What color will these little guys be?

[binza1979]

I picked up some frizzle bantams at the local feed store. They were listed as pullets. They are from a local breeder. They are supposed to be frizzle bantams, but so far, Tank (the bigger one) doesn't look to be getting any frizzled feathers. Jaws (the little one) doesn't have enough feathers in yet.

Do frizzles typically have feathered feet? What colors do you think they will be when they are big?


Tank in front. Jaws in back.


Jaws. She is younger than Tank.


Tank (she escaped the basket I was using for the photo shoot)


Jaws is on the left and Tank is on the right.


Oh, and my 3 year old son named them. Tank really fits her name as she is always plowing over Jaws, but Jaws doesn't fit her name at all. We just think it is a funny name for a sweet bantam chicken.

 

[Pele]

Hrm, hard to tell this early. I think a brief explanation of 'Frizzle' might help.

Think of Frizzle as a feather descriptor. Like Curly is a descriptor for hair. It's very similar genetically. So, any breed or coloration can have these frizzle feathers, if the genes are right. Now, the Frizzle gene warps the feathers to a certain degree, and it is dominant.

So, having two Frizzle genes results in SUPER warped feathers, which is undesirable, because they break and fall out. Because of this, breeders cross a smooth feather bird with a curly feather bird, so that they only get one copy of the frizzle gene. This results in only 50% of the babies having frizzle feathers, but avoids cursing any babies with over-frizzled feathers (commonly referred to as frazzles). If you had ever seen a picture of a Frazzle, you'd understand that this is much more humane than just risking creating a bird with such aweful feathers that half of their body is bald and raw.

Your babies may both end up being smooth-feathered because of this. They appear to be Cochins (remember the Frazzle descriptor is just describing feathers, not breeds). Thats why they have feathers on their feet.

I hope that's helpful to you. Cute babies!

 

[binza1979]

Thank you for your help! I wonder why these "frizzle bantams" were in a different bin than the "cochin bantams" if they are the same thing? I don't really care, I just like the look of frizzles and hope at least one gets fancy pretty feathers. They are both snuggle bugs and friendly as can be and that is the most important thing to me.