Are these keets pied?

[ma2babygurl13]

Are pieds really that rare?

These are Royal Purples, but they don't look like the other RP keets I have had before are they pied?

These are brown keets, are they pied?

here are the "normal" brown keets I have:

Any input is appreciated!

 

[feathersgalore]

Pied aren't rare, they are just a cross between a color and white. The middle ones might be pied - they seem to have more white than they should. The RP also seem to have more white with their whole wing white. Some of the ones on the bottom look like pearl keets.

 

[ma2babygurl13]

I didn't think they were rare, but read another post where it said they were

just trying to make sure!

I know the ones I think are brown are not pearl..I had a bunch of pearl keets

here is a pic of them:

and here is 2 of the pearl and 2 of the brown ones.

see how much lighter they are? and now that their wing feathers are coming in they are a light brown color...I will try to get pics of them now that they are starting to feather.

ETA: There were definitely 2 different shades of the brown ones, but all were lighter than the pearls. At first I thought Buff or Dunsince they are "sex linked" females being darker than males, but other posters disagreed and said they didn't look like buffs or duns to them, I guess I will find out as I am definitely keeping 6 of these ones. I might end up keeping more if they don't sell fast enough, and I have them long enough to go outside!

 

[Akane]

Pied genes actually take over until you get white birds. Your whole flock will turn pied and then white eventually if you keep hatching each generation. So it's not rare at all. It is argued that there are 2 genes involved in white guinea fowl with only one of them being pied because in some countries supposedly there are white birds without pied birds. In most animals when you are dealing with pied you aren't dealing with 1 gene which is why it's not a simple there or not there thing. It has a really broad range. You can have a minimally spotted animal or a nearly white animal and often from very related breedings. The more you cross pied animals the more you concentrate the genes so the more pied you get.

Some keets can have white markings on their belly and sides without being pied. There are also various shades of the colors. Try comparing them to the pics here http://www.guineafowlinternational.org/colorchart/

 

[feathersgalore]

Too bad we are done for the year - I'd like to add some browns to my flock.

 

[ma2babygurl13]

Well If I keep them through the winter, I'll have some for sale in the spring

If not I will hopefully have some eggs next year and more keets! We are done hatching for the year... I can't have birds in my kitchen for the WHOLE winter

 

[CDennis]

I know nothing about coloring, but they sure are cute!! Thanks for posting.

 

[ma2babygurl13]

I posted updated pictures of the keets... let me know what ya'll think! It is under 2 week old keets.

 

[bemba]

Could the lighter ones be cinnamon?