| PAIRING A NORMAL GREY HEN WITH A WHITEFACE OR PEARL Copyright © 2003 Linda S. Rubin All Rights Reserved |
| ORIGINAL BOOK REVIEW by Dr. Rainer R. Erhardt "Well, there is help on the horizon and anyone seriously interested in color genetics should take a look at Linda Rubin's book: COCKATIEL GENETICS MADE EASY! Though this book is primarily directed to breeders of cockatiel mutations, there is enough information in this little volume to teach anyone the secrets of dealing with recessive, sex-linked, and dominant mutations..." ACBM, Vol. 65, No.12 CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW! 112 pages, 15 chapters, glossary & more! |
Copyright 2007 Linda S. Rubin
| Multiple Bird Households by Linda S. Rubin |
| Series by Linda S. Rubin |
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| Q. Could you please tell me what breed my cockatiel is? She is definitely female because she is sitting on eggs. I was wondering if she is Whiteface, or Silver, because these were the only photos that had similar markings on the breast feathers (e.g., kind of spattered white feathers in the grey). In addition to the white wing bar, she has little white feathers all over her wings. Could this be possible? Which breed of male do you believe would be best to breed with her? I love unique colors and I’m willing to hunt down any cockatiel color variety to be her mate. I was thinking either Whiteface or Pearl. Is it possible to try and match her with a "wrong breed" of male? Thanks! Jewell A. Hi Jewell, Judging from the photo you posted, your cockatiel falls within the shades of what we call Normal Grey. She does not appear to look Silver or any other color. The "spattered white feathers" on her breast can be found in some Normal Grey stock, especially in hens. On the show bench, it would be considered a small fault because it demonstrates that the pigment is not fully covering the breast feathers and is allowing the white (non- pigmented) areas to show through. It is also possible the grey pigment may return after a complete adult molt, if it is not related to a dietary deficiency responsible for depigmenting feathers. I can tell you that your cockatiel is not a Whiteface, because the Whiteface mutation lacks both the orange cheek patch and any yellow coloration that might show up, (e.g. yellow spottings under the wing, yellow tail barrings under tail feathers, restricted yellow markings upon the face, crown, or nape). I would be interested in viewing a photo of your hen from the back to see the "little white feathers all over her wings," before commenting further. Although it is possible your hen could be a Pearl mutation, I don't see any obvious lacings, yellow pigment in the base of the crest, or a predominantly yellow tail that would lead me to believe your hen is a Pearl. If you are able, please post a photo of her back so we can get a better look. "A picture is worth a thousand words," is quite accurate in this situation. I am unable to observe any "little white feathers all over her wings" which you describe that could be construed as true pearl lacings. However, I do notice the white feathers across her rump and upper tail. The latter, I'm afraid is considered a slight show fault in the color standard as we prefer to breed Normal Greys that carry a uniform color depth throughout the body (with the exception of the white wing bar, etc.). However, I would not be too disappointed, your hen is still a lovely Normal Grey and many of us still appreciate the Normal colored cockatiels. Color and markings in our show standard only amount to 10 points, of which half is applied to color depth and consistency. In the future, I would recommend pairing your hen to a mate that has good overall depth of color. Even if you are not breeding for show, it is good to keep the standard in mind as your hen’s future offspring may, unbeknownst to you, one day become the foundation stock of someone else's breeding stud. You mentioned you wished to select either a Pearl cock, or a Whiteface cock, as a mate for your hen. As far as future offspring (depending upon your goal), the better pairing would be to select a Pearl cock. This is because Pearl is a sex-linked mutation: Pearl cock x Normal Grey hen = 50% Normal Grey/Pearl cocks 50% Pearl hens The Normal Grey cockatiel is the dominant form found in the wild and it is dominant to most other color mutations. If by very rare chance your hen should turn out to be a very sparsely, lightly marked Pearl, you can test- breed the theory by pairing her to a Pearl cock. A Pearl hen mated to a Pearl cock will always yield 100% Pearl young of both genders. In order to produce visual young of any other color mutation in the first generation, you must use a sex-linked mutation such as: Pearl, Lutino, Cinnamon, or the sex-linked form of Yellowcheek. If you insert any of these sex-linked colors in place of "Pearl," you will get the same results: Normal Grey split cocks (that only carry the mutation in hidden form) and visual, sex-linked mutation hens. Another option is to use either the Dominant Yellowcheek mutation, or the Dominant Silver. The Dominant Silver is a rarer mutation; the single factor form is attractive to some and the double factor Dominant Silvers are more eye-catching. Single Factor Dominant Silvers x Normal Grey = 50% Normal Grey 50% Single Factor Dominant Silver Double Factor Dominant Silver x Normal Grey = 100% Single Factor Dominant Silver Pairing your Normal Grey hen to Whiteface, or any other recessive color mutation (e.g. Pied, Recessive Silver, Fallow, Pastelface, Goldcheek, Suffused Silvers, etc.), will only produce all Normal Grey young that are split to Whiteface (or whatever recessive mutation you are using). Because these recessive mutations are inherited on autosomes, and not the sex chromosomes, they are not gender related. This simply means that you have an equal chance of producing both males and females. Whiteface x Normal Grey = 100% Normal Grey/Whiteface (50% males & 50% females) Whenever you produce splits, (denoted by the diagonal sign [/]), the bird carries the mutation in hidden form but can pass it down to its future offspring. The split should then be paired to an unrelated split, or visual, of the same mutation (e.g. split Whiteface to split Whiteface) in order to produce a percentage of visual recessive mutations (e.g. Whiteface) in the resulting offspring. |
Copyright 2007 Linda S. Rubin
