Lavender hen shedding dark feather sheathing during molt?

[BigBlueHen53]

Just for fun, here's the sire.

 

[coach723]

He's gorgeous!
I will be patient, don't have much choice. Time will tell what I have.
I lost a very old, and very loved, roo this week, so I have room to keep one, if I get a good one.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Aww, sorry for your loss. I'll be sorry to lose my Rojo, he's a good one. He's in my avatar. I hope you get another good one!

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Just for fun, here's the sire.
View attachment 3967849

He’s gorgeous!

As far as barring being sex-linked, I think it has to be a solid (or non barred) rooster over a barred hen. When I bred my not barred barnyard mix Roos to my Bielefelder hens, the cockerels had barring and the pulleys did not.

i think the blue Andalusian x barred rock crosses are supposed to be sex linked as long as the Andalusian is the rooster. My bird of this crossing came from Mt Healrhy hatchery and was called a Blue Rock. I believe the cockerel is this cross would have to have barring. Other hatcheries sell the same mix I think other hatcheries call them Sapphire Gem. I may be wrong about all of this, though, haha.

My lavender birds are not barred, but my Wyandotte does have some faint striping pattern on her feathers. I don’t know what it’s called.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

I still don't know if it's a cockerel or pullet. I will post when I know for sure.... Still not enough feathering to be able to tell anything for certain. No overt behavior that screams cockerel, but thick legs.

@BigBlueHen53 , I appreciate your input! These crosses are a first for me and I'm still not sure what I have. There was faint barring in at least two of them in early feathers, as they have grown more I can't even tell which it was. The combs have evened out some, still have a couple with bigger legs, so time will tell. I will update when I'm sure what I have, pullets, cockerels or a mix. I have one that is much darker than the others, almost, but not quite, black, so not even sure if it's the same thing or not. Definitely an experiment and learning experience for me. I'm hopeful that I have more pullets than cockerels though, as that's the reason I bought them! I planned on hatching from my flock in the spring, so that will bring plenty of cockerels to deal with then! Love your lavenders! I've had a fair number of EE's but never a lavender.

It took me a long time to spot the barring on my Biele mix cockerels. Granted they were silver birds so it only appeared on their hackles and tails where they had some darker pigment.

I only have the one hen from the blue Andalusian x barred rock crossing, so I don’t know what a cockerel would look like. I guess blue barred?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Other hatcheries sell the same mix I think other hatcheries call them Sapphire Gem. I may be wrong about all of this, though, haha.

You are right about this anyway. I got these from Hoover's, I believe, last April (?) and love them! When they were younger they used to come running and flapping to get to me when I called them, lol! They are more sedate now that they are laying but I still love them dearly and they lay like clockwork.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

If anyone is curious about the dark spots my lavender hen was shedding, here is a video. It's not the feather casing, but whatever dark material is inside the feather casing.

 

[coach723]

Interesting, I've never seen that before in the shaft, but have mostly had darker colored birds, so not sure if that makes a difference.
Mine were all sold as Blue Rocks, so time will tell. So supposed to be Andalusian Roo over Barred Rock hen. I have one that seems more cockerel in behaviour, but they are still young, so time will tell. The two that had faint barring in early feathers I'm not able to see it now. And the slow feathering one is still a mystery. I will try to update with new pictures when they are old enough to tell, and see if they are all actually pullets or not.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If anyone is curious about the dark spots my lavender hen was shedding, here is a video. It's not the feather casing, but whatever dark material is inside the feather casing.

Interesting, thanks. Dried blood?

 

[fowltemptress]

If anyone is curious about the dark spots my lavender hen was shedding, here is a video. It's not the feather casing, but whatever dark material is inside the feather casing.

Yeah, I was coming on here to say that looks like the stuff inside the feather casings rather than the casings itself. I see it a lot, but I like to pick at my birds feathers as they're growing in, so maybe it's not something all that noticeable if you respect your birds' privacy more than I do. I think it may be dried blood from the blood feathers, but don't quote me on that just yet.