How to achieve certain mutations in Budgies
So you've seen a lot of different mutations of budgies, and would like to know how to achieve those mutations yourself. So you go and start the long, hard google searching on Budgie mutations, only to end up with a bad headache and sitting back scratching your head yelling at your monitor because all the articles are gibberish to you.
Do not worry, You are not alone, we have all been down that same road =)
Once you can understand the basics on how genetics work with budgies the rest pretty much falls into place and becomes very easy to understand. And another good thing I learned from learning the Budgie mutations and genetics is that it can apply to almost all the other parrots, so if you decide later down the road you want to breed a species other than budgies that come in a variety of mutations, you'll have a great head start on how their mutations and genetics work already so it'll make it so much easier to learn how to achieve a specific mutation in that species as well.
The Basics that you need to remember are Sex Linked genes , I will often come across ads online that says (for an example) "Female Budgie Blue split to lutino"
Number 1 NO female can be split to any sex linked mutation , it is not possible so if some one tells you that the female bird is split to a mutation that you know is sex linked, they either do not know what they're talking about or they're lying to increase the price or get a quick sale - either way I personally would avoid buying from this type of seller.
Sex linked mutations:
Ino - this is short for Albino and Lutino
Cinnamon
Slate- this is very very rare in the U.S. doubt you'll ever find a true Slate
Clear body - AKA Texas Clear Body
Lacewing
Opaline
Also they can not be split to any mutation that is dominant , because as the name implies the mutation is just that dominant.
Dominant Mutations:
Dominant Pied
Green
Spangle
Clear Flight Pied
Grey Factor
Violet Factor - It is semi- dominant
So now we're on mutations that they can be split these are called Recessive Mutations.
Recessive Mutations:
Recessive pied
Grey wing
Clear wing
Dilute
Now that you have those basics down, And I'm just using the main mutations seen in the U.S. some are harder to come by so I left those out for now. Also I am using the most common Name(Term) used for them in the U.S. so it's easier to understand
Now lets talk about achieving these beautiful mutations
Do not worry, You are not alone, we have all been down that same road =)
Once you can understand the basics on how genetics work with budgies the rest pretty much falls into place and becomes very easy to understand. And another good thing I learned from learning the Budgie mutations and genetics is that it can apply to almost all the other parrots, so if you decide later down the road you want to breed a species other than budgies that come in a variety of mutations, you'll have a great head start on how their mutations and genetics work already so it'll make it so much easier to learn how to achieve a specific mutation in that species as well.
The Basics that you need to remember are Sex Linked genes , I will often come across ads online that says (for an example) "Female Budgie Blue split to lutino"
Number 1 NO female can be split to any sex linked mutation , it is not possible so if some one tells you that the female bird is split to a mutation that you know is sex linked, they either do not know what they're talking about or they're lying to increase the price or get a quick sale - either way I personally would avoid buying from this type of seller.
Sex linked mutations:
Ino - this is short for Albino and Lutino
Cinnamon
Slate- this is very very rare in the U.S. doubt you'll ever find a true Slate
Clear body - AKA Texas Clear Body
Lacewing
Opaline
Also they can not be split to any mutation that is dominant , because as the name implies the mutation is just that dominant.
Dominant Mutations:
Dominant Pied
Green
Spangle
Clear Flight Pied
Grey Factor
Violet Factor - It is semi- dominant
So now we're on mutations that they can be split these are called Recessive Mutations.
