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 Polands, Japanese and other breeds. This gives our Frizzle a rather mysterious past, as no one can be sure as to the direct origins of the breed, which is now standardised under the Poultry Club of Great Britain. It would be prudent to accept that these Asian ‘frizzled fowl’ may well have found their way into the hands of breeders and developed into the distinctive breed we have today. It must be stressed however that simply having frizzled plumage does not constitute a Frizzle. The Frizzle breed whilst obviously displaying the necessary curl of feather, must also match the standard for breed type, size, colour etc. It is all these points together which give us the fabulous Frizzle as the breed we all admire.
Obviously the curled feather formation of the Frizzle is its most distinctive feature, each feather should be broad and curled towards the head with curl taking the lions share of standard points at 25 out of a possible 100, closely followed by feather quality at 20. This makes breeding for this characteristic a science all of its own. As mentioned above the frizzling is caused by a gene, which is incompletely dominant to normal feathering, meaning that from a mating of frizzle to frizzle the progeny can display one of three feather formations: normal, frizzled and over-frizzle (whereby the feathers are very heavily frizzled and the normal structure of the feather is so weak, each feather tends to resemble a pipe cleaner!) in the basic Mendalian formula of 25%, 50% and 25% respectively. Thus 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.
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 white or 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.
Traditionally available in 18 colour varieties in both large fowl and bantams (as standardised by the PCGB) the Frizzle offers a wide spectrum of choice for both the exhibitor and backyard keeper.
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 white or 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.
Traditionally available in 18 colour varieties in both large fowl and bantams (as standardised by the PCGB) the Frizzle offers a wide spectrum of choice for both the exhibitor and backyard keeper.