Why is my MF D'Uccle hen suddenly turning much more white?

[HappyClucker7]

I have an MF D'Uccle hen that is a little over a year old. When she went through her juvenile molt, she didn't get too much white in her feathers, and stayed mostly orange and black, unlike her sister, who is the same age, and got quite a bit of white in her feathers. I didn't think much of it, and figured that's just how she looks. What I did think was weird, is that she never started laying, again unlike her sister, who did. Her comb grew and got red, but she just never laid an egg.
Now, fast forward to her first fall molt which started in October. She lost her feathers like normal, but when they grew back, they came in really white. At this point, she's even whiter than her sister.
Why did this happen? Is it some kind of delayed maturity, hence why she isn't laying eggs?

Here are some before and after pictures to show just how drastic this change was.

 

[NatJ]

Why did this happen? Is it some kind of delayed maturity, hence why she isn't laying eggs?

More white is normal for a chicken with mottling (the gene that makes the white on Mille Fleurs.) As you've noticed, it can vary from one chicken to another, with more or less white at a young age, and more or less change when they molt.

I don't know why she was not laying eggs, but it probably had nothing to do with the color change.

Given the nice red comb you mentioned, I wonder if she did lay but there was some reason you didn't know about it (maybe she hid a nest, or maybe her eggs looked just like the ones from another hen and they took turns so you thought it was only one laying, or maybe she was laying eggs that broke easily and the chickens ate them before you could find the eggs, or maybe some other explanation.) But whether she was actually laying or not, I don't think it would be related to the changing amount of white in her feathers.

 

[Chookwagn]

I have a mottled cochin that did the same thing

After her first molt she was a lot whiter

 

[Chookwagn]

Before
After

 

[HappyClucker7]

I have a mottled cochin that did the same thing

After her first molt she was a lot whiter

Did you ever find out what might have caused that?

 

[Chookwagn]

Did you ever find out what might have caused that?

No I havent found out why.... I just thought it was interesting.... The mottling just seems to become a lot more prominent after a molt.

Ill find some pics

 

[HappyClucker7]

BeforeView attachment 3326029View attachment 3326032
AfterView attachment 3326034View attachment 3326035

Wow, crazy, she really did get much, much whiter! She's absolutely adorable.

 

[MysteryChicken]

It can be completely normal for a mottled bird to get more white as they age. But never seen any of my birds get excessive white at a young age.

 

[Tonyroo]

Looks like a reverse 180 color and pattern.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I have a hen who changed color, who's none mottled. I suspect a possible mutation in the barring gene(Both Parents are barred), or the possibility this is how Piebaldism represents itself in chickens.

I can share before, & after pictures if you'd like?