Ginger

Ginger is a recent gene discovered in the United States by Michael Rose in 2022-2023 with Southwest Gamebirds and sold by Rebecca Lynch of Thieving Otter Farm (1)(2). It was released in the SSSS Collection in 2023, though it was in the United States before the release, imported in the German Pastel Collection (1). Ginger dilutes the color of the bird but doesn't change the underlying pattern (2). It has not been studied in a lab.

It looks very similar to Roux, making the whole bird a few shades lighter than both Roux and Sex-linked Brown. It is sex-linked recessive, just as Roux is, meaning that if paired correctly, chicks can be sexed at hatch based on color alone.

The proposed gene symbol is BR^G, and the order of dominance is Roux > Ginger > Sex-Linked Brown > Wildtype. It is also on the same chromosome as the sexlinked albino genes including Imperfect Albino and Sex-Linked Cinnamon, though a different locus.

Breeding with Ginger:

Ginger Male x Ginger Female = 100% Ginger chicks

(G/G x G/g = 100% G/G males, 100% G/g females)

Ginger Male x Clean Female = 100% Ginger females, het. Ginger males

(G/G x g+/g = G/g females, G/g+ males)

Clean Male x Ginger Female = 100% clean female chicks, 100% het. Ginger male chicks

(g+/g+ x G/g = 100% g+/g females and G/g+ males)

Het. Ginger male x Ginger Female = 50% Ginger female chicks, 50% clean female chicks, 50% het. Ginger male chicks, 50% Ginger male chicks

(G/g+ x G/g = 50% G/g+ females, G/G males, 50% g+/g females, G/g+ males)

Het. Ginger male x Clean Female = 50% clean female chicks, 50% Ginger female chicks, 50% het. Ginger male chicks, 50% clean male chicks.

(G/g+ x g+/g = 50% g+/g females, g+/g+ males, 50% G/g females, G/g+ males)

Note: A female cannot be a Ginger Split because females only have one Z chromosome. The other sex chromosome, the W chromosome, is too short to carry the recessive mutation. As a result, any recessive mutation on the single Z chromosome will always be expressed. This is called being Hemizygous. For more details, refer to the genetics series.