male or female lutino?

[srtiels]

If the hen was lutino WF and the WF male split to lutino, the chances of visual lutino WF in a clutch are higher, and could be either sex. But if the hen was just lutino with a WF/lutino, all lutino appearing offspring will be split to WF, and either sex. If there were any other mutations in the clutch such as pearl, the father was split to pearl, and any babies showing pearl are female. if there were any pieds in the clutch then both parents were carrying the pied gene.

Did the breeder say what the clutchmates colors were?

[jc119007]

Hi,
Here are some photos, I tried my best for the moment (don't want to scare him!) if you need something specific, I'll do my best

Sorry if it's pic heavy....

[jc119007]

Here are the infos of his family tree:

Father: white face from a WF cock and a lutino hen
Mother: WF lutino from a WF lutino cock and a WF hen

4 Siblings: 2 X WF lutino hens, & x WF hen & Kikou

Hope this helps!!

[Mythara]

He's a lutino pearl. Is he older or younger than 6 months? If a boy, then he'll be losing the pearls if he's 6 months or more. If he's older than six months and has all his pearls still, then he's a girl. =)

Did you see either of the parents? Only one of them must not be a WF, otherwise Kikou would be a WF, and he/she's not, otherwise he/she wouldn't have orange cheek patches, or the yellow.

Edit - Plus, the father must be split to pearl, or Kikou wouldn't have pearls, and if the mother wasn't pearl, then Kikou must be female, because pearl is a sex-linked gene.

Pearl is a sex linked gene. In cockatiels males are XX and females are XY. The pearl gene is carried with the X chromosome. So males need two copies of pearl to be visibily pearl, and females only need one copy. Males get one copy from each parent. Females get their copy from their fathers, and get a Y chromosome from their mothers. If the mother isn't pearl, and the father is either pearl or split to pearl, then all the pearl chicks the a nest will be female. If only the mother is pearl then all the males will be split to pearl, and the females won't have it at all. If both parents are pearl, then the pearl chicks could be either gender. Lutino, cinnamon and a couple of other mutations work the same way.

[jc119007]

OK.
Unfortunetly I didn't see the parents because by the time I got to the breeder they had gone into their nest because I arrived late (got turned around on the highway). I think that the breeder got mixed up, the hen is lutino not a WF lutino (it's only once that he said that the hen was a WF lutino, the rest of the time he said lutino), the cock was the WF.
Kikou is just over 6mths old, the breeder said that he hadn't gone through his first moult yet, I think he's just about to start because his tail is quite ratty looking and short. He's quite vocal, he makes a high pitched call, and doesn't stop moving!

[Mythara]

Is it just a high pitch call with a single note? If so that's flock calling and both genders do it. Is the mother a pearl? If not, Kikou must be female, it's not possible to have a male pearl if his mother isn't a pearl.

[jc119007]

Yep, it's a high pitched call with a single note.

I'm pretty new to genetics, so I'm trying to follow you here
The pearls that you're referring to is the yellow in his feathers I guess?

[Mythara]

A normal lutino would have solid yellow feathering on their back. The markings your seeing are the result of pearling.

[jc119007]

Just thought I'd update about Kikou:

She hasn't had her first moult yet (so she's still got the pearls), but I have noticed that she's developped (?) a white spot behind her head, which is pale yellow all over. She's also making small whistling noises, different notes, sometimes if an ad is on TV that has whistling she will react (whistle or chirp along). If I whistle to her she usually responds...
I also have the impression that the orange spot on her cheek is quite pale, compared to most orange spots in greys.
I haven't been able to get a decent photo yet because if I use the flash she comes out white (lol) with red eyes (devil bird!!) and since it's been raining/overcaste lately the natural lighting hasn't been good for a good shot. Will post some pics asap.