# Almond Birmingham roller?



## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

i have a few new birmingham rollers, this is one, which i have just paired up to a yellow spread hen (not recessive). am i right in thinking this is a pale almond? it is a very faint blue apart from its white flights, it has some purplish flecks on its neck and its whole body is covered in little black flecks. It is a 2011 bird, and i imagine it will become more and more black with each moult? What kind of almonds can i expect from this mating? or would it be best paired to a tort grizzle hen for the darker richer almonds?thanks


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

pale almond cock? how can improve the almond offspring, to a yellow or a grizzle?


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## bigislerollers (Jan 20, 2008)

Wodin, this bird does not look to be an almond. It looks to be an ash red, spread, grizzle, split for blue. I have several birds that look like this and they will get more blue/black flecking as they get older, but unfortunately they are not almond.


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

Hi thanks for your response. I have had a few ash red spreads, or lavenders as i know them as and they do indeed have black splashes. The photo maybe doesnt let on to how it looks in real life, but it struck me as an over all different base colour, with the black and plumb flecks all over its body. I suppose like a lot of colours there is a lot of variation, and this could be a very pale lavender. I have seen some photoes online of pale almonds looking almost identical to this thats all. H e is paired to a yellow spread, also very pale yellow. What are the chances of breeding more lavenders like him then? and what would be the outcome if he was to be paired to a tort grizzle? thanks


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

Looks almond to me, was it short downed?

It is not pale but it is an almond

Pair it to the tort I would say, that way, the young that do not pick up the grizzle should be nice dark almonds. Or if you had a recessive red bird you could pair it straight to that.


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

i didnt breed the bird so i dont know if it had short down. I have bred from the grizzle hen before and it threw a red and a black when paired to a yellow cock bird. I dont know if that means anything to anyone in the know!  My instincts said it wasnt lavender, as i have come across them a lot, and always seem to have the faintest bit of 're' showing, maybe a bar or a chek. This is more of a very pale violet colour. The neck flecks are what i would consider to be dun. Then the body is covered in black flecks.........hmmmm confused!


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

The pale yellow hen he is paired to bred 2 red bars when she was also paired to a black cock bird. Ideally if it is an almond i would like to deepen the colour. The tort/bronze grizzle would be best for this?


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

Rec red without grizzle or a blue kite (tort without grizzle) would be best for the almond. I think you are spot on, the base colour looks almond, Not spread ash, but as I always say, One cannot be certain from a pic. One needs to breed to find out, But I suspect you are on the money with Almond. Pair it to the tort I reckon, Sounds like your best option at this stage. Grizzle was believed to be an important part of classical almond in the past but of late, I and other believe its better left out of the mix, The almond gene itself causes enough breaking, The challenge is getting a deep dark rich base colour for the almond to break. And then selecting for even breaking and darker almonds.


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

thank you, i will pair him to the tort and hope for the best.i remember the black she produced having a lot of bronzing, but the kind that looked like it would go with the first molt. I also have a black hen with some bronze on the flights, but she is paired to an indigo to try and get some andrulasians. ...i have a spare archangel hen which is very bronze! ;-) but im not really into crossbreeding. Almonds fascinate me!


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## becege (Mar 12, 2003)

I always thought you had to mate a kite with an almond to get an almond. That always worked for me with Oriental Tollers.


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

Mating a blue kite to an almond is the best way to go but a tort is close being a blue kite with grizzle. Yes a kite would be better but if one does not have one they can use torts, rec reds, Or just blue T patterns with dirty to enhance the almond look.


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## bigislerollers (Jan 20, 2008)

becege said:


> I always thought you had to mate a kite with an almond to get an almond. That always worked for me with Oriental Tollers.


You can mate any color to an almond. Mating a kite to an almond just gives you a better chance of getting the "Classic" almond coloring. The only thing you have to do with breeding almonds is to start with an almond. 

Wodin, just breed a couple rounds and post the results. It seems like you really want that to be an almond and I hope it is. Good luck...


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## HeavyDlofts (May 23, 2012)

Love that pigeon, really nice color


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## earlofwood (Jul 1, 2012)

Wodin,
I have a cock that looks a lot like yours. I am quite sure it is almond as it has bronze flecking as well as black. I have mine on a medium tort hen, trying the same thing you are. I just have eggs at this time. How did your young turn out?


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## earlofwood (Jul 1, 2012)

*Is this an Almond?*


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## Jason Heidlauf (Apr 2, 2012)

I thought Almond was a tan color . But it aperies it is a green or is only green in this breed . as in brunner pouters a white grizzle is called a tiger . That brings me to another question . Why do they call different breeds different colors.


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## Woodnative (Jul 4, 2010)

earofwood you should start a new thread. Taht being said your bird certainly looks almond to me! The original bird in this thread also looks like my almond bird who is blue/spread (black) plus almond.


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

Woodnative said:


> earofwood you should start a new thread. Taht being said your bird certainly looks almond to me! The original bird in this thread also looks like my almond bird who is blue/spread (black) plus almond.


Hey Chris, I just sent them a PM about the bird and funnily enough I thought ( at a guess ) that it looked blue spread base. It does certainly look almond.

Jason - Almond varies heaps depending on what base colour, pattern and modifiers are present.


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## earlofwood (Jul 1, 2012)

Thank you all for your input. And, I apologize to WODIN for hijacking this thread. As you can see, I'm just a squab. Next time I'll wipe the pigeon milk off my chin and exercise better manners! Thanks again, Dean


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

LOL. Wodin is pretty cool, I do not think he will care too much..


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## almondman (Aug 22, 2009)

earlofwood said:


> Thank you all for your input. And, I apologize to WODIN for hijacking this thread. As you can see, I'm just a squab. Next time I'll wipe the pigeon milk off my chin and exercise better manners! Thanks again, Dean


Sorry Dean, but your post leaves a really strange picture in my mind!:


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