Site Index          | Head Color Pairings and Results The following will try to break down some of the possible genetic results of the following breedings. This is only discussing head color and is not taking breast or body color into consideration. The cock and hen pairings will be listed at the top in bold, with the possible outcomes below.
| DF RH Cock x RH Hen |
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| DF RH Cocks | RH Hens |
| SF RH Cock x RH Hen |
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| 50% DF RH Cocks | 50% RH Hens | | 50% RH/BH Cocks | 50% BH Hens |
| BH Cock x RH Hen |
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| RH/BH Cocks | BH Hens |
| DF RH Cock x BH Hen |
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| RH/BH Cocks | RH Hens |
| SF RH Cock x BH Hen |
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| 50% RH/BH Cocks | 50% RH Hens | | 50% BH Cocks | 50% BH Hens |
| BH Cock x BH Hen |
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| BH Cocks | BH Hens |
Remember - the Orange headed trait is autosomal recessive - which means it is inherited independently of the red and black alleles, and it will only be expressed if both recessive copies are present. However! At least one red allele must be present in order for the orange color to be visually expressed. If a bird is genetically orange headed but does not possess at least one red allele, the bird will be black headed with a yellow-tipped beak (BH YTB). Birds that are split for orange head will appear as either red or black headed birds, with no visual way to identify the orange trait being present.
| OH Cock x OH Hen |
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| OH Cocks | OH Hens |
| /OH Cock x OH Hen (or vice-versa) |
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| 50% OH Birds | 50% /OH |
| /OH Cock x /OH Hen |
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| 25% OH Birds | | 50% /OH Birds | | 25% will not carry the orange trait at all |
It is important with this particular breeding to point out the negative aspect of breeding two heterozygotes (two "splits") together with respect to a recessive trait. There is no way to visually distinguish the babies produced by this pairing that are split for OH from babies that do not carry the OH trait at all. The only way to verify a chick has the trait present would be a future test breed to another OH bird. The same would be true for a pairing between a /OH Cock and a non-orange hen. 50% of the babies would be split for OH while 50% wouldn't possess the trait at all - but there would be no visual way to distinguish one from the other. Intuitively, an Orange headed bird paired with a non-orange bird will produce offspring that are all split for orange head - no guess work involved with that pairing!
Remember - if a bird carries both recessive copies of the OH trait, but does not possess a red head allele (it is black head instead), it will have a black head with a yellow tipped beak (YTB). This occurs because the bird is genetically an orange headed bird, but it cannot express the orange color because the orange gene depends on the red head allele for expression. This is probably because the Orange pigment we see in an OH bird relies partially on the metabolic pathways responsible for the red color in RH birds, that do not function when a bird is genetically BH (and thus, neither the red or the orange pigment can not be synthesized). That being said - when pairing a BH(YTB) bird with another bird that is not Orange head or Split for orange head, all babies produced should be understand as being genetically split for orange head. Other pairings are discussed below.
| BH (TYB) Cock x OH Hen |
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| OH/BH Cocks | BH (YTB) Hens |
| OH Cock x BH(YTB)Hen |
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| OH/BH Cocks | OH Hens |
There are obviously other pairings involving BH YTB birds and /OH - but the results would be similar to those outcomes already discussed above. If you would like information on a specific pairing, please feel free to email me and I will also add it to this list.
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