[sjones571]

Hi I am trying to breed to get rainbows and clear wings and some opalines so I bought 5 new beautiful budgies this week at a pretty hefty price but I am new to budgie breeding (not birds) and having problems trying to figure out all the different color mutations. I have had and cared for birds including budgies, Sun conures, Africian greys, doves and others for over 40 years but there so many color mutations and types of budgies it is throwing me. I do have some experience as a breeder. I breed Sun Conures for about a year but couldn't find them homes in my area so didn't do it long and sold my two breeding pairs to another breeder who had no trouble selling them in her area. I am wanting to keep all the birds for myself that might work in breeding rainbows. Here is what he sold me as a rainbow hen she is the one on the right. Is she a rainbow? She sure is a beautiful girl.

This one is suppose to be an clear wing opaline he is also the one on the right

This is suppose to be a young rainbow hen but not sure about that. She is on the right. The photo right below is suppose to be her as a baby. She was born Sept of this year not 2020 like the photo says so she hasn't had her first molt yet.

The one below is suppose to be a dilute I got him cheap and he is from a opaline and clearwing parents

I got an opaline split to clearwing **** to breed to the rainbow hen because that was all he had in cocks that wasn't related to her. He is on the left. His Father is on the right.

I also already had this hen. Is she a clearwing?

I need to be clear and say the seller never promised I would be able to get rainbows from these birds but that is my goal. I tried so hard to find the blue standard rainbows to buy but could not find a single breeder in the USA to buy even a baby from so I bought these to try and make my own. I can't even find a yellow faced blue opaline **** and a blue clearwing to buy which is what is recommended to make a start breeding rainbows. It has now become a passion for me. I looked for 6 months for rainbows and ran across this breeder who was at least willing to sell me some possible combinations to get the more yellow green type rainbows but I want the blue standard ones too if anyone knows anyone who has them please message me. Sorry about the duplicate images I couldn't figure out how to delete them.

 

[srirachaseahawk]

Welcome!

Why is it that you want to breed them?
Budgies that breed are not ideal pets. They become moody, hormonal and territorial; not to mention that (hens specifically) can be prone to medical issues if proper steps aren't taken.

 

[sjones571]

I want to breed them because I love birds and want rainbows and can't find any to buy. I would just buy them if I could find them. I just fell in love with the color mutation and want more than one as I have 3 large flight cages. It is no different than someone wanting a certain type of dog breed. I enjoy their company and yes they can still provide me with what I want. I just enjoy their beauty and company. I don't care about having to hold and cuddle with them. I have other pets for that. I love their chirping sounds and crazy antics and I still consider them pets even if I can't handle them. When kept as a group they are so funny. I am set up and doing research. If there is fighting or problems I have cages to move the offenders to. My birds get chop, pellets, seeds and lack for nothing. They are extremely happy not being held. I know to separate breeding pairs from the colony. The cuddle factor isn't important to me watching them is and I get just as much enjoyment from that as some people do cuddling with them. Why do people want colonies of finches? They aren't cuddle birds but people enjoy watching them and having them in a group, same with me. I am going to breed small scale mostly for me. I know how to condition breeding birds and the pitfalls already.

 

[wmcburke]

I hope you can understand that for those of us who are here to promote "best budgie practices' in the care of our charges, which is the mission statement of this forum, to have someone new join us who announces at first blush that they just bought 5 budgies to add to an existing flock, well, it is going to cause some concern. Since you already had budgies in your home, I do hope these new birds are being quarantined.

Rainbow, as I suspect you know involves blue, opaline, yellowface and clearwing. That's the traditional definition. Some have added other mutations to the mix, spangle for instance. But purists hold to the original description.

Blue is recessive.
Clearwing is recessive.
Opaline is sex-linked.
Yellowface is dominant.

So knowing that, you can determine how you would go about getting the combination you desire. But you said these genetics confuse you. What part of this does?

The August 25th hen does appear to be rainbow.
The May 20th hen does appear to be clearwing opaline.
Not sure about the September 23rd hen, cheek patches and wing markings are not what you'd expect.
The one sold as a dilute appears not to be. Violet cheek patches.
The opaline/split to clearwing...how do you know he's split? Clearwing is recessive. His father is not clearwing. So even if his mother is and his father is split, there's no guarantee that this son is split to clearwing.

 

[sjones571]

Hi Cody thanks so much for your reply. It is greatly appreciated. I do understand the concern but I have taken care of birds for over 40 years so probably have as much or more experience than most everyone on this forum so I was a little offended especially after I wrote that in the first post. I also joined almost a month ago and have been reading and absorbing information but needed to see if anyone could help me with the mutations and genetics. I do however understand it was done just out of concern for the birds. I just needed help with the colors and mutations since I am having a very difficult time with the genetics and color mutations no matter how much I read about it and I still wasn't sure what I had. I was able to tell the opaline quickly. So what do you think the dilute is then? I don't think the young hen is a rainbow either but that is what she was sold to me as. Yes the new birds are in a separate room for 30 days minimum. I did not include a photo of the green opaline **** except the one with his father I saw the hen she is a clearwing so I was told that was what he was opaline split to clear wing I think that is what the breeder said. So the part that confuses me is almost everything about recessive, sex linked, and dominant parts. I am guessing dominant means that if one bird carries the dominant gene than it will be crossed over to their offspring over any other gene and recessive means that if a bird is of a dominant mutation and is bred to one with a recessive gene the dominant colors will show in the offspring is that right? Let's see if I understand so if the last budgie in the picture the yellow and green one is a clearwing is she? and I bred her with the opaline clearwing I should get clearwings correct since they are both recessive but if I bred the clearwing to the opaline that is what I don't get mostly is the how the sex linked gene works. I wanted to join the forum for knowledge on genetics. I have researched diet and everything else for the last several months but just can't grasp the coloring mutations and genetics. There are just so many, lol. I am a retired nurse and I thought fairly intelligent but for the life of me I can't get it.

 

[bur]

That is not what dominant and recessive mean. This picture shows how genetics works with human eye color. In human eyes brown is the dominant gene and blue is recessive. This means that you have brown eyes if you have two brown genes OR if you have a brown and a blue gene. The only way you can have blue eyes is if you have two blue genes.

A child gets one gene from each parent. So two parents with brown eyes can only have a child with blue eyes IF they both have a brown and a blue gene AND they both pass the blue gene to their child. See the picture for other options.

 

[Cody]

This may be of help to you Genetics: What does it all mean?

 

[sjones571]

Thanks so much for your help. I tried to see the links for the genetics and color mutations listed here but all the links are dead at least for me.

 

[Cody]

Did you try clicking on the individual links shown here Budgie Mutation And Color Guide start with the Yellowface one, for some unknown reason there is something malfunctioning in the top one listed.

 

[sjones571]

Did you try clicking on the individual links shown here Budgie Mutation And Color Guide start with the Yellowface one, for some unknown reason there is something malfunctioning in the top one listed.

Cody thanks so much for the help with the links. I so wanted to study it for help but everytime I clicked on a link it would say not found but this way works, yea !!!