kaylayuh

Surprises seem to follow her wherever she goes! Thanks. I was under the impression that a Lutino bird crossed with a blue base would have green chicks? Unless I'm understanding something wrong, which I probably am.

If I were to breed a lutino hen and a sky blue spangle greywing cock, what color mutations could I expect? I'm not sure if either is split to anything, so I can't provide more information than that.

I read your post! ..I'm not sure if I misunderstood something, though. My area of interest is usually human genetics, not avian. :|

Oh, I'm a worrier naturally. Her age can't really be determined as she was gotten from a pet shop and they didn't know. Based on her band color, which most breeders in the US change every year, and the fact that she's molted twice, I'd venture a guess that she's around 18 months old. Her diet consists primarily of a fortified seed mix. This is not for lack of trying to convert to pellets and trick her into eating fresh foods. Her determination to not eat anything other than seed is surprisingly strong. She will take anything she doesn't like and push it through the grate of her cage and refuse to eat it. Fresh foods (kale, sprouts, mango, papaya, red bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, raisins, spinach to name a few) are available twice a day. Dried fruit and vegetables are available both in their seed mix and as foraging treats, again which they refuse to eat. Pellets are available as well, but those are completely ignored. Fresh water is available all day, ever day. It's changed on average twice a day. Most days, I will change it three times a day. A cuttlebone is available in the cage. I'm just worried about egg binding and not being able to get her to an avian vet in time. On average (I use public transportation), it would take me about an hour to get to the nearest one.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, all the female chicks would be Slate, as I previously thought. But the male chicks would be phenotypically Normal in appearance, but split genotypically for -Ino and Slate traits. But because no one is sure whether the gene for Slate and -Ino traits are on the same allele on the same chromosome, we can't be completely sure? If I do allow the two to mate, it will be interesting to see. I'm on the fence now -- mostly because I'm more concerned for my female's health than excited for the prospect of babies. I'd be devastated if something happened to her.

If I were to allow a Slate male and a Lutino female, what would their offspring be? I'm of the understanding that both genes are sex-linked, so I've come to the conclusion that all females would be Slate. What would the males be? Does Lutino become dominant when paired with a Slate, or is it the opposite? Also, does anyone have pictures of how these birds would turn out? I'm curious to see! Thanks in advance for your help.