Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

I wondered if chickens have a "graying gene" like mammals do. I have a speckled hen who is getting whiter with age too.

So would it be best to just not keep any black or blue ones that have white on them now? There's a few of them (in the chicks from BC mostly).

The blue with white are likely splash. Hard to say about selling them if you have lots to choose from I would sell them but also remember you don't know male or female at this point and may unwittingly get rid of all your females.

I have been watching behavior and I suspect there are many more males than females. I would love to be wrong though.

The chicks are 6 1/2 weeks old now. Some have lost the white in their wings and some have not. There are two black ones that have noticeable white and one or two blue ones.

Now I have noticed that all the chicks from BC have light shafts in their feathers. Does this change as they get older? Is this a dominant trait?
Some of the black ones from BC are showing quite a bit of purple sheen already. If the blues are going to have red leakage at what age would that show up?

From what I can see, most look good, just as they're supposed to. Except maybe one or two seem to be missing muffs? Purple sheen in black birds isn't related to red leakage--it's a feather structure issue that seems to be related to the amount of corn in their diet. Chick starter and grower have a lot of corn, nothing to worry about. Change of diet, and the purple will go away once they moult. IF there's going to be red leakage, it will show up anywhere from 6 weeks old to 6 months old, but usually around 3 months, and almost always in boys first, or boys alone. Hackles and wing bows are the usual spots for red. It is one of the first indicators that a suspect chick is in fact male :-/. Pullets red leakage may not be obvious and only seen as gold in certain lights, or as brown on hackles or breast. But it's safe to say that if the blue boys all end up with leakage, all of them will probably have it whether you can see it or not.

That's interesting about the corn causing that purple sheen. My black Cochins are same. They remind me of an oil slick. Greenish if you look from one angle and burgundy if you look from another. Pretty chicks @Shnookie

Oh...the light coloured feather shafts are a little concerning...keep an eye on those. If they're still light by final chick moult, around 5-6 months old, the bird is probably hiding a silver partridge pattern, which is pretty, but also pretty annoying if you want solid black or blue...and if you breed two of these guys together, good luck ever getting the white back out lol

Well I wouldn't worry about their colouring so much just yet, that can change quite a bit. Males with bleed through will start to show around 4 months.

Thanks everyone. I didn't know corn caused a purple sheen. They are on a grower feed. I thought it meant that the bird was carrying some kind of red gene and that could cause red leakage. Purple is my favorite color so I don't mind looking at it, but I thought it was something that should be bred out.

Yes, some do not have much muff yet.

"the light coloured feather shafts are a little concerning...keep an eye on those. If they're still light by final chick moult, around 5-6 months old, the bird is probably hiding a silver partridge pattern" -- this is interesting. I think I had a pullet with that last year. She was from bought eggs, not mine. She was black and had some whitish lines on her breast. I think there is a picture of her in a post. I sold her.