# What is mealy?



## g_girl313 (May 31, 2011)

I have not figured out what constitutes as mealy. Any pictures and descriptions would be nice. 

Also, I have a better grasp on sooty, but don't always see it. Again, any pictures and descriptions on how to recognize it would be great. Thanks.


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Most people call ash-red bars, "mealy".


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Sooty bars:
http://www.hapycolofts.com/lofts/families/images/desenna.jpg
http://www.louellapigeonworld.co.uk/clientfiles/Image/birds/6211.jpg
http://www.ehoremans.com/images/Pairs/Mealy.jpg
http://www.australianpigeoncatalogues.com.au/resources/Gg.jpg?timestamp=1274354500156

Could be a sooty bar but could be sooty check as well:
http://www.rossiloft.com/butcher.jpg

This one is hard to see but it's sooty and smokey
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc40/khaosthor/95TS20311.jpg


----------



## g_girl313 (May 31, 2011)

so is the sooty, the darker color "coming up through" the feathers. 

And what would smokey be


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Sooty creates false checking in barred birds and in checked birds it brings the color to the center of the feather. You'll see this in a lot of show homers like these
http://smslofts.0catch.com/Asrbluckcocka.jpg
It can be tough to recognize in heavy checks and t-patterns
http://www.showracinghomers.com/141fa030.jpg

In barred birds it's easy to tell because you'll see little ticks in the center of the feathers on the shield. The expression of it can vary a lot.
http://www.angelfire.com/ga/huntleyloft/images/sooty1.jpg

Sooty on a check
http://www.angelfire.com/ga/huntleyloft/images/sootycheck.jpg
Harder to notice

Sooty is dominant so whether it is het or homozygous state will also effect the expression. Some sooty bars in the homozygous state can really trip you up and make you think they are definitely checks!


Smokey is recessive. The big indicators are it darkens the feathers and can smudge up the pattern but it will lighten the color of the skin/beak. It will also get rid of the albescent strip, which is the white strip on the outside of the two outer tail feathers. It's noticable on blues and browns but of course the tails of ash-red won't look any different.
http://www.angelfire.com/ga/huntleyloft/browns/brownsmoky.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/ga/huntleyloft/images/smokey1.jpg


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

My sooties
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAADgg/sneXT7m43cM/s640/12-28-09%2520004.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAEYc/ZanWOWdMMH0/s640/6-15-11%2520035.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAEYs/DFlYAIHPuKw/s640/6-15-11%2520039.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAEZE/Ibvl4WemrnE/s640/6-15-11%2520046.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAEbY/dxiIjRKNljs/s640/6-17-11%2520029.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAEbk/nDmUzW8bRy0/s640/6-17-11%2520032.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAEbw/nkRumNn4SzE/s640/6-17-11%2520027.jpg


Sooty and smokey. A lot of people in the US call these ash-red birds strawberry. But people in other countries, strawberry to them means a coarse ash-red spread.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAACEU/c70TQUi-940/s720/1-19-09%2520011.jpg




A lot of my birds are sooty and most of them are dirty


----------



## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

A bared ash red is called a mealy bar in race birds.


----------



## g_girl313 (May 31, 2011)

It seems as though it would be difficult to tell if a bird is smokey...


----------



## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

No, If its blue or brown and it has an albescent strip on outer tail feather it is not smokey, if it has half it may be het for smokey and if it has no strip it is smokey, however with red you are right, It can be more diffucult - Usually if no pied genes are involved and the beak is ivory, pattern smudged you can assume its smokey until mated to a blue for confirmation.


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

NZ Pigeon said:


> No, If its blue or brown and it has an albescent strip on outer tail feather it is not smokey, if it has half it may be het for smokey and if it has no strip it is smokey, however with red you are right, It can be more diffucult - Usually if no pied genes are involved and the beak is ivory, pattern smudged you can assume its smokey until mated to a blue for confirmation.


I agree


----------

