Fallow Cockatiels?

Question

do they have their fallow coloring from the start, when they're hatched?

or does the color slowly grow out after their first molt?

if so, do they look like lutinos before the fallow color comes in??

Answer 1

Fallow cockatiels have a creamy cinnamon colored body with red eyes, pink feet and beaks. While their plumage is similar to our Cinnamon mutation, the fallow usually has a higher intensity of yellow pigments.  In the fallow the melanin is changed from dark grey to a tannish, pastel brown color with heavy yellow suffusion in the feathers and diluted pigments in the beak, feet, and eyes. Hens will also carry a more vibrant, almost fluorescent, yellow coloration than c***s, especially on the face and chest.  The fallow cockatiel mutation is very similar and often mistaken for cinnamon and cinnamon lutinos. But they are very different. Cinnamon cockatiels are a brownish grey color with dark eyes. Fallow is a recessive gene and therefore both parents must carry it to produce visual chicks. c***s and hens can carry fallow as a split. Cinnamon is a s*x-linked gene which is passed from the c**k to produce visual daughters. Hens are never split for cinnamon.  The fallow mutation can be produced in whiteface and normal cheek, and combined with pearl or pied. In the best breeding practices it is wise to avoid breeding to cinnamon, ashen fallow/recessive silver, dominant silver, emerald, and lutino.