Speckled sussex

[adreilly]

Is it normal for them to become more white feathered as they age? Mine did a light milt early in the fall and her head and neck is now completely white!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I won't say it is normal but it is not unusual. I've had some mottled birds, same genetics as the Speckled Sussex, come back with really large spots after a molt compared to normal speckling. Changes like what you are seeing is nothing to be worried about. It happens .

 

[Morrigan]

My SS have gotten progressively more white with each molt. One in particular, now approaching 5 years old, has an almost pure white head.

 

[chickens really]

Yes, I'll say it's normal depending on the strain of them..

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is one I was talking about, there were others. She's a mixed breed chicken and was originally black but with the normal speckling you'd expect with a SS. After her first adult molt at about 1-1/2 years of age she came back like this. As far as that goes her head is whiter than it originally was too. This is one of the most dramatic as far as plumage change I've had, most come back pretty much as they were.

This is not a before and after, it's not the same chicken. But it kind of shows what that hen above looked like before her adult molt.

But plumage change like that is nothing to worry about. It's normal.