Have Gouldians become common in avairys?

Includes Species Profile.
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Tiaris
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The genes for all 3 head colours act totally independently in their genetic inheritance to each other irrespective of what other head colour genes are or are not in the genetic mix of the bird. This is the same for any mutation or genetically heritable trait.
Red is dominant to both other colours
Yellow is autosomal recessive to both other colours
Black is sex-linked recessive to both other colours
Yellow billed Black is yellow and black both occurring on the same bird simultaneously. When this occurs, the black head feathers of the black totally mask the paler yellow feathers of the yellow.
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finchbreeder
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Red is dominant to both other colours
Yellow is autosomal recessive to both other colours
Black is sex-linked recessive to both other colours
Exactly as I had always understood it. Which is why I was peeved when the Black head showed up in a previously pure yellow/orange line.
LML
LML
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E Orix
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Location: Howlong on NSW/Vic Border 30km from Albury
Location: Howlong NSW

Firstly in my opinion the Gouldian of today is a totally domesticated specie and would most likely out number
the Zebra finch in our aviaries.
The problems of keeping them alive and to breed is virtually gone.
When wild birds were available in the southern states it was a real task, I remember my then future father in law
having heated nest boxes to get chicks through. Then 2/3rds would be lost during their first moult.
Today my Gouldians survive, raise their young in a large aviary even during winter,no heat or special treatment only
an area for them to retreat to when the cold winds are blowing.
Today absolute pure wild type birds are rare in our aviaries and because of this no scientist can even consider releasing
these Gouldians back in the wild.
When the research facility was closed down because of Sarah's illness the wild Gouldians that were being used were allocated to
people who would keep and breed them should they be required in the future.The main stipulation was under no circumstances
were the birds be compromised. Each person was allocated one head colour only and was not to add any new birds to the blood line.
Today i do not know if any of those people are still holding those birds. I personally was asked to keep a group of pure Black Headed
Gouldians and today they are still here without any outside additions and no possible way of other Gouldians getting access to them.
Time passes quickly, I guess they have been here over 6 seasons, always fledging black headed birds and holding their numbers.
With the Save the Gouldian Fund concentrating on field work at the moment and numbers of wild birds increasing slowly the
importance of my birds may be lessening.
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Tiaris
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finchbreeder wrote: 18 Aug 2019, 23:01 Red is dominant to both other colours
Yellow is autosomal recessive to both other colours
Black is sex-linked recessive to both other colours
Exactly as I had always understood it. Which is why I was peeved when the Black head showed up in a previously pure yellow/orange line.
LML
The blacks appearing in the yellow line are as a result of at least one of the yellow males being split to black (can't get hens split to black) producing some black daughters. The blacks which were produced then would have been hens.
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Tiaris
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If the STGF used wild birds (or any others for that matter), I don't know how they could possibly have known with certainty that the head colours were genetically pure for their phenotypic head colour as the different head colours have been mixed in the wild for numerous generations. eg. Blacks split to yellow are indistinguishable from pure blacks as are reds split to either of the others and yellows split to blacks likewise. How do you know that the blacks you have don't carry the yellow gene? It is exactly the same situation with the various head colour genes as it is with random normal phenotype captive Gouldians being "free" of other mutation genes - you can never be 100% certain that some recessive traits are not being carried and passed on undetected for many generations without expressing themselves. We know with certainty that the head colours have naturally interbred for much longer than aviculture has existed so to get "pure" stock free of the other head colour genes in a reasonable sized collection of any head colour is highly unlikely (virtually impossible IMO).
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E Orix
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I should elaborate, the concern was not head colour but mutations that were about in particular white breasted
The decision of only giving a person one head colour may have just being the simplest way of spreading them around.
I have no personal interest in genetics that is for others who wish to delve.
I do not know if it was by plan or accident but I do not have any yellow beaked black headed and either by luck or what
no other head colour has appeared yet with a good number of breeding seasons.
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Tiaris
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Black to black pairs will always produce black-headed young but they may still carry yellow genes without showing up. It is only when 2 black split to yellow birds pair up that a small proportion of their young could have a yellow bill indicating a yellow + black bird. This may not occur for many generations and if 2 black split yellow birds are not paired in a collection it will never happen.
I don't regard the different head colours being mixed as a major issue either. I regularly pair certain mixed head colour birds together intentionally for specific purposes with my selective breeding and I certainly don't at all believe the theory that the different head colours are even slightly genetically incompatible.
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finchbreeder
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I know what the cause was. Just did not know till the young lady coloured that her dad was split black. He was one of a small group bought in to improve the colour intensity. And yes they did that well. Now my head colours are mixed, and the colour intensity is going pretty well.
LML
LML
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noah.till
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I have noticed in my local region (Toowoomba) there are a fair few people with pure black head flocks advertised on gumtree and I have heard a lot of good things about the breeders and from people who have bought them
Thanks
Noah Till
Downs Bird Breeders Association and Queensland Finch Society Member
2018 Australian Birdkeepers Magazine Young Birdkeeper
Javan Munia, Black Rumped Double bar and Aberdeen Breeding Project
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Tiaris
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finchbreeder wrote: 19 Aug 2019, 12:01 I know what the cause was. Just did not know till the young lady coloured that her dad was split black. He was one of a small group bought in to improve the colour intensity. And yes they did that well. Now my head colours are mixed, and the colour intensity is going pretty well.
LML
I have spent the past 8 years developing some quality yellows from my black stock carrying the yellow gene (blacks bred for the last 14 years as a relatively closed flock) and a couple of yellow birds from other breeders as initial outcrosses to express the yellow gene phenotypically. The one consistent thing I have learnt from the past 8 years breeding is that almost without exception the best female head colour specimens are bred from black mothers. I have bred some truly outstanding yellow specimens lately with ideal colour, size and type and not one of these was bred from a yellow hen. I have found that yellow to yellow pairs (even top looking birds in their own right) produce significantly inferior progeny for all of my desired features compared to yellow males paired to black hens. Before undertaking this exercise I would have thought the best head colour specimens would be most likely to be produced by yellow to yellow pairs, but my experience totally disproves this idea. When I hear people breeding only same head colour pairs together, I only have faith that exceptional quality young can consistently come from black to black. I have another breeder friend with excellent quality Gouldians of all head colours who has always said that his best birds are always produced by black mothers irrespective of the father's head colour. I whole-heartedly agree with this.
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