Do pure Leghorns ever throw up odd colour feathers?

[Gypsy07]

I have two white Leghorn chicks that I hatched out from eggs from my own hens. As far as I know the hens are pure breeds - they came from a local farmer who kept different breeds in separate pens as he sold them as breeding trios. I got some of his older hens for free last year and I sneakily set the first few eggs they laid, thinking they should still be fertile - and they were! Five birds for the price of three. Oh, yeah, they were free in the first place! D'oh... Anyway one of the chicks is completely pure white as expected but the other one feathered up with a single dark grey feather. Now at approx 5 months old it has lost that one dark feather but it has got some tiny dark flecks on a few of its feathers, and it also has a small dark grey spot on its otherwise correct pale pink legs.

Is this just something that happens sometimes with Leghorns? Do the different colours not always breed true?

Or is this birdie's daddy not who we all thought it was?

 

[Gypsy07]

Here's the pure white one:

I think this one's a boy.The specks you see there are just dirt btw!

And here's the spotty one:

Again, any specks in the pic are just dirt! The speckly feathers are on her back near her tail.
Yes, I think this one's a girl.

Whoops: edited to correct the pictures! Silly me...

 

[draye]

Quote:
Looks like you got the same picture up twice.

They could be California Whites, sometimes California Whites will be pure white and throw some with the specks when eggs are hatched.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
D'oh, you're right. Silly me. Got the correct pics up now. Thanks.
I doubt they're California Whites, I'm in the UK. But if one breed can do that, I suppose another one can too. Thanks for the info!

 

[OSUman]

Quote:
D'oh, you're right. Silly me. Got the correct pics up now. Thanks.
I doubt they're California Whites, I'm in the UK. But if one breed can do that, I suppose another one can too. Thanks for the info!

Im guessing that your birds have black in their background.

 

[draye]

Quote:
D'oh, you're right. Silly me. Got the correct pics up now. Thanks.
I doubt they're California Whites, I'm in the UK. But if one breed can do that, I suppose another one can too. Thanks for the info!

Sorry I didn't notice where you were located.

 

[Tala]

They seem to be of poor breeding all around, IMO. Their beaks are already bleached out white looking (rather than yellow) and they haven't even started laying yet! They should bleach out with age. My two year old Leghorn girls have whiteish beaks and legs NOW, but they were corn yellow as youngsters.
Also I think both pictures might be girls. How old are they?

FWIW white Leghorns are supposed to be dominant white, however second generation crosses with other colors have a few off-colored feathers in the pullets. Not sure how it breeds out further than that though. So it is entirely possible that there is a mix in there somewhere.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

what could be happening is they are recessive white, and when the genes match you can get other colors, it happens in silkies more then other breeds, but as an example: you breed 2 white silkies, and the chicks are every color you can think of, that's extreme but you get the idea

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
D'oh, you're right. Silly me. Got the correct pics up now. Thanks.
I doubt they're California Whites, I'm in the UK. But if one breed can do that, I suppose another one can too. Thanks for the info!

and California Whites are hybreds so they do not breed true, you would get more than just white with a grey feather.

 

[Gypsy07]

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Yeah, I know they're nothing fancy. Just second (third? fourth?) rate birds from a local utility flock. They'll never make it anywhere near a show pen but I'm not into that side of chickening so their overall poor breeding doesn't really bother me. But the poorly bred flock they came from is 100% pure white which is why I found the odd colour speckles interesting. I was wondering if the different colours always breed true or if you get an odd chick of a different colour popping up here and there. I suppose you do, cause that's how Exchequer Leghorns got started...

If they're both girls I'd be delighted. I can't remember exactly and I can't find last year's diary to check, but I think they're about 20-22 weeks old. They're not quite full size yet. Thanks for your info!