Why's my Red Golden Pheasant chick so light in color?

[BackyardDove]

I had this Red Golden Pheasant chick that was a yellow/white colored, as opposed to the brown/dark brown coloring of my other chicks. I assumed this meant it was a girl, since last year, out of the two who actually hatched, one was the same yellow/white color. Both chicks died after a freak incident. But this year, as more chicks have been hatching, I've noticed they're mostly so-called "males", in that they have a brown coloring. I got curious and looked up how to sex a pheasant chick, and the sites I looked at only mentioned eye color, they never mentioned this obvious color difference. Below is a picture of the chick with it's siblings.



You can clearly see that one is much more yellow than the others. Why is this? Unfortunately, the yellow chick died after getting her legs caught in the cage's wire floor(apparently pheasants are so leggy that they tend to get their legs stuck in the wire spacing after sitting down!), so this is the best picture I've got. She had white marking where her siblings have the dark brown patterns. She's definitely a Red Golden and definitely a pheasant.

 

[yamaha2077]

To me it looks like it could be a Yellow Golden. I have 23 Red Golden Chicks and 11 Yellow Golden and they are noticeably lighter in color. Just my 2 cents though. Is that a possibility? Or maybe a color Phase of the Red Golden like a Cinnamon or something like that?

 

[Tony K T]

Looks like a yellow to me too.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[BackyardDove]

I was thinking it might be a Yellow Golden too. But I only have a pair of Red Golden's? How can I get a Yellow Golden out of a pair of Red Goldens?? The breeder I got my pair from didn't have any Goldens either, so I know the parents of my pair were Red Golden's too.

 

[Tony K T]

They must of been cross breed a few times back.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[BackyardDove]

They must of been cross breed a few times back.
In N.H.,Tony.

That's so weird how it'll still show up, generations later. I guess that answers my curiosity on if my pair of Red Goldens is pure or not!

 

[Tony K T]

There are not many pure lines left unfortunately.I hope some day soon all the cross breeding will stop so we can enjoy the pure breeds again.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Midnightman14]

Your goldens are pure, a yellow golden is not a different species or even a different breed. Yellow goldens are a naturally occurring color mutation of the red golden just like humans have red hari, blonde hair, or black hair, we're all 100% human we're just different looking. Your birds are pure and were not crossed to any other species nor are they hybrids, just a color morph. Your lines are still probably pure as the mutations did not come out of any other species of pheasant they originated within the red golden species itself.

 

[007Sean]

Your goldens are pure, a yellow golden is not a different species or even a different breed. Yellow goldens are a naturally occurring color mutation of the red golden just like humans have red hari, blonde hair, or black hair, we're all 100% human we're just different looking. Your birds are pure and were not crossed to any other species nor are they hybrids, just a color morph. Your lines are still probably pure as the mutations did not come out of any other species of pheasant they originated within the red golden species itself.

x2 Midnightman14, the only thing is, one or possibly both parent birds are heterozygous for the yellow color mutation on the alleles for feather pigment gene, meaning they both are carriers but doesn't always show up. I can't remember what the ratios are for the percentage of offspring that will be yellow in feather pigment but want to say around 17%, i may be wrong.

 

[BackyardDove]

There are not many pure lines left unfortunately.I hope some day soon all the cross breeding will stop so we can enjoy the pure breeds again.
In N.H.,Tony.

Yeah, I know truly pure Red Goldens are rare. I just meant as pure as a novice backyard breeder can get

Your goldens are pure, a yellow golden is not a different species or even a different breed. Yellow goldens are a naturally occurring color mutation of the red golden just like humans have red hari, blonde hair, or black hair, we're all 100% human we're just different looking. Your birds are pure and were not crossed to any other species nor are they hybrids, just a color morph. Your lines are still probably pure as the mutations did not come out of any other species of pheasant they originated within the red golden species itself.

Really? I guess I didn't think of it like that, I always just think, different color produced = not pure. I suppose it's a good think my pair has this mutation hidden in their genes then, now I can raise the occasional Yellow Golden along with my normal Red Goldens!

x2 Midnightman14, the only thing is, one or possibly both parent birds are heterozygous for the yellow color mutation on the alleles for feather pigment gene, meaning they both are carriers but doesn't always show up. I can't remember what the ratios are for the percentage of offspring that will be yellow in feather pigment but want to say around 17%, i may be wrong.

If both parents are heterozygous for Red and Yellow and the chick must be homozygous for the Yellow mutation for it to show up physically, then there's a 25% chance for a Yellow chick. But that percentage could be less due to other factors.