Creating new colors?

[Peafowlssssssss]

Well, this year i put one of my opal white eye hens with my cameo bs pied w/e peacock, just because the opal male didn't like her. Anyway, this hen hatched few chicks as excepted some are cameo hens split opal and some are india blue split cameo and opal. This makes me think if it deserves to keep these chicks and pair them together when they reach breeding age to see what they will produce.

So my question is, how we could create a new color? Is it like this when pairing birds that are split to two colors? And then waiting for the chances?

I don't know much about creating new colors but i noticed some of these new colors came from sex linked colors or birds split to sex link colors, so why they use sex link colors to produce new colors, is just because the sex link colors hens can be split to another color from the first cross?

 

[AugeredIn]

There are three ways to create something new:

1. Breed millions of chicks and eventually get a spontaneous mutation. Or just get lucky!

2. Mix two existing colors.

3. Develop males split to two sex linked colors and wait for crossover.

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

There are three ways to create something new:

1. Breed millions of chicks and eventually get a spontaneous mutation. Or just get lucky!

2. Mix two existing colors.

3. Develop males split to two sex linked colors and wait for crossover.

Then i'm sure someone already mixed the old colors, still don't know why sex linked especially? I noticed purple was in many breeding programs for new colors.

 

[MinxFox]

I am going to add a fourth one:

4. Scour all over the place for a strange looking peafowl that someone has and try to buy that bird and its close relatives.

I think that is how some peafowl varieties have been created. Someone didn't know that they had a new variety and someone else who knew more about peafowl came along, was amazed at this new variety, and bought it and then they worked on the new variety or they sold it to someone who could work on it.

I am guessing you might need a lot of pens to hold back birds to work on breeding a new variety with.
Also you need to keep really good records.
I don't know if you have read any of the "History of..." articles on Legg's website, but they might be of interest to you since he talks about the history of certain varieties being created.

Taupe: http://www.leggspeafowl.com/taupe.htm
Midnight: http://www.leggspeafowl.com/midnight.htm
Jade: http://www.leggspeafowl.com/jade.htm
Peach: http://www.leggspeafowl.com/history_of_peach_peafowl.htm
Silver Pied: http://www.leggspeafowl.com/silverpied.htm
White Eye: http://www.leggspeafowl.com/whiteeyed.htm
Color & Pattern History: http://www.leggspeafowl.com/peafowlcolors.htm

For anyone interested in breeding a new variety, I would like to suggest trying to work on something colorful. We already have multiple shades of greys and browns but why not a peafowl that is red, orange, and yellow? Then it could be called the Phoenix peafowl.

(Image Source: http://www.hdwallpaperspics.com/phoenix-bird-pictures.html)


Or why not golden peafowl?

 

[AugeredIn]

Then i'm sure someone already mixed the old colors, still don't know why sex linked especially? I noticed purple was in many breeding programs for new colors.

There are colors that have not been mixed. Or at least they have not been released if they have.

 

[Arbor]

Clifton Nicholson has crossed some of the existing colours, as has Sid from texaspeafowl. I'm working on a few (even the one you have done), and have a couple of non egg laying hens that are the production of two colours (yes charcoal is one of the parents - suggest not using charcoal, unless you want to have to breed a ton of birds). It is possible to "create" new colours, but from my experience of the ones that I have seen, they tend not to be dramatic enough of a difference to keep them when compared to the parent colours. It can be a long process, but if you have the time, space and money, I say go for it!

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Clifton Nicholson has crossed some of the existing colours, as has Sid from texaspeafowl. I'm working on a few (even the one you have done), and have a couple of non egg laying hens that are the production of two colours (yes charcoal is one of the parents - suggest not using charcoal, unless you want to have to breed a ton of birds). It is possible to "create" new colours, but from my experience of the ones that I have seen, they tend not to be dramatic enough of a difference to keep them when compared to the parent colours. It can be a long process, but if you have the time, space and money, I say go for it!

I'm not really thinking of creating a new color now, just wanted to understand how it works, but still didn't understand why I should keep hundreds of the offspring? If i already have two birds split for two colors should i keep their chicks even if they are still normal color looking?

I'm focusing on breeding patterns now, the spalding bronze black shoulder pied especially.

 

[Arbor]

Some of these new coloured chicks can look similar to either of the parents, so it can be beneficial to raise them to about a year at least so you don't accidentally sell off the new colour.

 

[AugeredIn]

I'm not really thinking of creating a new color now, just wanted to understand how it works, but still didn't understand why I should keep hundreds of the offspring? If i already have two birds split for two colors should i keep their chicks even if they are still normal color looking?

I'm focusing on breeding patterns now, the spalding bronze black shoulder pied especially.

I don't know about hundreds but if you breed to mix colors and you get a bunch of splits you just cannot let them go. Someone will get all your hard work for free.

Same thing for a pen you get a potential spontaneous mutation from. Any bird, especially cocks, could be split for the mutation. If sex linked any one of them could throw a mutated female.

 

[Dany12]

they tend not to be dramatic enough of a difference to keep them when compared to the parent colours !

I prefer n°1. Breed millions of chicks and eventually get a spontaneous mutation.

The guy who got this spontaneous mutation is looking for a female to his cock! even with the numbers in the wrong order!