Breeding Questions

Question: I have a Normal cock who's mother was a Lutino and the father was a Pearl. I was told these are sex linked color genes and since a cock has two chromosomes where a hen has only one, the Lutino color occupies one chromosome and the Pearl occupies the other. If so, why am I getting Normal females? If this is information is correct I should only get Lutino or Pearl hens, as it takes only one sex linked gene to produce a hen but two to produce a cock? D.F. KS

Answer: What you have been told is correct. The information you were given doesn't take into consideration crossover and reverse crossover. When you have a normal cock split Lutino(XL) and Pearl(XP) it would be diagrammed as XL x XP. When crossover occurs, one of the sex linked genes relocates to the other chromosome, making your chromosomes Xn x XLP. It is when the XLP chromosome bonds with the females chromosomes that a Lutino-Pearl chick is produced, just as when the Xn chromosome, above, bonds with the females chromosome a Normal is produced. In the March/April issue a similar question was asked dealing with a Normal/Cn/L. The percentages given were as follows:

25% Normal hens 20% Normal cocks

25% Lutino hens 20% Normal split Lutino cocks

25% Pearl hens 20 % Normal split Pearl cocks

25% Lutino-Pearl hens 20% Normal split Lutino and Pearl

(crossover) 20% Normal split Lutino-Pearl

(crossover) cocks

Also, as previously stated these percentages are based on the pair producing 100 chicks. The above crossover percentages are approximated. As crossovers occur at random, crossover percentages always vary from pair to pair, I believe the actual percentages of Normal and Lutino-Pearl hens produced should fall in the range of 12.5% to 25% with a higher percentage of Pearl hens and Lutino hens being produced.

CLARIFICATION: Reference the article on Cockatiel Genetics in the January/February 1996 Magazine. The article was interesting and fairly easy to follow(genetics being as they are), there was one significant error. It was stated that it was impossible to tell clear Pieds from Lutinos. I have been raising clear Pieds for several years and there is an obvious difference-clear Pieds have black eyes not red like a Lutino. In addition, if clear Pieds have been selectively produced, they will not have the bald spot on the head, which is unfortunately still common in the Lutino. C.C.TX

REPLY: Thank you for your concern for the accuracy of the information in these articles. All Lutinos and Albinos do have red eyes of some shade or depth of color. But, not all red eyes are readily identifiable without the aid of a flashlight or other bright light being shone directly into the birds eye at extremely close range. I believe a previous article describes the traits that some lines of Lutinos and Albinos exhibit in having bright red eyes, dark ruby red eyes at birth and others where the bright eye darkens to the ruby red color as the bird ages. It also describes a cross breeding that ensures a bird will retain the bright red eyes its entire life, this being a cross between the Lutino and the Pied, the Lutino-Pied. The bald spot on Lutinos and Albinos is not as common as you might think, since their appearance, breeders and exhibitors have selectively worked to eliminate the bald spot and increase their size. As long as ten years ago A.C.S. had breeders producing Champion quality Lutinos with no bald spots. It does take longer for the pet trade to eliminate flaws that appear in any mutation, but the Lutinos faults are becoming less and less common with each breeding season, with most getting larger and having no bald spot at all. You also mention the bald spots on the Pied, it is my understanding that when the Pied first appeared it did have a bald spot, but the bald spot has disappeared in the same manner as any flaw in a new mutation, through selective breeding. If the Lutinos in your area are small or have bald spots and you are currently having to selectively breed your Pieds to eliminate baldness, I would recommend purchasing some unrelated stock from a reputable breeder outside your area. The reason I recommend this is, when cockatiels are continuously line bred, the flaws that have previously disappeared or suppressed, can reappear and crossing out to new stock is used to revitalize and stabilize a blood line.

I continue to receive letters where individuals have purchased clear Pieds, thinking they were Lutinos, then bred them with a Lutino hen and produced only Normals. This happens all over the country and is not limited to just one area, indicating there are many dark eyed Lutinos and many clear Pieds being mistaken for them.

Keep in mind when breeding Pieds, the ACS Standard of Perfection states the ideal Pied is 75% clear and 25% dark, recognizing a Pied for its markings not its lack of markings. For this reason the clear Pied is at a disadvantage on a show bench and in less demand than a well marked (symmetrical patterned) Pied of equal size.

Totally clear Pieds are impossible to tell from a Lutino with dark red eyes, as are the totally clear Whiteface-Pieds impossible to tell from the Lutino-Whiteface(Albino) when it has dark eyes.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention so I could clarify that the Lutinos needed to be of the dark eyed variety.

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