Speckled Sussex Cross Chicks Showing Mottling?

[AUChickenGal]

These chicks have to be split for mottling, but it’s hard to remember that when you’re looking at two of them. I’m assuming the mottling will molt out of their feathers eventually? Has anyone else experienced this before?

Here are their parents:

The rooster is half Ameraucana (purebred “sport” recessive white from the Gypsy Hen wheaten/blue wheaten flock) and half hatchery Olive Egger. I suppose there’s some very, very, very remote possibility that the Olive Egger hen was split for mottling, but I seriously doubt that.

The hen is a typical hatchery Speckled Sussex.

I hatched these four about 3.5 weeks ago. Two of them are showing significant mottling on their breasts, which, interestingly, I’ve noticed on Speckled Sussex cockerels, and one of these is for sure a cockerel. Makes me wonder if the other one is, too. If I’ve stumbled on some coincidental way of sexing my SS crosses, that would be handy, but, again, unexpected.

The chicks:

I’m only keeping pullets from this hatch, which means I won’t have the cockerels around long enough to see how they feather out as adults. But I’m very curious about this phenomenon!

 

[NatJ]

These chicks have to be split for mottling, but it’s hard to remember that when you’re looking at two of them. I’m assuming the mottling will molt out of their feathers eventually? Has anyone else experienced this before?

I have read of it. Apparently it is fairly common in chicks that are split for mottling, that they show some in their juvenile feathers but not in their adult feathers.

 

[SourRoses]

I have a bunch of splits running around, between 2-4 months old.
They all show spots, some lots, concentrated mostly on the breast / face, a little on the wings, but solid backs and tails.
As they grow, the spots diminish, but looking at my 4-month-olds I'm having a hard time picturing them losing every spot at maturity.

 

[AUChickenGal]

Thanks, both of you!