Speckled Sussex--More White After Molt?

[speckledhen]

Here is my SS girl, Nelda, today with all her new feathers in finally. The second pic is her before the big molt. Dont you think she has lots more white now? Is that the norm with SS?

 

[herechickchick]

Oh my gosh my Mrs. Fitzpatrick did the same thing. She has WAY more white on her now than before. Odd, if they do get more white after a molt how does one show them?

 

[Matt A NC]

Certain colorings like Sussex, mille fleurs, and mottled will get whiter with each molt.

2 examples:

I have a mottled d'Uccle that did very well as a pullet in shows and not too bad as a 1.5 year old hen this fall. I am guessing after next falls molt, she will be too white to show.

Also have a Mille Fleur d'Uccle that had no white tips in her tail as a pullet. After her molt this fall at 1.5 years old she had perfect mille fleur coloring with white tips on every tail feather.

Matt

 

[herechickchick]

Cool, good to know.

 

[Kanchii]

Yup, expect more white after each molt.

 

[amazondoc]

Yeah, what Matt said. Certain breeds are known for gaining white with increasing age. Heck, even BLACK birds like Cayuga and Black East Indies ducks are known to get white with age....but it's a big problem with showing some breeds, because they may be "perfect" for only a short window of time.

 

[beefy]

Cyn, you know my black bantamish hens Flo and Pearl... they have a lot of mottled genes in their background.. well after they molted Pearl got white hairs in her poof and Flo got specks of white around her face and they were both solid black before.

 

[speckledhen]

Beefster! I was just thinking about you today and wondering where you were.