White chick growing dark feathers?

[Tretinker]

Hi all,

We have two chicks called Cotswold Blue, these are a English hybrid that will hopefully produce blue eggs.

We have be trying to find out a bit more about the breed but so far not had much luck. We know they are supposed to be pullets and are something crossed with a Maran. The lady I bought them from doesn't breed them herself, she is a distributor as it were.

These chicks are just over 4 weeks and are little cuties. One has sprouted a couple of dark feathers. So I have a few questions:

1. Do white chickens get the odd dark hair or are they normally pure white?
2. Do white chicks past 4 weeks change colour?
3. Any idea what we could expect? Will they stay white or change colour completely.

They are VERY hard to see in the pictures because they aren't the on top feathers and sort of tuck in with her wings.

 

[NatJ]

Some white chickens are pure white.
But there are quite a few kinds of white chickens, especially ones from crossing different breeds, that get a few dark feathers here and there.
The number of dark feathers can change as the chicken grows older.

 

[Tretinker]

Some white chickens are pure white.
But there are quite a few kinds of white chickens, especially ones from crossing different breeds, that get a few dark feathers here and there.
The number of dark feathers can change as the chicken grows older.

Ah boo I was hoping they were going to change colour completely

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

II have Marans and they lay dark chocolate-colored eggs. HUGE one like you may say, HOW did this egg come out of a chicken?" I hope you get the blue eggs.

 

[Tretinker]

II have Marans and they lay dark chocolate-colored eggs. HUGE one like you may say, HOW did this egg come out of a chicken?" I hope you get the blue eggs.

We have one french Copper Maran hybrid because she is a hybrid I'm not sure how dark her eggs will be but I am hoping for ones like yours!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I could find nothing online about a Cotswold Blue chicken. Must be a small private breeder. It would be interesting to see what they crossed to create that hybrid on a couple of different levels.

Like Nat said, it is not at all unusual for feathers of a different color to show up. White or red might show up on a black chicken. Red or black on a white chicken. That could be a few random feathers like yours or it could be some pretty big areas. We call that leakage, a color leaks through that should not. It can happen on purebreds but is fairly common on hybrids. It does not mean that they are going to change basic color, they are not. But there can be some changes when they molt. Usually not much but every now and then you can see a noticeable change.

You can expect your babies to go through a couple of juvenile molts before they reach adult size. They outgrow their child-sized feathers and replace them with more appropriately sized feathers.

If one of the chickens in their parentage is a Marans do not expect to see a blue egg. Since it is a hybrid the egg may not be all that dark, but if you get a colored egg, it will be green. It may not be as dark green as what some people call an olive egg but it can be pretty dark. I don't know how you could get a blue egg laying hybrid with one parent a Marans. As I said it would be interesting to know what is going on with the parents.

 

[eureka_]

Hi all,

We have two chicks called Cotswold Blue, these are a English hybrid that will hopefully produce blue eggs.

We have be trying to find out a bit more about the breed but so far not had much luck. We know they are supposed to be pullets and are something crossed with a Maran. The lady I bought them from doesn't breed them herself, she is a distributor as it were.

These chicks are just over 4 weeks and are little cuties. One has sprouted a couple of dark feathers. So I have a few questions:

1. Do white chickens get the odd dark hair or are they normally pure white?
2. Do white chicks past 4 weeks change colour?
3. Any idea what we could expect? Will they stay white or change colour completely.

They are VERY hard to see in the pictures because they aren't the on top feathers and sort of tuck in with her wings.

They might be splash

 

[Tretinker]

Thank you.

I've found a bird called Devon Blue that looks to be a similar frame and colouring to our chicks.

I may have got the Maran cross incorrect. We also got a French Copper Maran hybrid at the same time. And speaking to my daughter who was with me on collection when I asked she said she was talking about the brown chick not white ones.