RED EYED- GROWN UP

[CandoAviary]

The 5 gouldian chicks that I have been hand feeding.....
Firet time gouldian pair Hen OH PB NB Cock OH PB YB or dilute
Cocks Grandparents Hen OH PB YB Cock OH LB YB
Hens Grandparents Hen RH PB NB Cock RH PB NB

Hatched these 5. Threw the light one. I replaced... threw again. Replaced, then they threw all 5. I put under another gouldian that had been sitting on dud eggs. They started to feed all but the light one. It seemed his eyes were not there. The skin covering the sockets was flesh colored...like there was nothing underneath. I referred to it as the chick with no eyes. I took the nest down from the foster gouldian and fed this one. After about 6 days I noticed a little bit of darkening, appearing to have developed some eyes. It has now opened his eyes and they are red. His skin is a very redish pink. I had assumed that it was a yellow (the feeding spots are a pastel white and yellow) but now I wonder if it is Blind? Albino? Silver? Never seen one like this. Any idea? It would be awful if it is blind. They are not quite old enough to really track and they don't jump away in fear from me due to handfeeding so I cannot tell if he is blind by his actions.

[CandoAviary]

After researching the web I realize this may be an albinistic Red Eyed,Japanese Fallow, or Lutino. Seems like there are not many in the US though. Could this be possible? On this site they show a chick a couple of days old. This is exactly how mine looked. See, it looks like they have no eyes

Gouldian Finch - Albinistic Red Eyed Belgian origin
GOULDIAN FINCH. ERYTHRURA GOULDIAE. MUTATIONS. ALBINISTIC - RED EYED. Belgian Origin ... Albinistic Red Eyed Gouldian (lutino) Sometimes the red eyes are ...users.skynet.be/fa398872/engoulm48.htm - Cached
Erythrura
I cannot get the picture to come up. But if you search ERYTHRURA (english)
then click on gouldians, then click on mutations, then click on red eyed, then click on Belgium...that is what my guy looked like. Also the Cuban one looks like him.

[lovemyfinch]

Will be very interesting to see if by chance you have a rare mutation of gouldian. They are very pretty.

[Pukasand]

Interesting, Candace. I hope the best for the chick, and it would be wonderful for you if it is a rare mutation. Please keep us posted and with pics.

[nixity]

I hate to be a bummer but to me this just looks like a yellow baby :\

With the father being dilute - he will produce a percentage ("25%") of Yellow daughters.

Lutinos are VERY pink - so much so that your baby is too "jaundiced" looking to really qualify. Really, I'm not expert on this, the best person to contact would be Winnie McAlpin as she is the leading US Breeder/Producer of Lutinos and Albinos right now.
It's definitely possible to get a fluke mutant here and there, I've seen definitive cases of strange things like Sea Greens and Pieds coming out of seemingly normal lines, etc.

But I just think this is a Yellow hen.. Sorry

Here are a few photos of Winnie's Lutinos as babies (Credit goes 100% to her and her Flickr Album for these)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11859828@N ... 619774423/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11859828@N ... 619774423/

Hopefully those photos illustrate the stark quality of eye color you'd see.

And here are some photos of my own Yellow babies - for comparison.
Yellows will have a degree of pinkness to their eyes (especially when very young) that tends to dissipate with age and turn more of a brown tinged with pink (like if the flash of a camera or glare of sunlight hits the eye at the right angle).

http://www.gouldiansgalore.net/yellows/P2170002.JPG
http://www.gouldiansgalore.net/yellows/ ... chling.jpg
http://www.gouldiansgalore.net/yellows/ ... hling2.jpg

[CandoAviary]

Thanks Tiffany. I have a question in to Winnie of Delmar already. I was sure it was a yellow, being that the cock is a dilute. I just had never seen the young yellows eyes look like that on all my other yellow babies. That is why I think it was blind. Also because the parents did not want to raise it nor the fosters.
As for the jaudice. Why and what should I do to fix it?
There is no disappointment here. I just want to try and give this little unwanted guy some help. If it is truly blind then I should hunamely let it pass. That is my only concern. Thanks for you input...I am off to research jaundice now

[nixity]

Oh no no.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to suggest he had jaundice the disease..