Recessive Mutations:
Recessive pied
Grey wing
Clear wing
Dilute
Now that you have those basics down, And I'm just using the main mutations seen in the U.S. some are harder to come by so I left those out for now. Also I am using the most common Name(Term) used for them in the U.S. so it's easier to understand
Now lets talk about achieving these beautiful mutations
Lets say you wanted to achieve a Grey wing in a Budgie
© K&M Breeding
Grey wings are actually very easy to get, at least in my house they are, it is actually a mutation I am trying to get less of and every time I turn around I get more of them =)
You can get a grey wing in any body color that the budgies have, since I pretty much only breed blue series budgies, my examples will be of the blue variety
you can also have a grey wing combined with any other mutation, such as dominant pied, recessive pied, spangle the one thing you do NOT want to combine though is a Cinnamon and a Grey wing it just ruins the entire genetics & makes it very hard to tell if you have a cinnamon or a grey wing
If you look at the picture to the left this is one of Grey wings he is Also Opaline as you see his wings are outlined in a pale grey instead of black and his flight feathers have a grey tint to them instead of being clear or black (clear is for a clear flight pied) he is also a Violet
there are a two different ways to achieve getting the grey wing the easiest being that both parents are visual grey wings , you can also have 1 visual grey wing and 1 split to grey wing - it does not matter who is visual or who is split since Grey wing is not a sex linked mutation
You can get a grey wing in any body color that the budgies have, since I pretty much only breed blue series budgies, my examples will be of the blue variety
you can also have a grey wing combined with any other mutation, such as dominant pied, recessive pied, spangle the one thing you do NOT want to combine though is a Cinnamon and a Grey wing it just ruins the entire genetics & makes it very hard to tell if you have a cinnamon or a grey wing
If you look at the picture to the left this is one of Grey wings he is Also Opaline as you see his wings are outlined in a pale grey instead of black and his flight feathers have a grey tint to them instead of being clear or black (clear is for a clear flight pied) he is also a Violet
there are a two different ways to achieve getting the grey wing the easiest being that both parents are visual grey wings , you can also have 1 visual grey wing and 1 split to grey wing - it does not matter who is visual or who is split since Grey wing is not a sex linked mutation
How to achieve a Ino in Budgies
© K&M Breeding
Rather you want a Lutino or an Albino the way to do it basically the same way
a Lutino is from the Green series, a Albino is from the Blue series and if you recall from reading the start of this page (or even my other page to do with sexing, splits and more) you already know that the Ino's are Sex linked - but this does not make them any harder to achieve to get than any other mutation. It depends on how you go about it and if you want Just Female inos (I prefer this for easy in nest sexing) or if you want both Males and females in the ino mutation
first lets say you are breeding all green series birds and none are split for blue , in this case you'll get just Lutino's ( the picture to the left is A Male Lutino split to blue)
First lets say you want all female Lutino's , to do this you can do it one of two ways. Get a Male who is visually a Lutino and put him with any non Lutino female and you will get all Female Lutino babies , The other way is any mutation male that is SPLIT for Lutino, in this case you'll get some Lutino females you can always tell an ino from the moment it is born the eyes are RED, and sometimes it looks like they were born with out eyes
ok now lets say you don't care what the gender of the Lutino's are you just want Lutino's there are 2 ways to do that also and both are similar to the above. 1st get a visual male and visual female Lutino you will have 100% Lutino babies , your other option is to take a Normal male who is SPLIT for Lutino and put with a Lutino female you will then get some male and female Lutino babies.
for Albino it's the same as above only using Albino or Males Split to Albino
Now say you want clutches of both Albino and Lutino babies this one isn't too hard since not too many birds are "pure" any more - and by that I mean just 1 mutation with no splits.
to get a clutch of both Lutino and Albino there are a few ways to do that : Male Lutino that is Split to blue Put to a Blue series female you'll get some Female Lutino and Albino babies. Take a Male Albino to a Female Lutino that is split to blue You'll get both Albino and Lutino's in Males and Females
you can also take a normal green series male who is split to both blue and Lutino and put to a Albino female to get both Lutino and Albino babies
Remember when both parents carry the sex linked gene you'll get both males and females but if only the dad carries the sex linked gene then you only get visual females of that sex linked gene.
a Lutino is from the Green series, a Albino is from the Blue series and if you recall from reading the start of this page (or even my other page to do with sexing, splits and more) you already know that the Ino's are Sex linked - but this does not make them any harder to achieve to get than any other mutation. It depends on how you go about it and if you want Just Female inos (I prefer this for easy in nest sexing) or if you want both Males and females in the ino mutation
first lets say you are breeding all green series birds and none are split for blue , in this case you'll get just Lutino's ( the picture to the left is A Male Lutino split to blue)
First lets say you want all female Lutino's , to do this you can do it one of two ways. Get a Male who is visually a Lutino and put him with any non Lutino female and you will get all Female Lutino babies , The other way is any mutation male that is SPLIT for Lutino, in this case you'll get some Lutino females you can always tell an ino from the moment it is born the eyes are RED, and sometimes it looks like they were born with out eyes
ok now lets say you don't care what the gender of the Lutino's are you just want Lutino's there are 2 ways to do that also and both are similar to the above. 1st get a visual male and visual female Lutino you will have 100% Lutino babies , your other option is to take a Normal male who is SPLIT for Lutino and put with a Lutino female you will then get some male and female Lutino babies.
for Albino it's the same as above only using Albino or Males Split to Albino
Now say you want clutches of both Albino and Lutino babies this one isn't too hard since not too many birds are "pure" any more - and by that I mean just 1 mutation with no splits.
to get a clutch of both Lutino and Albino there are a few ways to do that : Male Lutino that is Split to blue Put to a Blue series female you'll get some Female Lutino and Albino babies. Take a Male Albino to a Female Lutino that is split to blue You'll get both Albino and Lutino's in Males and Females
you can also take a normal green series male who is split to both blue and Lutino and put to a Albino female to get both Lutino and Albino babies
Remember when both parents carry the sex linked gene you'll get both males and females but if only the dad carries the sex linked gene then you only get visual females of that sex linked gene.
