New fawn bichenos, masked grass finches.

[finchbob]

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/9174/newxi.jpg

Got some more new birds yestaday, 4 fawn hen bichenos and 3 split for fawn male bichenos, also 3 new masked grass finches. All 10 of them are in a double breeder currently until I move them into my new aviary, it's not ready yet.

The breeder told me breeding fawn females with split for fawn males is best because then you get mostly fawn males and females and the occasional split normal who is guarenteed to be male.

[dfcauley]

Absolutely beautiful!! I am with envy over those masked grassfinches.

[finchbob]

Absolutely beautiful!! I am with envy over those masked grassfinches.

Hehe, getting 2 more pairs on sunday, i'll then have 9 pairs of masked grass finches, all to go into my huge new aviary. I'm starting a colony of them. They're not that easy to get hold of in britain, I managed to find these from 3-4 different sources over the space of a few months, took quite a bit of traveling.

[lovemyfinch]

Those are some beautiful birds.

[Sally]

I am over the fawn Owls! I just love this mutation.

[MLaRue]

Gorgeous! I was just going to ask where you are Finchbob but I see you referenced Britain. I wondered who in the US would have so many Masked Grassfinches available! Beautiful group of new birds you just got!

[cldheath44]

Nice birds, Bob!

The breeder told me breeding fawn females with split for fawn males is best because then you get mostly fawn males and females and the occasional split normal who is guarenteed to be male.

Did he or she explain why that would be? Is the fawn mutation in Bichenos different than say Shafttails or Zebras? In those finch species, the fawn mutation is a recessive sex-linked trait. This means that breeding a fawn female to a split for fawn male would give you: 25% normal females, 25% fawn females, 25% normal/fawn males and 25% fawn males. In other words 50% of offspring would be fawn and 50% would be normal (males and females), with the normal males being split. ??????

Christine

[L in Ontario]

Congratulations on all the new birds - very nice!!

[MLaRue]

Nice birds, Bob!

The breeder told me breeding fawn females with split for fawn males is best because then you get mostly fawn males and females and the occasional split normal who is guarenteed to be male.

Did he or she explain why that would be? Is the fawn mutation in Bichenos different than say Shafttails or Zebras? In those finch species, the fawn mutation is a recessive sex-linked trait. This means that breeding a fawn female to a split for fawn male would give you: 25% normal females, 25% fawn females, 25% normal/fawn males and 25% fawn males. In other words 50% of offspring would be fawn and 50% would be normal (males and females), with the normal males being split. ??????

Christine

I wonder if this theory is the same for Cherry Finches? Their fawn mutation?

[jamezyboo21]

Very nice finches. I especially like the owls.

[finchbob]

Nice birds, Bob!

The breeder told me breeding fawn females with split for fawn males is best because then you get mostly fawn males and females and the occasional split normal who is guarenteed to be male.

Did he or she explain why that would be? Is the fawn mutation in Bichenos different than say Shafttails or Zebras? In those finch species, the fawn mutation is a recessive sex-linked trait. This means that breeding a fawn female to a split for fawn male would give you: 25% normal females, 25% fawn females, 25% normal/fawn males and 25% fawn males. In other words 50% of offspring would be fawn and 50% would be normal (males and females), with the normal males being split. ??????

Christine

I heard it was different, this breeder seemed to know what he was talking about anyway. He said that this is the setup he uses, he prefers doing it this way because it keeps the strong normal gene in the blood and prevents the line from getting too weak. He says about 1 in 4-5 of the chicks he gets from a pair like this is a normal split for fawn, and 100% of the time that is a male, the other 4 would be fawns and either sex

[cldheath44]

I heard it was different, this breeder seemed to know what he was talking about anyway. He said that this is the setup he uses, he prefers doing it this way because it keeps the strong normal gene in the blood and prevents the line from getting too weak. He says about 1 in 4-5 of the chicks he gets from a pair like this is a normal split for fawn, and 100% of the time that is a male, the other 4 would be fawns and either sex

That's interesting. It makes sense to keep the strong normal gene in the mix. You'll have to let us know if you get those same results!

Christine

[CandoAviary]

Beautiful flock you have there...I just love those yellow beaks. Something different and very showy