OK, I did say simple!
*Colour is carried in pigeons on the X sex chromosome.
*A hen is made up of one X & one Y chromosome (XY).
*A cock is made up of two X chromosomes (XX).
*The gene which controls colour is found on the X chromosome.
*Therefore, a hen carries only one colour (the one which she is) but a cock can carry colour on each of the two X chromosomes, which can be the same (pure) or different (impure).
*In the cock, one of the colours will be visible (intense) & one hidden (dilute).
*When breeeding, the cock will pass on ONE of his X genes, and the hen EITHER the X or the Y gene.
* X + X = cock ; X + Y = hen.
*if a cock is produced, he will be the colour of the dominant X gene passed from either parent.
*if a hen, it will be one of the colours carried on the X gene from the sire.
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*so, which colours are dominant? Well, in the WEST, the order of dominance of the most common colours, is..
1.Red 2.Black 3.Yellow 4.Dun*In addition to colour, PATTERN is inherited separately & again the 3 common patterns are SPREAD, BAR, & CHEQUER.
*As above, bar pigeons have colour dominance as follows..
1.Mealy 2.Blue 3.Cream 4.Silver *In pattern inheritance, spread is dominant, followed by chequer, then bar.
*Both cock & hen can carry TWO pattern genes each. The dominant pattern inherited by the offspring will prevail. *So, a mealy cock, with a hidden X gene of cream, mated to a dun hen, can produce red & yellow spread cocks and hens,but will only produce mealy & cream cocks and hens IF the hen carries the factor for bar. * Did I say simple ?????
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