Hello! and welcome to the OEGB thread.

[Jharper]

ok, she will more than likely improve after molt.  a few other things that cause it, just for your information.  mites and lice, lack of oil or fatty substances, internal parasites may cause it to, im not sure.  some people claim a lot of corn in the diet may cause it too.  if you dont think its any of these that caused her to lighten up, try adding some black oil sunflower seed to her feed; if you dont already.

i dont know about GA but here in Ohio weve been having some strange weather this year.  if youve had several spells of wet then dry weather, that can cause their feathers to dry out.

im far from an expert here, just trying to pass on what ive encountered along my own journey in the chicken world. 

We've been having wet and dry spells.

 

[Jharper]

She eats a lot of scratch feed, too.

 

[loveourbirds]

is there any sunflower seed in your scratch feed?

 

[Cjarvis]

there are a lot of old english colors im not familliar with, this kind of reminds me of a brown red, crossed with blue or fawn.

Most likely a silver Blue bred from a Silver blue male over Brown Red or Birchen over Lemon Blue.
The Silver Blue females bred that way brass real bad, especially right before a molt. I have used my Brown reds heavily to improve the female body and feather over the past few years, the brassing can be bred back out but the F1 cross birds brass heavily and the blue color often a dirty brown right before the molt as well.

 

[Cjarvis]

I don't know that sunflower seeds will help much for the dry feather that appears to be in a molt, a good dip while they are growing new feathers helps a lot, I also use a fair amount of animal fat in my feeds to add luster and shine seems to work for me.

 

[Jharper]

Most likely a silver Blue bred from a Silver blue male over Brown Red or Birchen over Lemon Blue.
 The Silver Blue females bred that way brass real bad, especially right before a molt. I have used my Brown reds heavily to improve the female body and feather over the past few years, the brassing can be bred back out but the F1 cross birds brass heavily and the blue color often a dirty brown right before the molt as well.

Some of her feathers that have been lost and freshly regrown have the original color of a LB.

 

[loveourbirds]

I don't know that sunflower seeds will help much for the dry feather that appears to be in a molt, a good dip while they are growing new feathers helps a lot, I also use a fair amount of animal fat in my feeds to add luster and shine seems to work for me.

the sunflower seeds just help keep them from getting in the dry dull shape before a molt. once they are dull its hard to brighten them back up. i do feed fish proteins (durning molt) but i try to avoid animal fats. this quote is more about cat food but the same circumstances apply.

..."While it is nutritionally essential, methionine excesses are far more toxic to poultry than similar excesses of tryptophan, lysine, and threonine (National Research Council, 1994). Force feeding methionine to excess can result in death to chicks (National Research Council, 1994). A dosage of 2 g / mature cat / day (20 to 30 g / kg dry diet) for 20 days induces anorexia, ataxia, cyanosis, methemoglobinemia and Heinz body formation resulting in hemolytic anemia (Maede, 1985). ..."

Food sources of Methionine[7]

Food​

g/100g​

Egg, white, dried, powder, glucose reduced 3.204
Sesame seeds flour (low fat) 1.656
Egg, whole, dried 1.477
Cheese, Parmesan, shredded 1.114
Brazil nuts 1.008
Soy protein concentrate 0.814
Chicken, broilers or fryers, roasted 0.801
Fish, tuna, light, canned in water, drained solids 0.755
Beef, cured, dried 0.749
Bacon 0.593
Beef, ground, 95% lean meat / 5% fat, raw 0.565
Pork, ground, 96% lean / 4% fat, raw 0.564
Wheat germ 0.456
Oat 0.312
Peanuts 0.309
Chickpea 0.253
Corn, yellow 0.197
Almonds 0.151
Beans, pinto, cooked 0.117
Lentils, cooked 0.077
Rice, brown, medium-grain, cooked 0.052​

now that ive shared all of this, there are so many differences in nutrition due to the conditions in which we raise our chickens. my feed is formulated by for caged chickens, who have little access to bugs and grass except for what i give them. i am in no way saying that you are doing wrong by feeding animal fats to chickens, they do eat them in nature. i guess a good way of putting this is its like iodine in humans, to little and we get goiters to much and the radiation gets us.

without knowing the exact feeds a person is using in the exact proportions, its hard to recommend if you should feed animal fats or vegetable fats. i always assume people are giving some meat in table scraps to their chickens, therefor i usually recommend BOSS.

i study nutrition to an extent, but im far from an expert. im not meaning this to be a lecture, just to inform so anyone who reads this can make the proper decisions from themselves.

 

[loveourbirds]

Quote: this does make perfect since. would you get less brassiness if you went back to the (preferably dull) black parent instead of the brown red or b.b. red side?

ok i had to edit this, i get so mad when people dont include all the info i am looking for; and i just did it myself

.

lineage of lemon blue (i think) is b.b. red to black to produce brown red. then brown red to dark blue to get lemon blue.
if you have dark blues, and one has hatched out a pigeon color; that may be worth crossing in the mix too - but again this is just a guess.

jharper- if your not worried about breeding show quality birds, none of this is really important.

 

[Jharper]

this does make perfect since. would you get less brassiness if you went back to the (preferably dull) black parent instead of the brown red or b.b. red side? ok i had to edit this, i get so mad when people dont include all the info i am looking for; and i just did it myself

. lineage of lemon blue (i think) is b.b. red to black to produce brown red. then brown red to dark blue to get lemon blue. if you have dark blues, and one has hatched out a pigeon color; that may be worth crossing in the mix too - but again this is just a guess. jharper- if your not worried about breeding show quality birds, none of this is really important.

I'm gonna show her in February. After she gets a good molt because she was SQ when I got her and now her feathers are bleached out. She will be back to normal after a good molt.

 

[loveourbirds]

with her age she may not show as well. you tend to get more off colored spots in older birds. this is natural and not a bad thing, even if she doesnt show well this time around she will still make an excellent breeder.