# Pied/Splash Genetics?



## SableSteel (Jan 12, 2017)

Hello, I'm new here (this is my first post).

I am asking about the genetics of pied/splash (not grizzle). Is it a single gene? polygenetic? Does it breed fairly true (two pied birds will probably get you babies with white feathers), is it often that you get a baby with white feathers out two solid parents? Is the location of the white (ie tail, rump, face) controlled by modifiers? (Most of mine with white feathers see it around the rump and legs, sometimes a flight or two, but Ive never seen it around the face or tail, which is why I'm asking). Also, which name is most commonly/properly used? Would you call a blue bar with some white feathers still blue bar, or what?

I am asking for a pigeon breeding game - how could we most accurately simulate the genetics behind those white feathers? I'm thinking just making it an autosomal recessive and going with it (even though I think my opinion is leaning towards it being polygenetic). 

Thank you,
-Sable Steel


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## sev3ns0uls (Jul 2, 2011)

Im pretty sure if you search further back in this forum under this genetic section and you will get some some answer. 

The pie gene is a tricky one and kind of mysterious too. Im not expert but from what gathered:
The pie gene is a one of the co dominate gene and more dominated than grizzle that will express it self if the bird carries it. It is not a recessive gene. Meaning if a parent carries it, sure it will pass it down to its offspring. Some people refer pie bird as a splash in homing pigeon and roller breeders refer them as piebald in roller pigeon.

How the pie gene works is just like how people call it splash. take a paint brush, dip white paint on it and splash it on a bird. Any white paint landed on the bird body will make its feather turn white or in another word it washes out the color pigment on that spot. If it lands on the eye, colored eye will turn to bull eye. 

If you get a offspring off of 2 solid color, and your loft has no bird with the pie gene, chance are one of the parent carries the gene. All it takes is just 1 single white pie feather and you may get off spring with white patches/white flight. 

Its helpful if you can provide picture of your birds so we can observe if it a pie bird or not. In homing pigeon, yes we call a blue bird with white flight blue bar white flight. But the more suitable term is blue bar splash. 

The pie gene is very hard to get rid off if you want your bird to stay a solid color. For example if you introduce a bird with pie into your breeding loft, couple generations down the road you may end up with half of your birds having white splash/patch feather on their body. Some may just only have 1 or 2 feather and it could ruin the solid color. 

anyway, the pie gene is a very complex one. hopefully someone here will elaborate a lot more than I can.


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## ArcherPigeons (Sep 15, 2015)

There are _a lot_ of pied genes, no single gene.

I'm planing on a decade or so of research into it, and I think Bob Roger's newsletter is doing an edition on it in Feb.


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