripe down it. I have a pic of it taken when it was 3 weeks of age. I will post it as soon as I figure out how..

There were only four hatchlings from a clutch of five only two made it. The other has a beak also of the two collors except the top half is white and bottom black. I know these are probably going to change as they get older but I have not seen anything about this beak coloring for fledgelings anywhere. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.. I hate to say it but I know little more than how to feed and clean properly and of course enjoy! I want this to be a full time thing for me. I just love these little guys!