CFWs and fledglings

[Jeff McKee]

I have a pair of CFWs that have raised many chicks. Their recent effort produced six chicks. For the first time there is a pure white chick. Yes, pink beaks, black beaks. One with a grey head. There have been others with grey heads before, but this one is very pronounced. The grey disappears as the bird ages. The pic is of their first day out of the nest, so yes, lots of yellow feathers. The pink beaks, all appeared to have red eyes in the nest.

I recently ordered Garry's genetics book. I have my own ideas, but am curious what the forum thinks the hidden genetics are on these birds!

[cindy]

Fawns and the mother is a Regular CFW (fawn in tail)

The yellow tails could be stain from time in the nest box

[DanteD716]

Cindy, if you look close you can see yellow on the wing. And the chick with the white cheeks looks domniant silver

[cindy]

I did see it on the wings as well. Could be staining or it may turn fawn.

Dominant Silver chicks have horn colored beaks...here is the link
http://www.efinch.com/species/dszeb.htm

I wouls lean more torwrds BB on the white cheek baby but there is a tear...BB babies look like penguins...but it has a tear.

http://www.efinch.com/species/bbzeb.htm

[coopers]

Beautiful birds. One of my favorite types of zebras along with the black cheeks and the CFW black cheeks. The yellow is staining from the nest. It gets pretty nasty in there around that age.

[finchmix22]

Whatever they feather out to be, they're adorable. Congratulations!

[cindy]

I agree coppers, I have seen chicks with yellow staining on tails and lower body from sitting in the nest....it is nasty and can be a bit hard to get totally off. There is no real yellow in feather mutation that I m aware of or have seen in a zebra.

[Vargur]

look like fawn CCFWs
and the one with the darker beak
could be CFW and CCFW fawn.

not sure about the all white one,
could be BB cfw?


here are my CCFW fawns

vargs ungar by Elma_Ben, on Flickr

yes I know they were dirty,
just out of the nest.

[Ameza]

Very cute!

And yes that white one kinda has to be CFW BB I would think, though I have never seen one. Since pied white and white's have pink beaks.

Interesting

[cindy]

Ameza...here is efinch's CFW BB

http://www.efinch.com/birdpix3/bbcfw.jpg

[Ameza]

Oh wow Cindy, that's quite pretty!

I really love CFW's...though I don't have any since I have stopped myself from buying them until I sometime somehow get more room

[cindy]

I was offered some in trade by two different people for some of my BC I have for sale (one woman wanted to give me babies right out of the nest that were not colored up, one was not weaned. She said not to worry she can sex them with a needle and thread...told her no thanks).

[Ameza]

Say what?! Sex them with a needle and a thread? ...some people.

[finchmix22]

I've heard of people sexing animals with a needle and thread. The myth is the same as predicting the sex of a woman's baby during pregnancy. If the needle move clockwise, it's a boy and counterclockwise, it's a girl. I think that's the direction, but I may have it reversed. LOL.

[cindy]

That is what I told the woman, I told her that I sex zebras the old fashion way, I wait until they color up. BC CFWs and BC can usually be sexed at weaning, the males start to sport the start of a dark breast bar...sometimes they come out of the nest with one.

Thank goodness I did not buy stock in the old needle and string bit...they said boy....I would have had to paint the nursey over...I had a daughter.