Blackie and Harley have finally raised their first family after a few hiccups. They had 2 infertile clutches and were about to go back into the aviary but we discovered a lonely egg in their box and gave them one last go. 4 eggs resulted, and two were fertile

 

We have spent a lot of time handling these little kids... and they came out of their box on their own yesterday. They are having a nibble at the potted grass we rotate amongst the cages, as well as the millet sprays but mum and dad are still keeping their bellies full

 

 

This is mum, Blackie

 

This is Harley

 

Kids, unnamed as yet

 

Any advice on the genetics of our birds would be appreciated, we are just starting out with the breeding but would love to know what we could expect from our pairs

Hi The babies both look like Pied as does the father. Does Blackie have dark eyes ? or are they red as appears in the photo, my guess is that she is a double factor spangle as your violet baby is a pied/spangle & the other is a yellow faced blue pied. Both babies have the "bold" patch on the back of their heads which is indictive that they are pied.

 

They are both beautifull babies. Someone else may add to this but I think they are dominant pieds.

I would say the mother is an albino with Bad suffision... and masking the spangle gene Both babies do have the pied spots and both are gorgeous healthy looking bubs! i love the dads colourings...

I just checked, mum has black eyes, I thought she was albino but apparently not.

 

The yellow face blue pied has a new home, see my thread in the pet shop section

Does the hen have red eyes? Could it be a double factor spangle?

The Mum I would have thought is a DF spangle. Libby the patch on the back of the spangles head is common in a lot of spangles. A patch or spot on a spangles head does not always indicate pied. Pieds were a part of the early breeding to develop spangles and thats why some still have the spot.

Edited January 30, 200817 yr by KAZ

Don't forget Kaz the daddy has the dominant pied spot too so 1/2 the babies (the ratio) could be dominant pieds right?

KAZ, does that mean they are not pied? Dad is isn't he? They have solid coloured bodies so I was surprised that they were classed as pied anyway

Don't forget Kaz the daddy has the dominant pied spot too so 1/2 the babies (the ratio) could be dominant pieds right?

Dominant pieds show as dominant pieds. A dom pied spangle also shows very clearly. That baby is a spangle and cannot be split for dom pied. If it were a dom pied spangle it would look totally different to what it does.

Edited January 30, 200817 yr by KAZ

The dad is a yellow face type 2 dominant pied the hen if she does not have red eyes is a double factor spangle

 

This is where the spangle and pied babies came into play. Spangle is a dominant gene so your spangle baby only has 1 gene which makes it a singe factor spangle. Double factor spangles (like possibly the hen) are either white sometimes with suffision as you see with the blue or all yellow. Sometimes they can be confused with Dark Eyed Clears but the DEC male cere doesn't change it stays pink and they will not get iris rings like the DF Spangle.

okay, so Blackie is definitely a double factor spangle, she has a white ring around her eyes

Don't forget Kaz the daddy has the dominant pied spot too so 1/2 the babies (the ratio) could be dominant pieds right?

Funny thing about this...the way I see it is a bird is either a dominant pied or its not. Visually it should look like a dominant pied to be classed as one. I seriously doubt if a spot on the back of the head of a NORMAL looking budgie totally is a sign it IS dominant pied or has it in its genes. You cannot have a budgie split for dominant pied...Right ? Or even split for spangle. It either is one or it isnt. Curious and interesting.

okay, so Blackie is definitely a double factor spangle, she has a white ring around her eyes

YES...a double factor spangle

They can't be split but because it is on a different allele they could be a Dominant Pied Spangle (so the genes can be co-dominant and both visual just like other dominant genes). I think a better shot of the front of the baby in question would be wonderful to see if there is any pied patterns but remember Merlin only has a big spot on the back of his head other then that he looks like a normal from the front so even that couldn't determine if it is the spangle spot or the pied spot or heck why can't it be a combination spot from both the spangle/d. pied gene?

here's a front shot of the yellow faced blue

 

All your bubs are gorgeous .

Interesting because the pairing of DF Spangle to Normal is 100% SF Spangle. A dominant pied can be used as a normal but has a dominant gene. Yellowface is also a dominant gene in the blue series. You would think that the Dominant genes of the Pied crossed with the spangle would give 50% SF Spangles and 50% SF Spangle Dominat pieds. 50% of which would be yellow face.

 

But you have a normal in that yellow face.

 

Isn't genetics wonderfull....

Blackie and Harley have finally raised their first family after a few hiccups. They had 2 infertile clutches and were about to go back into the aviary but we discovered a lonely egg in their box and gave them one last go. 4 eggs resulted, and two were fertile

 

We have spent a lot of time handling these little kids... and they came out of their box on their own yesterday. They are having a nibble at the potted grass we rotate amongst the cages, as well as the millet sprays but mum and dad are still keeping their bellies full

 

 

This is mum, Blackie

 

This is Harley

 

Kids, unnamed as yet

 

Any advice on the genetics of our birds would be appreciated, we are just starting out with the breeding but would love to know what we could expect from our pairs

 

A genetic jigsaw a bit of spangle, pied, yellowface but in the end healthy colourfull babyes