Albino Cockatiel?

Question

I have a female albino cockatiel. If I breed her what are the chances that I may have a baby albino. Is it a very slim chance? Any info will help me out. I know that these types of birds are rare.

Answer 1

It depends on who you breed her with.. If it's with another albino then yeah you'll probably have albino babies.

Answer 2

I've been hand feeding birds at an avian store about 6 years now, and I just about breed everything. Albino's who live to be weened are pretty rare, in my cases. Your lucky to have found a female that is Albino. You need a male that has traces of albino in him. Your best bet are bird shows, as private breeders and petstores are probably just looking to sell you them and will most likely lie to you. Remember that your going to have to pay extra also. Plus, a female and male that have bred for the first time aren't very successful. If you breed to young the most chance is your female will probably die and an Albino female is hard to come by. Breeding should be done after 1 1/2 year of a cockatiels life. 2 years for a good safety guarantee. The cockatiels will probably have a few clutches that have no albino's in them, but keep at it and you will get one soon enough. The other's will have Trace's of it in there genes and they will go to breeders who are looking towards the same goal as you. Also, normal teils are weened at 6 weeks from hatching, but we put them on the market at 10 weeks. An Albino should probably be sold at 12-14 weeks, though. Since they are being held in captivity, they have a higher chance of survival but some may not make it for there first week.

I have two budgies that I am currently breeding to make the gene's greater and a gift for a relative, and a few new members to the flock. The male is pure albino and the female has traces of it. They have poor eyesight in most cases and can be very clumsy birds at times. Make sure you have a male that has traces of albino pigments in his genes. Like I said earlier, bird shows are your best bet. NEVER buy from pet stores. Make sure for breeding you have a good, study box and you should try Eco Nest for bedding, line the bottom of the cage with this a few days after there about to leave the nest, and keep a small dish of it in case the want to use some of it in there box.

Answer 3

Jessica did a very good job of describing the genetics. You should not breed an albino to albino, nor a lutino to lutino. The babies will be genetically weak and probably will not survive very long, maybe not even to the weaning stage.

You might do well to breed her with a normal appearing male who has albino genetics in his background (parents or better yet, grandparents). To do this, you will need to get in touch with an experience cockatiel breeder who KNOWS the parentage of their own birds and can sell you the appropriate male to hopefully achieve your goals.

I might add that I don't understand Yuki saying she has hand fed chicks for 6 years for a pet store and at the end of her answer says to "NEVER" buy a bird from a pet store? I try not to purchase birds from pet stores either but I just don't get her statements. Odd.

Answer 4

The genetics of bird breeding to get particular colors is very complicated. Best to get in touch with a breeder who will be able to tell you which color male to breed her with to get the color you want. From what I understand the male must have albinos in his family tree as well.

Answer 5

Albino cockatiels are the product of two different mutations combined in one bird, lutino (no brown/gray pigment) and whiteface (no orange/yellow pigment).
It is not passed in a single gene.

This site should help you understand it.

http://www.upatsix.com/fyi/tiel_genetics.htm