My understanding is that Australian Dominant Pieds can throw varigated, clear flight and banded offspring. If that's correct then am I right in saying that you cannot breed true for any of the variations?

 

Bruce

I don't see why you couldn't. It is my understanding that the term varigated refers more to the flight feathers being a mixture of clear and normal, some with mottling. I think it is more a description of one of the possible pied characteristics, and is one of the pied mutations. Clearflight is also another mutation that refers to the wings and tail being white (or creamy yellow in the green series). Again, I think it is a description of one of the possible mutations. A banded pied is an 'ideal' pied, and again I think just defines the markings. If you wanted any or all of those characteristics in your pieds I think you could eventually get your breeding stock to contain whichever pied traits you find most appealing, and consistently breed to that particular characteristic.

 

Is that what you meant?

My understanding is that Australian Dominant Pieds can throw varigated, clear flight and banded offspring. If that's correct then am I right in saying that you cannot breed true for any of the variations?

 

Bruce

 

 

Yes that's what I meant, if the genes have all the traits then I wouldn't have thought that you can just breed for one type, however if the average pied has a combination of genes then you should be able to eventually breed just one type.

I heard that the banded pied was true until people started crossing them with other pieds and now you always get mixtures.

 

Bruce

Yeah, I can see where it would be difficult to breed only birds that would fit a particular standard instead of possibly fitting into more than one category. It would probably take years of breeding and a working knowledge of genetics. What type is your goal? Do you already have a bird that exhibits qualities you want to be able to successfully repeat?

Yeah, I can see where it would be difficult to breed only birds that would fit a particular standard instead of possibly fitting into more than one category. It would probably take years of breeding and a working knowledge of genetics. What type is your goal? Do you already have a bird that exhibits qualities you want to be able to successfully repeat?

 

I have a clear flight, a varigated and a banded pied plus normals. My ideal is a nice violet banded pied so I'm wondering do I concentrate on the banded pied or could I use all the birds to eventually achieve my goal.

 

Bruce

Well, both of my violets came from a varigated pied & banded clearflight cross. I'm not completely certain which parent carried the gene for violet, as it wasn't apparent. I thought the male at first, but the female's tail is marked like I have read skyblue violet tails are marked. She just does not look in any way, shape, or form like a violet. The male violet baby looked normal except for the headspot, and the female baby is an opaline banded clearflight, but the banding is more the shape of a cross or plus sign (it almost looks like she's wearing a tuxedo vest ) and she lacks all spots in the mask. But if it were possible I would breed her in a minute. What would be undecided is whether to breed her to another violet, or to a cobalt, and whether the male would be opaline and clearflight. The rest of the babies were skyblues or dilute cobalts with varying pied characteristics. Oh, and two greywing normals appeared also. They were all beautiful babies, but the 'banded' pieds would not have done well at shows due to the unevenness of markings among other "faults". Were I interested in breeding to a specific type, I think I would concentrate first on type, and secondly on color, as a perfectly marked bird will turn heads no matter what the color.

 

Do you want your pieds to have normal wings or do you like the clearflight gene? Can you post some pictures of them? I would love to see.