Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Penciling:
This can be seen by crosswise stripes on hens like the penciled Hamburg breed. These
stripes can also go the full length of the feather. This is seen in the Wyandotte and Cochin
varieties. The Standard of perfection specifies that there should be at least 3 pencil mark-
ings on every feather of the thigh, back, wing bows, body and breast plumage.
Peppered Feathers:
These are small black dots that are found in the feather marking of a chicken. They are
considered a defect by the American Standard of Perfection, the topic by which breeders
judge breeds of chicken.
Spangled Feathers:
The wing tips of these birds have a tear drop of black or white at the wing tip. Speckled
Sussex and Hamburg varieties of breeds display these markings.
Splashed Feathers:
These markings are displayed by different splashes of contrasting color on the bird's
plumage. This creates a mottled look.
Blue Fowls:
Blue fowls have been especially bred for their bluish color. They can range from black
with a bluish tinge to a light slate grey. The Andalusia breed of chicken is the original Blue
Chicken breed but will not always produce 100% blue chickens. It is quite hard to breed
blue colored chickens in larger quantities.
