Delayed feathering in chickens
Delayed-feathering in chickens is a genetically determined delay in the first weeks of feather growing, which occurs normally among the chicks of many chicken breeds and no longer manifests itself once the chicken completes adult plumage.
Figure 1. Feathering types in ten-day-old chicks. Left: Fast normal-feathering chick. Right: Delayed-feathering chick carrying sex-linked K gene
Figure 3. Effect of autosomal genes of T series on 10-day-old chicks. (A) Normal-feathering, with a T− genotype. (B) "Retarded"-feathering, with tsts genotype. (C) "Tardy"-feathering, with tt genotype.
The Plymouth Rock is an American breed of domestic chicken. It was first seen in Massachusetts in the nineteenth century and for much of the early twentieth century was the most widely kept chicken breed in the United States. It is a dual-purpose bird, raised both for its meat and for its brown eggs. It is resistant to cold, easy to manage, and a good sitter.
Hens, barred plumage
Barred cock and hen, illustration from Jean Bungartz, Geflügel-Album, 1885
Egg