# Mottle/ Spread????



## johnbt (Sep 17, 2010)

At a show earlier in the year a showpen homer caught my eye. The breeder called it a spread ash mottle. It was mottle marked the coloured feathers were lavender. Would I get this with this hen and spread ash pairing?

















Can anyone help with how I would breed more birds like this hen also?

Thanks,

John


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

Hi John, The hen looks like my blue - het spread -het grizzle high fliers in my album. I believe spread and grizzle together in het form is one of the ways black mottles are created but maybe not the only gene combo to get this look so I can only speculate on what yours are.

I am unsure how an ash - spread - grizzle would look but I do know that combo is used to help create whites in ash red **** grizzles, you would need het grizzle so could most definetly work. I am contemplating pairing a black racer to an ash red het grizzle, You might have helped me make my decision


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## johnbt (Sep 17, 2010)

Hello Evan,

Here is a picture of the showpen homer I tracked down. The picture isn't quite how I remembered the bird?









I think I bred 4 rounds from this hen last year. I kept the pair together again this year because the young ones were stunning birds. She was/ is paired to a red checker cock.










I breed very white red grizzle hens, a mealy hen, a blue bar cock, a tort cock, a red check cock. The mealy hen is a lovely bird and won the best of breed. I kept 5 of her young ones locked up and am breeding with them now. This year the first round was a red grizzle, and a blue bar. The second round hatched on Friday. I'll try her with another cock at the end of the season. The blue bar young one is a little different. I'll start another thread regarding him.

The show sections for performing rollers are *any black, *any red/ yellow, *any bar, * any checker and *any other color. I have most of this covered now except for yellow and I need to breed for reds.


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

Hey, start a thread about that show pen homer, It looks reduced on ash red or something fancy like that

It def aint what you would expect from ash red spread though. I am no pro on those fancy colours, Still learning about all the combos you can get with spread, Grizzle, Pied, Indigo ETC.


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

Maybe reduced spread brown?


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## johnbt (Sep 17, 2010)

I'm not so sure that this is the bird. It's not how I remember it. The fellow who took the photos sent me this one. It was a while ago now. I'll contact the breeder for a picture, I think I have his email address somewhere. Then we can start again. 

John


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## horseart4u (Jun 16, 2011)

hey here are my 4 tigers, black tiger grizzle red tiger grizzle( what i was told he is but think he is more brown ) and my silver tiger grizzle & red tiger grizzle


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## horseart4u (Jun 16, 2011)

and this is one of the young from the second bird.


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## horseart4u (Jun 16, 2011)

these two i don't know if i should call them tigers or just grizzle splashes








now this one is still molting and getting more white on him, but see the all white feathers coming in on his wing.


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## tmaas (May 17, 2012)

John, to produce tiger grizzle lavender colored birds from your hen in pic (who appears to be dirty dark blue check base color to me), I'd recommend using a spread ash red cock who has barred pattern or even barless if obtainable. The Smokey gene will also be helpful to reduce red coloration in the breast area. It could take many generations of selective breeding but is attainable using ash red. It would be much easier if you could find a roller with the milky gene. Milky spread black tiger grizzle would be a more uniform coloration and more consistently duplicated.


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## johnbt (Sep 17, 2010)

Thanks for that. I'll breed a few rounds and then split up the pairs. I'll put this hen with a spread ash and see what happens.


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## johnbt (Sep 17, 2010)

horseart4u said:


> hey here are my 4 tigers, black tiger grizzle red tiger grizzle( what i was told he is but think he is more brown ) and my silver tiger grizzle & red tiger grizzle




That red grizzle is getting close to the bird I want to breed.


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