Aussie Finch Forum

I started thinking about this after vettepilot_6 asked a question regarding head colour outcomes and who might be the possible parents, it became obvious that Gouldian Genetics can be very confusing even for Gouldian breeders let alone breeders of other species.

So I choose 2 very normal looking Gouldians that are being bred regularly by the mutation breeders and tried to establish how many genetic mutations can be produced by their pairing.

The 2 birds are:

Cock: Red head split Black head - Purple split White breast - Single factor Yellow back split Blue split Aust Yellow ( RH/BH - PB/WB - SFYB/BB/AY ) Appears RH-PB-SFYB

Hen: Black head - Purple split White breast - Green back split Blue split Aust Yellow ( BH - PB/WB - GB/BB/AY ) Appears BH-PB-GB


I have considered any difference in mutation to be an entirely different bird even if it appears visually the same, and also males to be different to females.

Eg: Red head - Purple breast - Green back hen ( RH - PB - GB ) is considered different to Red head - Purple split White breast - Green back hen ( RH - PB/WB - GB )


So feel free to estimate ( or declare if you are confident ) how many possibilities there might be, I have come up with a total but I wouldn't stake my life on it.

108 according to genetic calculator

How are we ever going to find a pure NORMAL gouldian. Thats more permutations than a Melbourne Cup Sweep.

108 is a nice start but I think it is well in excess of that, if you include all the splits for head, breast and back colour.