# Colour matching!



## LisaNewTumbler (Jun 24, 2013)

Hi, 

So this is Georgie. I THINK he is male, but I need to do a DNA test.









(ignore damaged or wet feathers, the pics are old)










I thought the feathers were solid colour but now that he's moulting you can see that they are not.









Now that he has settled and is coming out of his shell I want to start looking for a mate for him. 

Firstly - is he a mottled recessive red? Does the fact that the feathers are not solid colour have an affect on his colouring 'type'?

Secondly - what colour of mate should I be looking for to get more pretty pretty birds??


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## rudolph.est (May 14, 2009)

Looks like pale RR mottle pied, but as always that's just a guess. I'd mate this bird to a blue split for RR if you have one, otherwise blue bar...


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## LisaNewTumbler (Jun 24, 2013)

he's my only pigeon at the moment.

Which is why I want to do a bit of research into colours before I buy a mate for him.

Isn;t blue bar too dominant to breed to a RR? Won't I lose the colouring and mottling?

(I don't know much about genetics! I'm trying to read up on it but it feels like I'm reading russian sometimes! So I mostly end up confused)


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## rudolph.est (May 14, 2009)

If you still have to buy a mate, buy a recessive red. Then all the babies will be RR, and possibly mottled. The downside to that is that all your birds are the same, I like a little more variety than that  You could also mate this bird to a black, since that could improve the RR if you mate the babies together...

Breeding for color is very rarely about a single generation, rather about planning what you want to achieve and then many generations of breeding to achieve that desired outcome.


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## LisaNewTumbler (Jun 24, 2013)

rudolph.est said:


> If you still have to buy a mate, buy a recessive red. Then all the babies will be RR, and possibly mottled. The downside to that is that all your birds are the same, I like a little more variety than that  You could also mate this bird to a black, since that could improve the RR if you mate the babies together...
> 
> Breeding for color is very rarely about a single generation, rather about planning what you want to achieve and then many generations of breeding to achieve that desired outcome.


I like variety too. I don't want them all the same, just pretty  So I need to find a bird that won;t just produce blue bar and won't just produce RR


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## rudolph.est (May 14, 2009)

Almond is probably the best choice for variety


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