I was just trying to describe the skin color difference between the really pink bubs like Silvers and Albinos and yellows (and your guy) which have that yellowy "jaundice-y" color to their skin.

I guess the best way to show what I mean is by the Silver vs Yellow comparison photo I have:
The Silver is clearly the pinkish blueish babe in the bottom of the photo - whereas his siblings have that yellowy tinge to their skin that just makes me think of jaundice

[CandoAviary]

Silly me I though my baby had jaundice. Funny, when I started to search the web yours was the first site to pop up.
I had already looked at your photos as also Winnie and the belgium site for comparison. My yellow babies in the past never had eyes this pink though. Also the eyes are small and they only have them half open. Kind of like the one in Winnie's young chick photo. The nest siblings open thier eyes wide.
Do you have any baby yellow chick pictures that show the eyes red before they turn brown/dark like you are talking about? In all of your yellow chick pics they show the eyes before they are opened or after they have fledged.None with opened eyes. I guess I am going to have to pay more attention to my next batch of yellow babies (which shouldn't be long...2 pair of yellows on eggs now)
Anyway, it probably is a yellow. That makes a lot more sense from this pair. I am certain of the lineage because I have bred the last 2 generations.
I have removed the nest from the foster gouldians cage and replace with a fresh one. Maybe they will have thier own clutch now. Seems I was supplimenting well enough that they just left me to do it. It will be intresting to watch this chicks eyes turn dark. I will try and get some pictures of the process.
Always something that keeps me entertained in the birdroom.

[nixity]

It very well could be something strange/different You never know!

I do have other pictures on my computer at home, I'll try to post some tonight. I don't add them all to the photos section just because I would think it would get overwhelming trying to go through all of them, but maybe it would be more helpful than overwhelming..

I had someone complain once that my site takes too long to load, I guess due to all of the photos.

[Matt]

Here in Australia, we have a recessive dilute mutation which hatches with red eyes before turning dark. They appear very similar to a SF yellow.

[gouldianscy]

Matt or anybody else, what is the visual difference of a single factor yellow male gouldian to a double factor yellow male gouldian? Is it the dilute yellow the single factor?

[nixity]

Matt or anybody else, what is the visual difference of a single factor yellow male gouldian to a double factor yellow male gouldian? Is it the dilute yellow the single factor?

A purple breasted male that is SF will always be visually dilute.
Likewise, a visually bright yellow male that is Purple breast is always DF yellow.

When you're talking about a Lilac or White Breast yellow male, if there's a chance the bird can be SF for yellow (i.e., it was not produced from a Yellow Hen x DF Yellow Male pairing), there are a few things you can look at to try to get a better idea as to whether or not the bird is SF or DF:

1. The bird's bib.
On a DF Yellow male, the presence of the two yellow genes completely inhibits the expression of black pigment, so where the bib is normally black on a normal, it will be off-white/white on a DF Yellow male:

And


Likewise, if a DF Yellow male is genetically Black Head, his head will appear off-white/white in color:


On a SF Yellow Male, the single yellow gene only partially inhibits the expression of black pigment, though the presence of a white or Lilac breast enhances this, so the bib is more of a greyish color instead. Sometimes the difference is really subtle, as in this case:



The next thing you can try looking at is the halo that goes around the bird's mask. This is usually brilliant royal/turquoise blue in a normal male.
On a SF Yellow White or Lilac Breast it turns into a luminescent bluish/turquoise and on a DF it takes on more of a mother of pearl opalescent quality.

DF Yellow:


SF Yellow:


Hope this helps

[dfcauley]

I don't know about helping..... but those sure are gorgeous birds!!!

[nixity]

I don't know about helping..... but those sure are gorgeous birds!!!

Lol.. thanks
Misty is the proud owner of this guy now:

[B CAMP]

I would be proud of any of those