Peafowl Genetics for Dummies (in other words us)

[Rosa moschata]

I may seem overly focused on that particular issue, but it is an example of the misuse of terms that leads to the confusion about pea genetics that seems common on this board -- and hence the first post in this thread. It might seem a minor detail, but I see it as the root of not being able to grasp how genetics in peafowl works. Once the basics are laid out all "nice and neatly", the rest falls together rather easily. And to begin, there must be an agreement to the proper use (and definitions) of terms.

 

[BYC-user-174785]

Quote: The breeder told me he does not want to keep the males, since he does not think it is a good idea to breed progressive pied to progressive pied. My peachick that is progressive pied is a peacock, so I will see if he gets any issues down the road. He is getting lots of white quickly.

Quote: He also has a juvenile peacock in progressive pied, but like I said above, prefers just hens and do not think he wants to keep that peacock. He offered it to me. I hope it does not cause health problems. His breeder hen is okay as far as I know.

 

[Arbor]

Okay, I have a few questions for those that regularly breed silver pied (I'll be breeding my first pair this year). Has anyone bred a dark pied w/e (out of silver pied) to a white bird not carrying w/e? What was the phenotype of the actual birds produced? Did they look like pied w/e?
Does anyone here breed pied w/e birds paired together? If silver pied is W/P/we/we, then pairing pied w/e birds should produce a few, no? If the pairing does not create birds that are phenotypically silver pied, then silver pied works in a different way, correct?
Just hoping to here from those who have actually bred these combinations.

 

[Arbor]

The breeder told me he does not want to keep the males, since he does not think it is a good idea to breed progressive pied to progressive pied.  My peachick that is progressive pied is a peacock, so I will see if he gets any issues down the road.  He is getting lots of white quickly.

He also has a juvenile peacock in progressive pied, but like I said above, prefers just hens and do not think he wants to keep that peacock.  He offered it to me.  I hope it does not cause health problems.  His breeder hen is okay as far as I know.

So far, I think I've only heard of the health problems in the males. I do know that his hens are Spalding, so that may have had an effect as well.

 

[BYC-user-174785]

So far, I think I've only heard of the health problems in the males. I do know that his hens are Spalding, so that may have had an effect as well.

I never knew about them being spalding. But the dad is not, and I think one of mine from that pen is out of the bronze white eye hen. Both bronze peachicks look same, but one has white.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Arbor,,I have bssp birds,a few dark pied hens,and a few silver pied hens.Then there is Thang,a silver pied male I have. I will have my first breeding pen of whites this year,all hatched in 2012 from my bssp pen of 4. I don't know the parentage of my dark pieds as they came from shipped fertile eggs from Kentucky,,otherwise I could try it.

 

[Yoda]

Rosa can you please explain to me how they got Taupe peafowl? According to Legg's peafowl it came from breeding an India Blue peacock to a purple hen. Now I thought all chicks would be IB and only the males split purple? So where does taupe come in? I am thinking that his article is not giving the whole picture. Here is a link to the page http://www.leggspeafowl.com/taupe.htm

 

[Arbor]

The two proposed breedings should identify whether there is any kind of "frosting" effect associated directly with a possible "silver pied" gene. However, looking at a few photos of males with double copy w/e only (apparently not split to pied or white - author does not say), it appears some exhibit frosting, while others do not.

 

[Arbor]

Yoda, if the father was visually IB, he could be split purple and opal as one theory goes. The mother could be purple split opal. Both parents could be offspring from purple male on opal hen. The new Taupe males could then have easily received a purple and an opal from both parents, thus making it a colour combination. To produce a taupe hen (using better odds), you could breed a male split opal and purple to an opal hen.

 

[Rosa moschata]

I can't verify if it is a new mutation or the result of two established mutations combining. The information provided isn't enough. Determining whether it's one or two mutations can be done by test-breeding of two IB split to Taupe birds together. If the offspring segregate into more than two visual groups (Taupe and India Blue), then there are at least two mutations responsible for the phenotype.

The story of Peach, however, did provide enough information (and I was also in correspondence with the original breeder). Without a doubt, Peach is genetically Purple-Cameo, which occurred the same way Lutino-Pearl and Cinnamon-Pearl cockatiels originated -- crossover in a male split to both mutations. A couple years ago, I came here asking why breeders didn't try combining colors, and was met with all sorts of "that ain't possible". But now here we are, and there's already at least one other confirmed color combination on the market -- Indigo (genetically Purple-Bronze), by the same breeder who raised the first Peach.

Privately, people have emailed me about setting up their own mixed pairs to see what they can get, so I'm hoping in the next year or two to hear about something interesting hatching out somewhere. Personally, I'm thinking that Midnight and Bronze would work well together, perhaps resulting in a healthier "black pea" than the current Charcoal mutation offers. How to make that? The same way one would make a Bronze Blackshoulder by breeding together the offspring of a Bronze barred wing and an IB Blackshoulder -- except switch the latter out for a Midnight barred wing. I think it'd be easier to avoid adding the Blackshoulder gene into the mix right away, being as it'll be hard to tell apart the various Blackshoulder hens by the little bit of color remaining on their necks. As with making Bronze Blackshoulder from scratch, you'll have a 1/16 chance of getting one among the F2s.