Want a really pretty combo sex linked mutation in Budgies?
© K&M Breeding
Well I can tell you how to achieve that as well =) To the left you will see a very pretty pastel (only using the word because of her light colors, Female budgie - her full mutation is Yellow Face Type 1 Sky Violet Cinnamon Opaline . To get her I did the following..
The Hen was a Normal Violet The male was Sky Blue split to Cinnamon and Opaline
You are now wondering how I got a yellow face baby when neither parent is visually yellow faces, Aren't you? The Male ended up being what is known as a Double Factor Yellow face - meaning he looked normal having a White Mask but in reality he was a yellow face =)
You can achieve this same mutation by taking 1 parent bird who is a yellow face -the gender for this doesn't matter. and having a Male that is either Visually cinnamon and Opaline or Split to both If you want a greater chance of achieving it use one who's visually Cinnamon and Opaline and the female can be of any blue variety remember if the female is also Cinnamon and Opaline you can get this mutation in males and females , make sure one parent is Violet or for a greater chance of getting this beautiful mutation have both parents be violet. her picture really doesn't do her justice she looked like a Easter egg in real life, the cinnamon dilutes the body color some so she was pale all the way around and just so pretty!
The Hen was a Normal Violet The male was Sky Blue split to Cinnamon and Opaline
You are now wondering how I got a yellow face baby when neither parent is visually yellow faces, Aren't you? The Male ended up being what is known as a Double Factor Yellow face - meaning he looked normal having a White Mask but in reality he was a yellow face =)
You can achieve this same mutation by taking 1 parent bird who is a yellow face -the gender for this doesn't matter. and having a Male that is either Visually cinnamon and Opaline or Split to both If you want a greater chance of achieving it use one who's visually Cinnamon and Opaline and the female can be of any blue variety remember if the female is also Cinnamon and Opaline you can get this mutation in males and females , make sure one parent is Violet or for a greater chance of getting this beautiful mutation have both parents be violet. her picture really doesn't do her justice she looked like a Easter egg in real life, the cinnamon dilutes the body color some so she was pale all the way around and just so pretty!
If you want to get more of a Dominant Mutation only 1 parent needs to have the gene, example if you want Spangles Just have 1 parent bird has to be a spangle and you'll get them. Of course when both parents are the mutation you do increase your chances of getting a lot more of the mutation.
So that's the basics on how to achieve the more common mutations.
if you have any questions don't hesitate to send me an E-mail and ask away I am here to help you learn not just how to properly care for your bird(s) , but how their genetics work as well, If you decide you want to breed them it is very important to know the genetics before breeding , because to be honest there is nothing worse than seeing ads for birds for sale that say things like " colorful budgie" , "rare color" (when its normal Green or blue) , "unique colored budgies for sale" when all they end up being are normal mutations nothing unique about them.
Don't ask the pet shops they don't know anything - honestly. I mean have you seen how they label the budgies "Normal" and "Rare" their Normal are Wild type Green and Normal Sky blue , while their "rare" is any thing other than that, so it can be green Dominant Pied, Can be Blue Opaline, etc Those are NOT rare they're just very common mutations
So that's the basics on how to achieve the more common mutations.
if you have any questions don't hesitate to send me an E-mail and ask away I am here to help you learn not just how to properly care for your bird(s) , but how their genetics work as well, If you decide you want to breed them it is very important to know the genetics before breeding , because to be honest there is nothing worse than seeing ads for birds for sale that say things like " colorful budgie" , "rare color" (when its normal Green or blue) , "unique colored budgies for sale" when all they end up being are normal mutations nothing unique about them.
Don't ask the pet shops they don't know anything - honestly. I mean have you seen how they label the budgies "Normal" and "Rare" their Normal are Wild type Green and Normal Sky blue , while their "rare" is any thing other than that, so it can be green Dominant Pied, Can be Blue Opaline, etc Those are NOT rare they're just very common mutations