Are there some breeds that make sooner progress feathering in as young chicks or is it just a male/female thing as some people suggest? At just one and a half weeks old, it seems my Easter Eggers are feathering in so quickly while my Brahmas are still like newly hatched chicks. Thanks for the reply.
We're newbies to chickens -but our White Leghorns were divided in their feathering in - seems 2 had wing feathers and tail feathers early and 3 had them later. By 1.5 weeks - the "girls" had long tail feathers and long wing feathers. The "boys" are just now getting their tail feathers and have had long and short wing feathers since 1.5 weeks old. This is one of my girls on the right at 1 week old, the other pic she's at 2 weeks old by the feeder Here's one of the boys from 2 weeks old Here they are today at almost 3 weeks old: My girls with their long tails and short combs My roo with his short tail and tall comb Clever boy - he hopped from that feeder onto the side while I snapped the pic of the girls then jumped onto the other feeder quickly to get his second shot
There is a difference in how males and females feather out, but there is also a gene that controls fast of slow feather growth. It can be breed related but does not have to be. It is the gene that enables you to feather sex chicks if the parents are pure for it in the right way. Slow feathering is dominant when they are split. Show quality Barred Rocks need the slow feathering gene. With the slow feathering gene, the bars come in crisp and clean. If they have the fast feathering gene, the barring is jumbled and messy, more like a Cuckoo pattern than sharp barring. So there is a gene that controls it and that gene tends to follow certain breeds, but it is not impossible for those specific genes to get mixed up.
I think it may be a little bit of everything from sex to breed to nutrition to individual chicken. Our welsummer and easter egger have out-feathered our barred rock and australorp by a good week, with our dominique being the slowest.
I asked something like that last week. Three of our chicks (2.5 weeks) are very feathered- full wings, substantial tails, feathers coming in on their backs and chests. Those three are BR, RIR and EE. Our fourth chick is a Red Star and definitely has a slow feathering gene - she only has short wing feathers and started getting the signs of a tail in the past 2 days. She still looks like a fluffy chick and they look like mini-chickens.
