How to create a Saddle Back zebra finch

[cindy]

I was reading up on pieds for another thread that was posted and found this interesting...you can create a saddle back. This is from efinch.com
http://www.efinch.com/species/piedzeb.htm

"The show standard calls for half the bird to be white and all the markings to be broken up approximately 50 percent. This is actually quite difficult to achieve. 'Light' pieds tend to have very little white and it starts with the flight feathers, chin and head. With repeated Pied x Pied matings, the amount of white increases. This can increase to the point that the last area of normal coloring is the back. These are often referred to as Saddleback Pieds. The amount of white can increase to the point that all the feathers are white."

I imagine this can be done with societies also.

[Martie]

I believe you are right - you can do this with Societies as well. I wonder if one could devise a formula of sorts. I'm thinking about something along the line of Robert Black's booklet on creating a breeding strain, where he starts out with five pairs of birds and crosses young to achieve a strain - only a breeding strategy that would maximize the level of pied.

Might be interesting to play with...

[Ameza]

I guess this could be possible.

Though, I have never been able to breed a true saddleback so to speak. My little pied birds have more often given me all sorts of pied, everything from little, medium pied and pied white.

Actually my most common colour of white from this pair and their offspring is pied white, with some dots on their back that usually fade with age.

Like this one:
But for some reason, I have never gotten a saddleback.

[Martie]

Pretty bird! I am not at all well-versed in Zebra Finch mutations, but with all there are, wonder if one or more of them might be blocking? Really don't know, so hopefully a Zebra expert will chime in.

[cindy]

I found it interesting that the more times you breed pied to pied it works out until the only spot left is on it's back.

[Ameza]

The funny thing is Cindy, that this white pied bird come from a NG/pied and very little pied female. (only few spots on her head)

[cindy]

I have a few splits to pied including a fawn male...I have never really tried for a pied, they show up here and there. I to am careful about who is bred to what especially my penguins and BC, BC CCFW. One female I have has the white here and there and white wing tips, the male fawn has white wing tips and a half of a chest panel...he is not done coloring up yet.

[Ameza]

The pied gene is relly quite funky. Since I have noticed that it is not always the same feather that stays white. When they go through a molt, the pattern of the white changes.

I wonder how this colour developed...and you can find pied in all birds, correct?

[cindy]

I don't know....you figure every mutation started with the normal gray.

I will have to watch as mine molt, I never really noticed a pattern change, I will have to follow it more closely.