What's up with this chicken's feathers?

[AstralKoga]

This chicken isn't a specific breed, just some stray/wild chicken, so it's probably not a frizzle. This chicken isn't molting either, she's looked like this her whole life. Out of her and her siblings, she's the only who's looked like she fell into a bucket of oil then washed and dried with a blow dryer. Her smaller feathers look like fur while her bigger feathers look like they got dyed and hot ironed too much, not literally though of course. She also can't seem to fly too well to get up and roost on trees, so what's up with her? Is this the wild equivalent of a frazzle? Other than her aesthetics, ability to fly, and occasionally her brother randomly pecking at her, she seems happy.

 

[fluffycrow]

Looks like a cockerel with silkied feathering to me

 

[SilverBirds]

Looks like a cockerel with silkied feathering to me

Agreed.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I agree as well.

Silkied feathering is caused by a recessive gene, so two birds who are not outwardly silkied could produce a silkied offspring if both carry the gene. If none of the other feral birds have silkied feathering, then that would have to be the case here. The gene causes the tiny hooks that hold feathers together not to form, so the feathers end up looking fuzzy instead of smooth like normal feathering. Wing and tail feathers tend to hold together a bit better than body feathers, but are still ratty enough that, yeah, they definitely can't fly, at least not as well as a bird with normal feathering. I don't know what the predator population is like in Hawaii, but hopefully the little guy will keep safe despite his lack of flight. What a cutie!