# My first pigeons! Color and sexing questions.



## riderridee (Aug 13, 2015)

Hi all!

I have some experience with relatives' pigeons growing up (raised for squab) but am new to owning my own pigeons. Who, no, are not on the menu . I'm not planning on breeding but I am very interested in genetics and just picky stuff in general so I wanted to ask you experts!

I bought my birds from a local small-time breeder. He had probably just over a dozen birds total, including the "babies", all housed in an outdoor loft. He races birds and also raises some indian fantails for showing. The birds were very inexpensive so I don't think there are any stunning bloodlines going on here. The babies were all hatched around the first week of May.

I picked Rada, my brown bird, right away from the breeder. He was somewhat disappointed because she was his favorite. Whoops! I'm pretty sure she's an oopsie and half homer/half fantail. She doesn't seem to have enough fluff to be full fantail, unless it grows in later. The breeder was very sure she is a hen. She is quite curious and very easygoing. 

The breeder picked Curu for me. Or rather, for Rada. Since she was his favorite, he wanted to set her up with a good mate. Before I could say anything he grabbed Curu and put him in the crate. Again, I'm not really planning on breeding, so as long as they get along I didn't really care. He looks more like a full homer. He is a bit timid and makes a lot of fuss if I try to touch him still.

So a couple questions... 

-- Rada bows and coos sometimes to Curu and spins around, especially after having been separated for a bit. She will also do a "shrugging" or wobbling sort of motion with one wing to him sometimes. Usually only for a few seconds at a time, because Curu seems to have no idea how to respond to either of these and just wanders away. The bowing/spinning is usually a male thing, isn't it? Are they both just derpy because they're still immature? They do get along well.

-- What color is Rada, technically? I've included some pictures that hopefully show her markings off. She is various shades of brown with some white and a very small amount of pinkish iridescence on her breast. However, her wing shields are not solid colored, but are sort of gray and powder-brown mixed. I believe her eyes would be called "pearl eyes"? 

-- Curu is almost all white with just a schmear of dark dutch-cocoa brown on his neck, the same color as Rada's neck. He has very dark eyes. From reading about pigeon genetics, I gather that brown is the least dominant color... would it be safe to assume that Curu might be genetically brown as well under all his white? And if so, would I expect that their offspring would also be brown and white?


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Really beautiful birds!


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## riderridee (Aug 13, 2015)

cwebster said:


> Really beautiful birds!


Thank you! I do think they're awfully nice, but I might be biased .

They aren't quite tame yet, but it's so funny watching them just hang around doing "pigeon stuff" -- they have very different personalities, which was clear right away! I am excited to watch them grow up .


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