# Ash red cocks don't always fleck blue



## AZCorbin (Feb 28, 2011)

All ash red's flecked with blue are cocks.
However not all ash red cocks are flecked with blue.

In pigeons there are three base colors: (in order of dominance) brown, blue, ash red.
Now the hen carries one gene for color and the cock two. The hen always passes her color gene to the cock and the cock does one to the hen and one to his cocks.
Ash red being dominate only needs one gene to show. If it is accompanied with a blue gene it flecks (brown as well).

So an example. A blue bar hen to an ash red cock. All your cock will be ash red split for blue. Remember hen to the cock. Since ash red is dominate it always will show untop of the blue.
However if you breed an ash red cock split for blue to an ash red hen then 50% of your hens will be blues. Remember hens only have one color gene. All your cock will be ash red because it is dominate and the hen must pass that to the cock however since the cock is ash red het (split) blue than only 50% of the cocks will carry blue. So half the cocks will show no flecking at all.
And you will see the flecks right away as well. It does not take a moult as seen in my video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10MUFUx9xwk


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