Svart Honas with feathered legs??

[mstevegrrl]

Hey everyone! I have a trio of Svart Hona birds that have been laying well, and I've started incubating and selling their chicks. I've hatched out about ten, prior to my most recent batch.
Problem with this batch... At least 2 of the 10 chicks I hatched have feathered legs. does this mean my breeding stock isn't pure? I don't even own any adult, breeding age birds with feathered legs! I'm panicking a little bit here!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

You say "adult, breeding age" so what do you own that has feathered legs and how old is it?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Do you own any chickens with feathered legs? Did the place you got them from have chickens with feathered legs?

 

[mstevegrrl]

I have one 3 month-ish sultan chick, that is the only other feather-footed bird on my farm. I am also pretty sure it is a her, and it has never been out of the grow out pen, my Svarts have never been in the grow out pen.
I have no idea if the person I bought these Svarts from has feather legged birds or not, I cannot find my contact info for the seller and I didn't see his farm.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

They might have had a rooster with feathered legs. I don't think feathered legs can just show up when the parents don't have them.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Although...feather legs are dominant, right? So technically it should not be "hidden" in one of your birds.

 

[mstevegrrl]

I don't even know how this could have happened. I own the parents of these chicks. The parents don't have feathered legs. There are no other potential parents.
I purchased the parents as chicks, and they didn't have feathered legs.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Do they free range and could there be a neighboring rooster in the area that has visited?

 

[mstevegrrl]

No, they're in a super secure chicken tractor 24/7. I keep them separated because I own a RIR and an EE roo that do free range.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I would take a good look at all of your birds and make sure you don't even see a hint of fluff on their legs.

I have a bird that I thought was clean legged and just the other day noticed a very fine line of thin fluff.