Lavender Wyandottes-Frayed Tails?

SeneyMaker said:

Good luck splitting the fray gene out. Even crossing out to black will probably not do it. If it were that simple there would no longer be any fraying in lavenders. Frankly, I do not know if anyone has correctly determined if there really is a fray allele or if the lavender gene is responsible depending upon modifiers. The thing with fraying, the pehnotype can act dominant and recessive depending on other genetic factors. The one given is that a heterozygous lavender will not show any fraying of feathers. That is a clue if somebody wants to test-breed a thousand birds and figure it out. I worked with lavender and It was not a pleasant experience. I ate more lavenders than any other color. It was a shame to have to cull an otherwise beautiful bird.

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bramblefir said:

I've often found myself wondering if the fraying is linked to black pigment. Most of the lavender patterned birds I've seen (in person and in pictures) don't seem to have any visible fraying even when the color has just been stabilized. The colors I'm thinking of are Porcelain, Lavender Laced Isabel, and Lavender Laced Silver. All 3 of those have limited areas of "black" pigmentation on their patterns. The solid "black" birds seem to be the most effected. That could be a fun (and expensive) test: does lavender fraying work the same on all the E locus genes.

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