We have 15 baby chicks and very excited. They are almost 4 weeks old and are close to being fully feathered. I cannot seem to find the answer to my question with a search. They each have very distinct color patterns at present. Will these patterns change? Curious, because we can certainly tell them apart now by feathers and personality and love how they each look. For example, with our silver laced Wyandottes, one has a lot of white in each feather and another, slower to feather, has almost an exclamation point shape of white on each feather. The golden buffs have very soft creamy feathers below the neck and red on their heads and necks, which is quite different than pictures I find of the breeds. It is more a curiosity than anything and eager to know how they will look as adults. All sweet girls and hoping they are truly all female. thank you
so glad you have joined us, and congrats on getting your own flock. I have experience only with 2 breeds - but when mine got their real feathers as the baby down disappeared, they did have the same feather colors and markings in adulthood. Sending good wishes your way that they will all be girls. You should post an introduction under the New Members forum to get a proper welcoming.
Some birds will over time get more white feathers, or more light coloring. For example, with each successive molt, I believe that speckled sussex get a bit more white. Many breeders wait until a bird has gone through the adult molt before making a determination regarding keeping that bird in the breeding program.
Juvenile wild type patterns are camouflage and definitely change. But for your example, yes, SLWs take several molts to get to their adult appearance. They will likely still be distinct enough for you to tell them apart later but the exclamation points are going to change to a more laced look.
