Genetics questions boggling my mind!!!

[Goosey Girl]

Did you already find this thread?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/our-guide-to-colour-and-pattern-genetics-in-geese.561779/

It seems more thorough than anything else I've been able to find. (Although it says saddleback/pied/spotting is caused by a gene on the Z sex chromosome, and @Pyxis says saddleback is not sex-linked, so I don't know who to believe.)

Yes, that is a great article thread and got me even more curious about the prospects of different matches. My . gaggle is very young and until recently I have had very little luck at eggs developing, due in part to the geese not being mature, often they quit around the 14-16 day window. Luck changed and I now have bonus babies galore!

I will have the rest of the year to come up with a breeding plan for next year. I plan to produce reasonably priced, high quality, beautiful goslings so others can enjoy them hopefully as much as I do. The big question for me will be deciding the best goose/gander pairings. I think understanding the genetics involved will help me to make those decisions with a purpose. Thankfully, breeding season is over. Time to enjoy the little ones while I can. Thanks for your comments!

 

[Pyxis]

(Although it says saddleback/pied/spotting is caused by a gene on the Z sex chromosome, and @Pyxis says saddleback is not sex-linked, so I don't know who to believe.)

Honestly, I've never bred a saddleback gander to a non-saddleback goose to see what happens. I'm going based off of info I've found elsewhere, but I've never tested it, so maybe that thread is right. Only way to know for sure would be to do a breeding test.

If I ever get a grey goose, I'll tell my Tufted Roman ganders to get on it, LOL.

 

[Goosey Girl]

I've got goslings popping out of shells, variety of colors. Once the feathers come in, I should know more. One other was added to the mix earlier today. Here's a photo. I think there are 3 girls and 1 boy with the buff gander father to two.
My 2 goslings from 3 weeks ago are from the lavender gander - one male gosling, one female.

 

[Goosey Girl]

Well we vent sexed today...all five are females. Yes, we will try again tomorrow.

 

[Goosey Girl]

So, white in geese is Pied plus sex-linked dilution. So from mom's parentage, we could expect her genotype SHOULD look like this: sd+- spsp bl+bl+ G+-

Pied isn't sex linked, itself. Now, her mated to a male lavender Sebastopol, each of her offspring would get one copy of Pied from her. That's not enough for it to express. So, really you wouldn't be looking at any Saddleback goslings.

Mom actually doesn't have any sex-linked genes, since she wouldn't have inherited the sex link dilution from her mother, either, since that only can pass from mother to son.

So really what you SHOULD get, is all blue goslings, carrying one copy of Pied.

Well one month later... I am looking at a saddleback in two colors!!!! Regular and I guess the other is buff?

 

[Pyxis]

Well one month later... I am looking at a saddleback in two colors!!!! Regular and I guess the other is buff? View attachment 3184090View attachment 3184091

So this may solve if it's sex-linked or not - do you know genders yet on them?

 

[Goosey Girl]

Well. We are not too good at the vent sexing. I think the dark one is a male.
I kept 4 that are a month old now. One is all white...

One is all buff...

And two appear to be buff saddlebacks...

If everything I read holds true, the buff have to be female since only the gander is buff. And if that is the case, the buff girls also got saddleback from their mothers.
What a cool science project!

 

[NatJ]

Well one month later... I am looking at a saddleback in two colors!!!! Regular and I guess the other is buff?

I think the dark one is a male.

I kept 4 that are a month old now. One is all white...
One is all buff...
And two appear to be buff saddlebacks...

If everything I read holds true, the buff have to be female since only the gander is buff. And if that is the case, the buff girls also got saddleback from their mothers.
What a cool science project!

Do all of these goslings have the same parents?

I think you said the mother is saddleback (but not buff), and the father is buff (but visually not saddleback.)

I'm trying to work out the possible genetic explanations here.

 

[Goosey Girl]

Thank you for your replies.

I have 2 ganders. One is a full curly, lavender Sebastopol. The other is a full curly, buff Sebastopol. These came from a large gaggle of free-ranging, sebastopols that include:

Saddleback, Buff splash, Grey splash, Grey Saddleback, Lavender splash, Smooth Breasted White & Curly Breasted White.

I'm thinking maybe my buff gander might have some saddleback in him even though he was a solid buff gosling?

I have 3 females. All three came from someone who had 2 pure white sebastopol geese and 1 Pomeranian Saddleback gander.
My females are all smooth breasted with saddlebacks. No buff at all in any of the adult females.

 

[Pyxis]

Do all of these goslings have the same parents?

I think you said the mother is saddleback (but not buff), and the father is buff (but visually not saddleback.)

I'm trying to work out the possible genetic explanations here.

Same, I'm thinking the parents are not all the same on these guys.