Dominant Yellow Cheek

Origin:  Dominant Yellow Cheek is the eleventh established mutation. The Dominant Yellow Cheek (DYC) was reported to appear in an aviary in Florida around 1996

Dominant Yellow Cheek has been reported to be the first truly dominant mutation established in the US.

Contrary to what is found on the internet and some printed material, there is no such thing as SF (Single Factor) or DF (Double Factor) with the DYC. I read this during my early years of breeding and spent several years working with the DYC, and have found this info is not true. Therefore, such information is erroneous! From personal experience, and of my opinion, I believe this genetic info has been theorized that a cockatiel with two dominant yellow face genes would produce 100% visual yellow cheek patch babies. Information in regards to the cheek patch that has the orange wash is as SF is also erroneous. Clearing the orange wash from the yellow cheek patch is a result of careful and selective breeding, not a result of SF or DF. I suspect that the word ‘Dominant’ has led many to believe that this mutation works similar to the Dominant Silver mutation.

Both the SLYC and the DYC mutations appear to be normally colored throughout the body plumage except that they lack orange tones on their cheek patches. The sex- linked yellowcheek may have a deeper and even yellow cheek patch than the dominant yellow cheek mutation. The cheek patch is not absent, but has been changed to yellow rather than orange. Mature cocks will show the normal yellow facial mask, but the orange cheek patch is replaced with yellow.

Yellowcheek and Yellowface chicks have yellow down when newly hatched, and cannot be identified until pinfeathers cover the cheek patch area.

Never pair a SLYC or DYC with a visual Whiteface or a bird split to Whiteface. The Facial Variation mutations should not be paired together, such as Pastelface to Creamface. When working with a mutation the goal should be to maintain the pure forms of each mutation.

When working with the YC mutations I have learned from several of my pairings that the Whiteface can adversely affect the cheek patch color and size in the next generation. The Whiteface gene also acts to reduce the percentage of visual DYC in a clutch, sometimes with no visual DYC per clutch. For best results if you are unsure of  the normal you plan to pair with a DYC carries the Whiteface gene always test breed with a visual Whiteface to verify or rule out that the bird has the gene. I have learned that the best paring for improving the size and quality of the YC cheek patch is to pair with a normal that has large, nickel sized, deep orange, round cheek patches.

With DYC all you need is one visual bird when breeding. It is best to always pair a DYC with any orange cheeked patch bird. You will get some visual DYC in each clutch. As the baby pinfeathers you can tell if it is a DYC or not. Ideally you would like to breed for nice round true yellow cheek patches. Through selective breeding and the avoidance of including Whiteface this goal can be achieved.