White Bobwhite Origin?

[millebantam]

Does anybody know what color the original bobwhites were that produced the white mutation? The reason I'm askin' is 'cause I've had some odd things poppin' out of my white bob/northern bob crosses. I have a white bob male coverin' 3 (supposedly) pure northern bob hens. I have repeatedly been gettin' about 70% normal lookin' chicks and about 30% Tennesee Red chicks from the hatches. Every once in a while, I get a chick that is somewhere in between both varieties. I'm thinkin' that the Tennesee Reds are in the background of the whites.

 

[JJMR794]

I DUNNO MILLE... WHITE IS A RARE MUTATION IN BOBS.... TAKES ALOT OF SELECTIVE BREEDING TO MAINTAIN IT FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD. MAYBE VERY LIKELY YOUR NORTHERNS ARE CONTAMINATED WITH RED BLOOD? JUST A GUESS ON MY PART- I DONT BREED BOBS FOR COLOR, JUST SIZE

 

[SuperPeacockman]

Well white in Bobs could work like white in peafowl, where the white covers another color so that color is not visible but the genes are there. SO your white could be covering red, but that is just my guess.

 

[Covey Rise Plantation]

The whites came from Tennessee Reds