# How to improve mottles?



## Print Tippler (May 18, 2011)

How do i work with mottles? i have two really great mottles which were nest mates i believe (bought them) and 3 with a good spread. A lot of them are REALLY white which just acouple specks, and now i got 3 new ones which are mostly black. Without going into too many pictures i show the 3 "classes"

How should i go about getting a good balance. Do you think a really black and really white one would break even? Why are there such a big difference in them. Different genes?

Really black









Pretty black








pretty even, 2nd best one









Really white


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## Tiplets (Aug 24, 2011)

The first thing you need to do if you want to get good Mottles is stop buying Grizzles or Spangle type Birds, that have white in the Head or white Tail & Flight feathers… Real Mottle Tipplers Don’t have white in the Head or white Tail & Flight feathers. Maybe one of the best representatives of a true mottle Tipplers may be a Danish Tippler, these type of birds though they have smaller dots of white on the Wing shield will be better suited in helping you to produce Mottle tipplers with larger & bolder white spots, but still keeping the head, tail & Flight feathers true to color! having a few Solid blacks always Helps. 

Here are a few photos of the Type pattrens of Birds you should be Looking for, to start your breeding program in order to produce good true Mottle Tipplers.


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## Print Tippler (May 18, 2011)

Naw, those are alright but not the direction I want to go, I want the mottle look through out the whole bird with no areas of just solid black.


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## Tiplets (Aug 24, 2011)

Print Tippler said:


> Naw, those are alright but not the direction I want to go, I want the mottle look through out the whole bird with no areas of just solid black.


Ok I understand because these types if bred correctly will give you dark Mottles, I then guess you're looking for Light Mottle Prints, But Remember that all real Mottles whether Light Mottles, or Print Mottles should have a even color flow throughout the Body with Solid Colored Tail & flight feathers! 1st Photo is a Dark Mottle, 2nd Photo is a Light Mottle print then you have all the variations in-between But they all have solid Colored Tail & flight feathers! If they don't have a Solid Colored Tail & flight feathers then they are not called mottles they are called Spangles!


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## Print Tippler (May 18, 2011)

Oh, im going to need you to help me out and walk me through some terms, For one i thought a print must have a white shield to be called a print? So there are mottles, prints, and also print mottles? If there such a thing as print mottle i would say it would be a bird like this one

on the left would be a "print mottle" on the right i would call a print but i guess you would call it a spangle.

*I cant remember what i was refering to, photo link broke *

So you would really call this bird and the next one print mottles?
*same with this one but here is a print of mine*









Also what would you call this one? red print mottle?
*not the same photo as before but the same bird*









Now lets talk about spangle, i have a lot of those, where some tail feathers are white and some are black, i also have some birds with all black tails and some with ribbon tail like this. Is a spangle a mottle bird or clean shield?


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## Print Tippler (May 18, 2011)

heres a ribbon tail


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## NewHopePoultry (Feb 7, 2010)

what does ribbon tail mean?


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## Print Tippler (May 18, 2011)

ribbon tail is what is pictured above, im not sure if all barred tails can be called ribbon tails or just tails like above.


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## rudolph.est (May 14, 2009)

Print Tippler said:


> heres a ribbon tail


Sorry, but I am not sure that ribbon tail is the right description for this bird. As far as I know ribbon tail as described by geneticists is found only on Lebanons and some fantails. It is a reaction of Lebanon bronze with recessive red and/or ash-red. It is described as a red bird with a white tail bar (or ribbon) as far as I know.

Maybe the expression in the picture is called ribbon tail by some, but it is definitely only an expression of a grizzle as far as I can see.


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## indigobob (Nov 12, 2008)

This is what I would call a ribbontail; ash-red, T-pattern chequer, dirty, bronze or bronzes, (maybe Brander bronze), heterozygous recessive red and other colour modifying genes.


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## rudolph.est (May 14, 2009)

Thanks, that is a beautiful picture of ribbon tail!


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## Print Tippler (May 18, 2011)

Alright thanks, I'll take note


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