# What pattern/mutation is this?



## bluebar23 (May 14, 2011)

First two pics are a pair of nestmates I recently weaned. I raise racing homers and haven't seen anything like this before. The colors are clearly yellow and blue, respectively, but I have no idea about the pattern. Their sire is a "lavender" ash spread; dam is a red check (with a large black spot on her shoulder; unusual for a red hen, I know, but her mother, a blue bar, seems to throw this). 

Paternal great-grand-dam was recessive yellow, so she could have been carrying anything, I guess. Wondering if this looks like some kind of grizzle or is what they call "stencil" or possibly just some kind of heavy splash? Third pic is paternal grand-sire (son of the rec. yellow hen and a spread ash cock who is also the maternal grand-sire), I always assumed he was spread ash with some kind of heavy splashing (or possibly under-grizzle?), but now I'm wondering if he's showing the effect of a combination of spread and grizzle? I guess he's probably where the unusual pattern is coming from.

Clearly I'm not great on the terminology, coming from the racing world everyone uses their own terms (mostly made up, I'm pretty sure!). I really wish we had better consistency across the field of color/pattern genetics. But thanks for taking a look!


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## Chuck K (Jan 12, 2013)

*Pattern*

I think both birds are probably check or T-pattern. It is hard to tell with the lacing in the feathers. 

Toy stencil and frill stencil only affect the bars, checks, and tail bars. These birds are washed out over the body. I believe that laced look is coming from a gene called reduced. The blue one has a typical blue head seen in some reduced birds. Look at the bird in the middle picture on this link the middle bird in the link: http://pigeonracinglofts.wikifoundry.com/page/Reduced+colour+Racers I think that is what your blue bird will look like when grown. It is even harder to tell if the yellow is also carrying reduced or something else. If these birds are both reduced they are both hens, and the gene came from their sire since reduced is sex linked and cocks can carry it hidden.


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## bluebar23 (May 14, 2011)

*Reduced*

Thanks, Chuck! That is a real possibility, as the paternal grand-dam is a reduced blue bar. However, I'm pretty sure reduced is a recessive gene, so it would have to be carried by both parents to show up in the youngsters (and only makes can carry it without showing it). There's no reduced on the dam's side, though; only red, blue, spread, bars, and checks. Unless, of course, it's hiding way back in there somewhere. It will definitely be interesting to see what they look like after they mature and molt. Maybe the white will darken. But right now the white seems pretty solid, which made me think it must be some sort of pattern/mutation (other than reduced, which seems to me to cause an overall lightening, but not bright white patterning).


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## bluebar23 (May 14, 2011)

*Correction*

Oops, not "makes", meant "males"... as you pointed out re:reduceds.


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## Chuck K (Jan 12, 2013)

*Reduced*

While reduced is recessive gene, it is sex linked (is carried on the sex determining chromosome), therefore hens only need one copy of the gene to show it since they only have one full copy of the sex determining chromosome. Reduced acts just like dilute and they are closely linked on the sex chromosome.

A cock bird carrying one gene for reduced or dilute does not show it, but he can pass those traits off to daughters that will show it. Any sons off a cock bird that carries reduced or dilute have a fifty fifty chance of also carrying it as a hidden recessive trait. Only the cock birds need two copies of a recessive sex linked gene to show the gene.

I am guessing based on the picture that at least one of the youngsters, the blue one, is a reduced hen. I have read and seen pictures that show reduced youngsters show the darkened head and the lacing in the wing shield like your blue squab. The reason I doubt the yellow carries reduced is because the two genes are closely linked, and hens carrying both reduced and dilute are a much rarer combination.


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## bluebar23 (May 14, 2011)

*Reduced*

Interesting! Thanks for explaining it so well, Chuck. The guy who gave me the reduced hen said that mating her to one of her own sons would be the _only_ way to get more reduceds - clearly he was wrong. I do have a regular blue check son off my reduced hen in the breeding loft, but he's never produced anything other than blue checks. This ash red spread is the only other son of hers I've bred from. He's got two more in the nest now, it will be interesting to see what they turn out to look like. I may have to put him with a plain blue bar hen next breeding season to see what comes out of that.

I still don't know what to call the white in these birds. This is the first time I've seen it in the third generation. As shown in the picture of the grand-sire, except for his head, which shows some gray, he looks like an ash red spread with all the gray replaced by white. That made me think under-grizzle, until I read about the combination of grizzle and spread maybe causing something like that, since his sire is spread.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Very pretty reduced  You will have fun watching these babies change. Reduced squeakers and adults usually look very different.


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## almondman (Aug 22, 2009)

Welcome back Mary!!!!


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

almondman said:


> Welcome back Mary!!!!


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