Quote:
Punnett did mention some gender-relation to the cream. He considered caponizing a cockerel to see if that would have an influence - but didn't follow-through on the experiment. I will put a link in if I locate it.
ETA - here it is:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02986632#page-1
On page 328 he tells how his experiment (although I think here he is referring to Columbian pattern) shows a difference between the effects of cream on male and female coloration. He says that the cocks can be mistaken for silver but never the hens....and that as the feathers of the cockerel mature they are more "straw" coloured?
"Reduction of the melanic pigment, such as occurs in the 'Columbian' pattern, brings about a rich cream ground color in the hen, whereas the corresponding cock may be said to mimic a silver, though a faint straw tinge in the hackles tends to become accentuated as the feathers age".
Punnett goes on to say that he has bred many Columbian pattern cream birds but never a cock with the same cream as the hen. Never could a cream hen be mistaken for a silver as could happen with the Cream cock. Then he says it would be interesting to carry out castration experiments with such a strain.
This leads me to think that those who favor silver as the correct color are certainly correct before the event that the 'feathers age' -- age to adult plumage? or age to old age? What? It must be adult plumage if the birds molt annually, wouldn't you think? It also leads me to believe that there is some visible difference between silver and cream -- doubtless in the female - and in the male with 'aged feathers' --- But the question may arise would that apply to barred pattern as well as Columbian?
How do others interpret page 328?
