CINNAMON & FAWN PAIRINGS
There is cinnamon in most varieties of canaries,
it can cause confusion even in the most experienced breeder. Cinnamon is usually
used to improve feather quality in normals or reduce feather bulk.
Cinnamon is a sex linked gene and can be passed on from either the father or
mother. The sex of the young produced that will or will not have the cinnamon
gene will depend on the level of cinnamon being carried by the father and
mother. Below is some pairings and the expected young produced.
(A green hen or cock represents a normal carrying no cinnamon or cinnamon
markings)
CINNAMON COCK X GREEN HEN
OFFSPRING
GREEN CINNAMON CARRYING COCKS
CINNAMON HENS
All of the cinnamon marked from this pairing will be hens. All of the cocks
will be normal marked but will carry the cinnamon gene. The cinnamon marked will
have pink eyes and the normal marked will have dark eyes.
GREEN COCK X CINNAMON HEN
OFFSPRING
GREEN CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS
GREEN HENS
The normal marked hens from this pairing will not carry any cinnamon but
normal marked cocks will carry cinnamon , no young from this pairing will show
any cinnamon markings.
GREEN CINNAMON CARRIER COCK X GREEN HEN
OFFSPRING
GREEN CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS
CINNAMON HENS
GREEN COCKS
GREEN HENS
All cinnamon marked from this pairing will be hens and all of the normal
marked hens will not carry any cinnamon. It is not possible to tell which normal
marked cocks are carrying cinnamon until they are test mated and do or do not
produce cinnamon. It could take several years for a cinnamon carrying cock from
this pairing to show that he is carrying cinnamon.
GREEN CINNAMON CARRYING COCK X CINNAMON HEN
OFFSPRING
GREEN CINNAMON CARRYING COCKS
CINNAMON COCKS
CINNAMON HENS
GREEN HENS
The normal marked hens from this pairing will not carry any cinnamon. The
cinnamon marked could be either cocks or hens .
CINNAMON COCK X CINNAMON HEN
OFFSPRING
CINNAMON COCKS
CINNAMON HENS
All young from this pairing will be cinnamons.
NOTE
Confusion can arise when the cinnamon gene is in a clear bird. It is a good idea
to trim the hairs on the top of a chicks head when it is in the nest and has
pink eyes incase it is a clear bird with no cinnamon markings. A note can
then be kept on the ring number for future reference
Also type should be the first consideration when making up cinnamon pairings
because use of cinnamon pairings without considering type will lead to loss of
type and very fine feathered birds over a period of time.
FAWNS
A mutation occurs when cinnamon is bred with white ground birds, this is called fawn. Below is some examples of pairings with a dominant white ground bird that may produce fawns and some pairings of fawns and the young they may produce.
Pairing two dominant white ground birds together will result on average of 25% of the young dying. This is because the dominant white gene is lethal when it is present on both sides of a pairing. Also because a fawn has the dominant white gene this same principle applies. A youngster produced from a dominant white ground bird but does not show to be of a white ground but is normal in appearance will not carry the lethal gene because it is not sex linked like the cinnamon gene. Below are some examples of pairings with dominant white ground birds, which may produce fawns, and some pairings
(Note a dominant bird represents a white ground bird and a green bird represents a normal ground )
|
PAIRING |
YOUNG |
|
BLUE COCK X CINNAMON HEN |
= BLUE CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS & GREEN CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS
& BLUE HENS & GREEN HENS |
|
CINNAMON COCK
X BLUE HEN |
= BLUE
CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS & GREEN CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS & FAWN HENS
& CINNAMON HENS |
|
BLUE CINNAMON
CARRIER COCK X CINNAMON HEN |
= BLUE
CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS & GREEN CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS & FAWN COCKS
& CINNAMON COCKS & BLUE HENS & GREEN HENS & FAWN HENS &
CINNAMON HENS |
|
BLUE CINNAMON CARRIER COCK X GREEN HEN |
= BLUE COCKS & BLUE CINNAMON & CARRIER COCKS & GREEN
COCKS & GREEN CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS & BLUE HENS & GREEN HENS
& CINNAMON HENS & FAWN HENS |
|
FAWN COCK X
CINNAMON HEN |
= FAWN COCKS
& CINNAMON COCKS & FAWN HENS & CINNAMON HENS |
|
CINNAMON COCK
X FAWN HEN |
= FAWN COCKS
& CINNAMON COCKS & FAWN HENS & CINNAMON HENS |
|
FAWN COCK X
GREEN HEN |
= BLUE
CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS & GREEN CINNAMON CARRIER COCK & FAWN HENS
& CINNAMON HENS |
|
GREEN
CINNAMON CARRIER COCK X FAWN HEN |
= CINNAMON
COCKS & FAWN COCKS & BLUE CINNAMON CARRIER COCKS & GREEN CINNAMON
CARRIER COCKS & BLUE HENS & CINNAMON HENS & FAWN HENS & GREEN
HENS |
ONE OF THE WAYS TO BREED BLUES.
The other way is to use a good quality Green and breed back against a White. Now the results in theory are the same ratios as using the above method however the Blue will be only as good as the Green and no better, and often not as good. To breed a Self Blue (Self means no other coloured feathers), you would start with a Self Green. The better and clearer the colour of the breast the better, and the better and more clearly seen the pattern on the back the better.