Our thanks again to Mr. Mosca for allowing us to use his material. All fanciers should study this page to gain an understanding of how the colors and patterns are passed along to the offspring.
This section is two pages. Do not overlook the link at the bottom to go to the second page as it contains a very helpful table on the outcome of various matings.
Breeding Result Expectations
By Frank Mosca.
Below are lists which may help you determine what might be expected from a particular mating.
BREEDING RESULT EXPECTATIONS FOR:
- Pattern
- Dilution;
- Classic Grizzle (G);
- Spread,
- Smokey (slate)
BARLESS/BAR/CHECKER MATINGS
All pigeons, regardless of color, marking, etc. are one of these three patters, sometimes, we can’t see the pattern because it’s hidden by the effects of another gene or genes, but it’s still always there nonetheless. The patterns listed above are in order of dominance from left to right with the least dominant to the left. There fore, each would be hidden by the one to its right.
Parental color is immaterial.
Parents: …………………. Expected Progeny (Sex immaterial)
barless X barless = all barless
barless X homozygous bar = all barred young carrying barless
barless X heterozygous bar (het for barless) =50% bar (carrying barless); 50% barless
barless X homo Checker = all Checker carrying barless (heterozygous for barless)
barless X hetero Checker (het for barless) = 50% checker (carrying barless); 50% barless
Parents: …………………. Expected Progeny (Sex immaterial)
homo bar X homo bar = all homo barred young
homo bar X homo Checker = all checker young, all carrying bar (heterozygous for bar)
homo bar X hetero Checker (het for bar) = 50% Check (het bar) young, 50% bar young.
Parents: …………………. Expected Progeny (Sex immaterial)
homo Checker X homo Checker = all homo Checker young.
homo checker X het Checker (het for bar) = all Check young, 50% heterozygous for bar.
het Checker X het Checker = 25% homo Checker, 50% het Checker; 25% homo bar.
Dilution/Wild-type (intense color)
Some fancier names for dilution’s effects are khaki, yellow, silver (dun-bar), ash-yellow, dun, or sulfer. The color is immaterial as far as the inheritance of dilution itself ( a sex-linked recessive condition) is concerned. Non-dilute is used here to mean wild-type (i.e., an intense colored pigeon) .
Parents: …………………. Expected Progeny
Dilute cock X non-dilute hen = all dilute hens and all non-dilute cocks carrying dilution. (Sex-linked)
Non-dilute cock (homo) X dilute hen = All non-dilute young with all cocks (only) carrying dilution.
Non-dilute cock (het for dilution) X dilute hen = Dilute cocks, dilute hens, non-dilute cocks ………………………………………………………………..(carrying dilution) and non-dilute hens.
(The first mating above is a sex-linked mating. Because dilution also expresses itself with the short-down condition (almost naked squabs) in the nest, the young can be instantly sexed at hatch. All short-down young are hens, all long-down young are cocks.)
Grizzle (G) – (a semi-dominant)
Sex/Pattern immaterial.
Parents: …………………. Expected Progeny (Sex immaterial)
Homozygous grizzle X non-grizzle = All heterozygous grizzle.
Heterozygous grizzle X non-grizzle = 50% grizzles; 50% non-grizzles.
Heterozygous grizzle X Heterozygous grizzle = 25% homo grizzle; 50% het grizzle; 25% non-grizzle
Homozygous grizzle X heterozygous grizzle = 50% homo grizzles; 50% heterozgyous grizzles.
Homozygous grizzles show a different phenotype (look different) than do heterozygous grizzles. Heterozygous grizzles, especially in bar, show the pattern and an intermingling of pigment and washed out pigment areas (salt and pepper look); homozygous grizzles often show much whitening across the body. The pattern may not be visible and often only the tips of the flights and tail feathers may show pigment. In Ash-red homo grizzles even this may be missing and a white bird with colored (rather than bull/dark) eyes may result.
Spread and recessive red may inhibit grizzle to some extent.
SPREAD
Sex of parent is immaterial
Parents: …………………. Expected Progeny
Homo Spread X Homo Spread …………………….. all homo Spread youngsters
Homo Spread X hetero Spread …………………….. 50% homo spread; 50% hetero spread (these may not be visually distinquishable and it may take a breeding test to determine which are which.)
hetero Spread X hetero Spread …… . 25 % homo spread; 50% hetero spread; 25% non-spread.
Wild-Type/Smokey
(Smokey is the factor which creates what is known as “slate” to racing homer fancier. You will also find smokey in Archangels and in most black pigeons with a clear/light beak. Smokey’s effects on blue bar include, among other things, darkening the albescent strips on the outer edge of the outside tail feathers. This also happens in ash-red birds. Slate homers are common in certain families, especially Janssen where they are sometimes known as Schale. Smokey “seems” to be a simple autosomal recessive.)
The sex of the smokey bird is immaterial in these matings. Smokey and non-smokey (wild-type) young will be of either sex.
Parents: …………………………………………………………………Expected Progeny
smokey X homozygous wild-type (any non-smokey) …… 100% het non-smokey.
smokey X het. wild-type …………. 25% smokey, 50% het wild type, 25% homo wild type.
smokey X smokey ………………….. 100% smokey
het wild type X het wild type ……… 50% smokey, 50% wild type (non-smokey)
Above, I’ve purposely chosen factors which inherit independently of each other. You can, for example, have a barred Grizzle dilute (dun bar grizzle to homer breeders/ silver bar grizzle to a geneticist); you may have Spread Dark Check smokey Ash-red grizzle, or a brown check cock heterozygous grizzle also heterozygous for dilution and smokey. If you begin thinking of each factor as being inherited independently of the others (accurate for most pigeon stuff we have to worry about here); figuring what you should get in the nest will soon become second nature to you.
Copyright 1997 by Frank Mosca. This work may be downloaded
or copied for non-commercial individual use only. All other rights under
copyright are retained by the author.