Aussie Finch Forum

I went to a place listed on gumtree today to get 5 societys cheaply ...when I got them one has a crest! I have never seen this so would like to breed it ,according to singing wings avery this mutation is "co-dominent" .what on earth does that mean??? is it a 50/50 of normal to crested? if I can sex it correctly,it seems very quiet so im thinking a hen? can it produce crested offspring with a normal?

Think of Co-dominant like a black bird mated to a white bird producing a grey bird. The codominant bird carries equal parts of the dominant and reccessive gene.

In the case of crested genes, the dominant form is often riddled with faults, if not fatal genes so crested to crested is generally avoided unless trying to strengthen a particular feature..
The outcomes are as follows:
crested x crested = 25% double crested (fatal/faulted), 50% crested, 25% normal
crested x normal = 50% crested, 50% normal

Although the normal produced should not carry any crest gene they are often referred to as "crest bred" as it it theorised some some other genetic modifier (not found on the crested gene, but influencing it in some way) may be passed on to these birds. It is theorised that crested x crest bred produces the most consistent crests. This is yet to be conclusively proven.

ok thanks,would never want to risk any finch so will leave her with a normal.she is in a basket with a nice brown boy so I guess its all fixed without my interference

Just had 3 young fledge last week,Normal cock bird, crested hens

hmm Im sure mine is a hen as iv not heard a peep out of her..iv never seen one before except in an American book .I didnt think they were in Australia so I am quite excited ,when I saw the book I thought oh id love one of them ..my lucky day I guess

Their been around for a while had them about 10year ago then got out for finches for 2 year. Just bought a 3 pair last year,now I've got 12 babies 8 crested and 4 split creasted. Not the easiest to find but their certainly out there .

I agree with what Danny has written. I had a collection of about 25 crested and 30 normal in the early 1980's and showed them throughout Queensland with great success. However I learned the hard way breeding Crested X Crested produced a few young (possibly the fatal/flawed gene Danny spoke of), most crested young that survived were double crested which looks very bad/uneven. Breeding Crested x Normal seemed to produce more young overall and a much nicer/even/uniform crest.
I am just getting back into crested Bengalese/Society finches myself and have had no luck trying to locate them in Brisbane.

I wish you good luck and continued success with your breeding.

well she and partner are right now busy lining a basket with grass..I will have to remove the other 3 though I think as although the cage has 5 finchs,2 nest boxs and 3 baskets ,their choice was very popular last night ..all 5 were squeezed in there!!! gosh did they look ruffled this morning
so to protect them from their own urge to smother eachother I think if the others try to join them I will have to intervine!!

The genetics of crested Bengos is the same as the Genetics of crested canaries. Some say the reason for using crest bred is the shape of the skull? Old wifes tale or fact? Love Gloster canaries (the smaller crested type) Single even crest is desirable in finches and canaries alike. Double crest is technically a fault but OK for breeding provided it does not tend to produce double crests. Remember to ring the plain headed sibs so you use unrelated birds for mates to the cresteds.
LML

ok thanks,have noted that