Frizzle

Obviously, the curled feather formation of the Frizzle is its most distinctive feature; each feather should be broad and curled towards the head. This makes breeding for this characteristic a science all of its own. The frizzle gene is incompletely dominant to normal feathering.  This means that from a mating of fizzle to frizzle the progeny can display one of three feather formations: normal, frizzled and over-frizzle   in the basic Mendalian formula of 25%, 50% and 25% respectively.

Frizzles are not always frizzled, which is very important to remember, but they are all still frizzles nonetheless. When two exhibition Frizzles are mated 25% will be smooth feathered, 50% frizzled (of varying quality) and the remaining 25% will be extremely frizzled.

When breeding frizzled birds it is wise to keep a frizzle bred normal feather in order to avoid any ‘pipe cleaners’ as it helps to balance the frizzle and provide a bird with good quality of feather whilst still displaying the necessary curl.  Basically, this means you need a straight cockerel to a frizzled feathered hen to produce the most reliable frizzled offspring.  Great fun and many school science departments have used the frizzle breed to demonstrate genetic traits for their curious students. Not only is the Frizzle an attractive breed because of its quaint curled feathers. It requires no special attention, being a hardy breed with superb foraging abilities whilst having the added bonus of being a more than adequate layer of tinted eggs for those interested in a few pretty birds to provide fresh eggs from the back garden. Frizzle hens also give the famed broody - the Silkie a push for the title of best sitting breed. It is easy to distinguish frizzle chicks from their normal feathered siblings by a week old, as the ends of the wing feathers begin to turn outwards even at this early stage.

It is commonly held that the Frizzle heralds from Asia, with reports of ‘frizzled fowl’ appearing in places such as India, Java and the Philippines since the 18th Century. However this is by no means conclusive as frizzling of the plumage is a genetic mutation which is capable of being displayed in any breed as is seen for example in Poland’s, Japanese and more recently Cochins. This gives our Frizzle breed a rather mysterious past.

Traditionally available in 13 colour varieties in both large fowl and bantams the frizzle offers a wide spectrum of choice for both the exhibitor and back yard keeper of these wonderfully rewarding birds.