Hi Rob,
Your story cracks me up -- because when I have told people that my CL (one of them) is like a kaleidoscope (as in always changing colors) -- they didn't 'get' it. Your photos are super examples. 18-months is when most chickens have their first molt.. So that is part of the story. It would be my surmise that the sun also has had a lot to do with his color changes....
Thanks for posting the great photos. ETA nice long back and tail angle in the second picture..nice comb and crest and nice yellow legs and beak. Immature CLs don't get the white tail feathers, and the mature ones loose them fairly regularly from my experience.
Thanks! He's not quite as pretty as he used to be but his genetics are still the same. I've raised up a few of his sons to replace him but I always end up giving them away. You never know how those cockerels will turn out and right now everyone gets along and the eggs keep hatching so I'd hate to mess with anything.