Platinum Pearl juvenile hen
This photo was taken a
couple of days after the bird fledged
Whiteface Lutino Platinum Pearl juvenile cock
Nymphicus hollandicus
This bird is genetically
Whiteface Pearl/Lutino/Platinum.
Photo was taken the day the bird fledged
How can I breed a Whiteface Lutino Platinum cock?
Its simple, all you need to do is get a Whiteface Lutino and put it with a Whiteface Platinum. The cocks will be Whiteface/Lutino/Platinum but will appear a visual Whiteface Lutino Platinum. The hens will be the same as their father either Whiteface Lutino or Whiteface Platinum.
If you intend to buy a Whiteface/Lutino/Platinum cock I would greatly recommend buying one from a reliable breeder who knows and understands about their birds genetics and the affects with the Lutino and the Platinum mutations, or else you could just be buying a Whiteface Platinum from a more lighter strain of the Platinum mutation.
Can I breed a Whiteface Lutino Platinum hen?
No. To breed a Whiteface Lutino Platinum hen the sex linked genes for Lutino and Platinum would have to crossover. As the Lutino and Platinum genes are located at the same locus, if the genes did crossover, they would both crossover resulting in both genes on the opposite chromosomes as what they started out on.
Platinum Pearl juvenile hen (left) and a
Lutino Platinum Pearl juvenile cock (right)
Nymphicus hollandicus
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The Lutino and the Platinum
If you understand your genetics, you would know that when you pair a sex linked recessive mutation like a Lutino to another sex linked recessive mutation like a Platinum, theoretically you should get Normal/Lutino/Platinum cocks and the hens should be the same colour of their father, either Platinum or Lutino (note: / = split to). But with Lutino and Platinum this does NOT apply.
Genetic Terms:
The Platinum and the Lutino mutations are Allelomorphs (shortened to Alleles).
Each gene is situated at a specific point (locus) on its chromosome. Chromosomes come in pairs and each string of genes making up a chromosome is mirrored by its matching partner (except for the hens sex chromosomes XY).
The 'normal' gene at the matching locus of the other chromosome of the pair is said to be an allele of its opposite mutant gene.
At meiosis, within the testes or ovary of another individual of the same species, an identical gene on an identical chromosome may also change its composition and create a second mutation (eg Platinum) which gives a differing level of effect from the first mutation (eg Lutino). Alternatively, in a single individual of en established strain of the first mutation, the mutant gene might mutate again, and also provide this differing level of effect.
Though not common, it does happen. This second mutant gene (Platinum) is an allele of its 'normal' counterpart on the opposite chromosome, and also an allele of the first mutant gene (Lutino) which is at the equivalent locus on its own chromosome. The three genes, the 'normal' and both mutants, are allelomorphic towards each other.
To have the mutation Platinum mutation display itself in a cock bird, you need the Platinum gene to be carried on both chromosomes. What the Lutino gene does is "fill in" for the other Platinum gene therefore producing young that show a colour in between Platinum and Lutino. These two mutations are co-dominant or "blend".
Only one or the other gene can occupy the allotted location point of the original 'normal' gene on each of the pair of chromosomes. Because of this, the normal cross over of chromatid segments has no relevance. There fore it would be impossible to get a Lutino Platinum hen.
Simple Terms:
When you pair a Platinum to a Lutino you get hens that are the same colour as their father, either Platinum or Lutino (as suspected) but instead of getting Normal/Platinum/Lutino cocks, you get birds that look visually Lutino Platinum, or "Platino". These birds are still genetically Normal/Lutino/Platinum but appear visually Lutino Platinum.
When this "Platino" is combined with Whiteface the bird is even more magnificent, appearing Albino with shades of smoky grey through the bird with darker silvery smoky grey through the primaries and tail feathers which gets darker as the bird matures.
Do any other mutations have this affect on one another?
Yes. The Pastelface mutation has a similar affect with Whiteface. These mutations are both autosomal recessive so the sex of the young has no relevance. These two mutations don't actually "Blend" but the Pastelface gene is dominant over the Whiteface gene. If you understand your genetics, you would expect Normal/Whiteface/Pastelface cocks and hens if you bred a pure breeding Whiteface to a pure breeding Pastelface, but instead when you breed the two mutations together you get a bird that looks visually Pastelface. The genetics of this bird is its heterozygous to Pastelface and heterozygous to Whiteface, but it appears visually Pastelface. Its parents were homozygous to their mutations. Homo meaning two genes and Hetero meaning one. The bird still breeds true to its genetics as the Pastelface gene still dominates over the whiteface, but it only has one Pastelface gene and therefore if paired to a Whiteface half the young should be Whiteface and the other half should be Pastelface. This affects both cocks and hens because they are both autosomal recessive mutations, unlike Lutino and Platinum where they are both sex linked recessive mutations and therefore only the cocks can be affected. |
Whiteface Platino Pearl cock
(Whiteface Pearl/Lutino/Platinum)
Nymphicus hollandicus
The is the son of the pair to the right.
This bird looks more silver in real life.
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Whiteface Lutino/Pearl cock (left) and a
Whiteface Platinum Pearl/Pied hen (right)
Nymphicus hollandicus
The is the pair that bred the
Whiteface Lutino Platinum Pearl cock
If you have any comments about this article feel free to email me:
cockatiels@optushome.com.au
© Article under Copyright with the author,
Robert Cross, and cannot be reprinted without written permission.
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