Need Color-Identification Professionals!

[Ravie]

Hi there,

I am trying to learn about more about genetics and guinea fowl colors. Right now, I have pearl grey guinea roosters and what I think is a pied buff dundotte or opaline hen. I have been calling her a "buff" because she has the slightest tan color to some of her feathers. Really, she looks like a slightly-dirty-in-places-white. She was sold to me as a "white" but she is clearly pearled.


Their first babies are in the process of hatching today. The ones that have hatched, are still drying off, so it's hard for me to see what we've got just yet. But to me, they look like pied-pearls.

My questions are these: What color is my hen? Is it true that one pied parent will always produce pied offspring?

 

[PeepsCA]

She's definitely a Pied Buff Dundotte. Opalines are not fully-pearled, just partially-pearled (meaning they have pearling in the flank area only and barring on the wings), and also they are in the blue gene family so they have a faint light blue/grey tint to their feathers, not tan/buff like your Hen does.

A Pied bird bred to a non-Pied bird will produce 50% Pied keets, 50% non-Pied keets... that is if ALL of her eggs in the clutch hatch out, but you get the picture. Do any of your males have white flight feathers? If so that may up the odds of the % of Pied keets that hatch out.

Post some pics when your hatch is complete and the keets are fluffed and dry!

 

[Ravie]

Thanks for the response.You were so right. So far, I have 9 babies and 5 are pied and 4 are not. My guinea cocks are both pearl gray with no other coloring. Thanks for identifying my female for me. I thought she was pied buff dundotte too, but then I saw some confusing pictures of opalines and began to second-guess.