Correspondence on Breeding Lutinos



161



Cock albinos cannot be produced by any other than two matings,

albino hen with albino cock, and albino hen with split albino cock.


Personally I distrust close breeding of members of the parrot family,

and beg to point out that the albino factor can be preserved and

multiplied without such methods.


Please note that when a pair of normal birds produce an albino

the father is a split albino and about half of his sons will also be split

albinos.


To produce a white albino, mate a green split albino cock with

a blue hen. If the cock is a pure green (not a green split blue) all the

progeny will be green split blues. Half of the cocks will be green split

blue split albinos (greens split to both the blue and the albino factors).

Half of the hens will be albino green/blues, that is lutino split blues.

Mate these cocks to blue hens and each of the split albinos should

produce, on an average, one green split blue cock, one green split blue

split albino cock, one blue cock, one blue split albino cock, one green

split blue hen, one albino green split blue hen (this would be a lutino),

one blue hen, and one albino blue hen (this would be a white albino),

out of every eight young ones.


Or mate a blue cock with an albino green (lutino) hen, producing

all cocks green split blue split albino, and all hens pure normals. Then

mate one of these young cocks with a blue hen producing the eight

classes of progeny as above.


My sole object in taking the liberty of writing to you is to endeavour

to give some little assistance in the establishment of albino Alexandrines,

which will be a great acquisition to the bird fancy. It well might be

that you are fully cognisant of the system of hereditary transmission

followed by the albino factor, in which case I owe you an apology for

this intrusion, and tender same in advance. My only excuse is that

I thought you might have been misled by statements published which

in many cases directly conflict with my experience with this factor.


Yours faithfully,


9th October, 1935. g. E. TERRILL.


P.S. 22nd December, 1935.


This letter has been returned to me “ insufficiently addressed ”,

so I have added the name of your town, Cobham, and hope that will

suffice.—S. E. T.



