Budgie Genetics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In This article I will provide you with the information related to budgie genetics.This article will cover the basics of genetics.I assure you after reading this article you will be able to pair your birds to produce specific colors.You will also understand the reason behind your favorite budgie looks as well.

 Budgie Basic Genetics

 Let’s begin with the basics that you will need to understand about genetics.

 What is Genetics?

Genetics is the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics.It is the study of how traits are passed from parents to their offspring.If we come to know how they are paased ,we can breed for specific body colors and varieties of our desire.

 

 

 

 

It begins in the cells

 

 

 

 

Genes control the tarits, which live in our cells . Our body is made up of cells, billions of them. Cells have everything needed to keep us alive and well, but right now we are just interested in the part of the cell named nucleus. Nucleus has the genetic material that determines how we are made up.

 

  On the left is a picture e of a cell . The rectangular light grey shape is the cell. Inside it there is a thin circular black line, this is named as nucleus. Inside the nucleus are the chromosomes, these are the black squiggles and blobs.

 Cells are constantly being made and dying. Part of the process of making a new cell is to copy the chromosomes from one cell to put in the new cell. As the chromosomes carry genes we will look at them next.

 Budgie Chromosomes

 

 

 

 

The duty of the chromosomes is to carry the genes like beads strung along a string.

 

 

 

 

Cells in the budgies body have two copies of each chromosome normally.But in the sex cells,there is just one copy of each gene.This is because when the sperm and the egg join to produce the new body.It contains one copy of each gene from the egg and one copy from the sperm,providing the desired two copies of each gene.

 Alleles

 When there are different versions of same genes they are called Alleles.

 Budgie Genetic Symbols

 Before we move further with how all the budgie varieties and colors are inherited, lets talk about some of the terms and symbols used.

 Naming – a gene is named after the effects of the mutated gene.

 Symbol – the symbol for a gene is normally the first two or three letters of the gene name. in this case: bl, and the original wild type version of a gene is also given a ⁺. In my example the wild type allele is bl⁺ and the allele which produces a blue bird is bl¹.

 When a gene mutates the new allele is normally either dominant or recessive to the original wild type.So an allele that is dominant to wild type is written in upper case .Whereas the allele that is recessive is written in the lower case. In my example bl¹ is recessive to the wild type of green. So this genes symbol is always written in lower case. i.e

 green = bl⁺

blue = bl¹

As a budgie has two copies of each gene there are 3 possible combinations of the above genes that any budgie can carry

bl⁺bl⁺ = two genes for green colour

bl⁺/bl¹ = one gene for green and one for blue
bl¹/bl¹ = two genes for blue

 

Useful Genetic Terms

 Next we need terms to describe a bird with two alleles the same (like bl⁺/bl⁺ or bl¹/bl¹) or two that are different (like bl⁺/bl¹):

Homozygous = two alleles the same, so a budgie with bl⁺/bl⁺ will be called homozygous for the wild type blue gene.

Heterozygous = two alleles different, so a budgie with bl⁺/bl¹ will be called heterozygous, or ‘split’ for the mutated blue gene (called green split blue and written as green/blue).Finally there are two more useful terms that you are bound to come across:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Punnett Squares

A punnett square, it is a tool to work out the possible results of a mating. Lets take a quick look at it. So, we can use them when we cover the types of inheritance in a minute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Let’s take the example of a mating amongst a budgie with the geneotype AA and one with Aa . Each chick from this mating will inherit one gene from each parent. So we put one parents genes into the top boxes, and the others into the boxes on the left hand side. Then copy the top ones down and the left hand ones across to the right, which gives four genotypes.

So in this case mating a bird with AA with a bird with Aa produces two possible genotypes: AA and Aa.

 Once we cover the part of budgie genetics where we discover which genes produce which colors,a punnet square can be used to work out the results of matings.

Types of Inheritance

Dominant and Recessive Genes

 If a budgie carries wild type(green) and the mutated type(blue) gene,i mean if it carries both but the bird is green then the mutated blue gene is said to be recessive of the wild type.But if the budgie looks like the mutated gene then it is called dominent to the wild type.

Incomplete Dominance

Normally with the dominant verses recessive gene interactions you have 3 possible genotype but only 2 possible phenotype. As an example:

 AA – homozygous wild type, appears wild type

Aa – heterozygous, also appears wild type
aa – homozygous mutated gene, appears like the mutation

There is another type of dominance though, incomplete dominance. With this type of inheritance you get three genotype with three phenotype:

 AA – homozygous wild type, appears wild type

Aa – heterozygous, appears in-between the two homozygous types
aa – homozygous mutated gene, appears like the mutation

 

 

Gene Linkage in Budgie Genetics

Every chromosome has many genes, so when a particular chromosome is passed on to a chick all the genes on that chromosome are also passed on together. They are linked by the fact that they are on the same chromosome.Therefore they stay together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sex Chromosomes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two main types of chromosomes. The majority are said autosomal chromosomes.However there is also one pair that are different they are called the sex chromosomes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sex chromosomes tells whether your bird is a cock or a hen. In mammals these are called the X and Y chromosomes, and in birds they are called the Z and W chromosomes. However, in budgie circles they are called the X and Y.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everybird has a pair of sex chromosomes:
-XX = male bird
-XY = female bird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Important note:Please note that this is the opposite of mammals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The male budgie can only pass on an X.On the other hand the hen can pass on either an X or on a Y.so she in effect determines the gender of the chicks. The Y chromosome is small.It is quite different to the X chromosome. This means that a hen (XY) only has one copy of the genes (on its X chromosome), the Y chromosome not carrying any known genes for color and variety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope my artcile was helpful for my readers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Article:https://birdandbeyond.com/brief-information-about-budgie-colors-and-budgie-varieties/