Experts, how to breed a close-feathered bird from loose-feathered?

[3riverschick]

Hi,
Say you have a breed variety like Light Sussex.

It is a close-feathered breed. Many of the available birds are quite "fluffy", approaching being "loose-feathered".

How does one mate these birds to bring back the close-feathering which is appropriate for the breed? After several months of looking,

I cannot find this information online or in books.

Thanks so much for your help.
Merry Christmas

Karen in western PA, USA.

 

[sjarvis00]

Quote:
I have ran into this problem in Game which are hard and close feathered birds however I would not in my opinion call a sussex a close feathered bird.
The process can be very slow if you do not have something to add in that has the feather quality you are looking for.
The hatches will require very large numbers for selection, begin with the best birds you can get select females with the least amount of underdown at the base of each feather and smaller less fluffy cushions. For the males look closely at the hackle and saddle feather down select males with as little as possible. and if possible no tail fluff.
Select in both sexes based on the amount of underdown at the base of breast feathers.
As I said before without having something to add in with your desired feather quality it will be lengthy and you will only be able to get so far.
Reduce the amount of comercial feed (Mash and pellet) in the diet of the young birds, feed more grains and greens. I do not know why but this does help reduce fluff.

 

[3riverschick]

Quote:
I have ran into this problem in Game which are hard and close feathered birds however I would not in my opinion call a sussex a close feathered bird.
The process can be very slow if you do not have something to add in that has the feather quality you are looking for.
The hatches will require very large numbers for selection, begin with the best birds you can get select females with the least amount of underdown at the base of each feather and smaller less fluffy cushions. For the males look closely at the hackle and saddle feather down select males with as little as possible. and if possible no tail fluff.
Select in both sexes based on the amount of underdown at the base of breast feathers.
As I said before without having something to add in with your desired feather quality it will be lengthy and you will only be able to get so far.
Reduce the amount of comercial feed (Mash and pellet) in the diet of the young birds, feed more grains and greens. I do not know why but this does help reduce fluff.

========================================
Thanks so much for this counsel. This is useful informaton .

Yes, the Sussex is a close-feathered breed. Very historic n conservative as attends its Standard. Here is a copy of the 1911 Standard (available quickly at hand) . It specifically mentions "Close-Feathered in both sexes.
http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofsussexf00brat#page/16/mode/2up Pages 17 thru 21.
Thansk so very much!
Best Regards,
karen

 

[3riverschick]

Here is a more modern cite. http://www.cheshirepoultry.com see the page on Sussex .
http://www.cheshirepoultry.com/light_sussex.html
Classification: Heavy: Soft feather
Plumage: Close and free from any unnecessary fluff.
Yes, this is the English Standard. I have studied it much more than the APA. I like to breed
to the Standard of the country of origin.
-
It's interesting you mention the change in feed for the chicks. I have seen this exact diet
advocated in mutiple places in classic poultry lit. No one mentioned it might help with the
close-feathering issue. I'm going back to re-read those cites with this new idea in mind
and see what new insights pop out, smile.
Thanks for sharing,
Karen