Saddle back zebra?

An area to discuss new and established colour mutations.
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Finch_Breeder
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Joined: 25 Apr 2012, 11:00
Location: Adelaide, South Australia

Any specific way to successfully breed this mutation? What parents are required?
Mike :thumbup:
Birds I own/have owned: Budgerigars, **Zebra Finches**, **Star Finches**, Canaries, Diamond doves... Rocky the Galah! & Cocky the Sulphur Crested 'too
-Mike-
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quaddieking
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Joined: 19 Apr 2015, 16:16
Location: victoria

mutation must have died out in 80's
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Username1
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Location: Sydney, NSW

Finch_Breeder wrote: 31 Mar 2013, 21:08 Any specific way to successfully breed this mutation? What parents are required?
Mike :thumbup:
It depends on your definition of "successfully". If "success" means ending up with more Saddle Back birds, then yes, you can successfully breed this mutation. However, if "success" means being able to consistently breed uniform Saddle Back birds with identical markings, then no.

It terms of what parents are required, Saddle Back parents would help.

It should be noted that Saddle Back is not really a mutation in and of itself though, it's just a heavily Pied bird. The Pied gene is recessive, so you will need to pair two birds together that carry the Pied gene, otherwise the offspring will only be split for Pied, and not show much (if any) white feathering.

If you don't have existing Saddle Backs to use as parents, just keep breeding Pied birds together. Eventually the Pied markings generally get stronger with each generation, and generally the colour on the back is the last to go (resulting in what we call Saddle Backs).

Generally Saddle Backs are the last stage before ending up with Pied birds that are completely white.

The Pied gene is also quite variable, so it's extremely difficult to get complete uniformity. Even breeding Saddle Back to Saddle Back won't necessarily result in any of the offspring being Saddle Backs. They may be completely white, or show colouring on other parts of the body.

If you simply want an aviary full of Saddle Backs, just keep culling the birds that are completely white or have colour elsewhere on the body, and just keep the birds that show the Saddle Back markings. Whilst their future offspring won't necessarily be Saddle Backs, if you just keep the birds that show the markings you want, that's about the best you can do.
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