Frizzle Chicken

Quick Take

• Breeding two Frizzle chickens together guarantees a troubling outcome, something experienced breeders go to great lengths to prevent. Avoiding Frazzle offspring →
• The same genetic principle behind Mendel's famous pea plants also determines whether a Frizzle chick gets picture-perfect feathers or ends up facing a health crisis. See the genetic science →
• Frizzle chickens are officially recognized as their own breed in some countries but don't exist as a breed at all in others, a distinction that creates real confusion for breeders. Breed recognition by country →
• Those wild, curled feathers that make Frizzle chickens so striking are also the reason they face a danger smooth-feathered chickens simply don't. Feathers and vulnerability →

Frizzle chickens are known for their frizzled feathers. Whether referring to the breed recognized across Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia, or frizzled individuals of some other recognized breeds, these birds share uniquely formed feathers that twist and curve back toward the chicken’s head instead of lying flat, toward the tail. Researchers have worked hard in recent years to discover precisely the genetic mechanisms that cause the frizzled quality in these birds’ plumes. Breeders, meanwhile, have worked to avoid producing overly frizzled birds sometimes called Frazzle chickens. These cute and fluffy chickens are popular among backyard breeders and are mostly produced as show birds and pets.

Incredible Frizzle Chicken Facts

• Frizzled feathers appear in several different chicken breeds, including the Frizzle chicken breed recognized in Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
• When breeding two frizzled chickens, the offspring will be in a 1:2:1 ratio with 25 percent smooth, 50 percent frizzled, and 25 percent overly frizzled.
• Overly frizzled chickens have feathers that are brittle and prone to breakage, as well as other health problems.
• The mutation that causes frizzled feathers in chickens most likely arose in Asia.
• Many breeds, such as the Polish, Pekin, Cochin, Plymouth Rock, Japanese, and Orpington, sometimes exhibit frizzled feathers.
• Docile and friendly Frizzle chickens make good pets and are easy to train.

Where to Find Frizzle Chickens

Chickens with frizzled feathers live all over the world. Frizzled varieties of several breeds, such as Polish, Cochin, Pekin, Japanese, Plymouth Rock, Orpington, and more, are popular among chicken enthusiasts. The specific origin of the frizzled feathers seen in Frizzle chickens is unknown, but experts believe that the mutation began in the Far East many centuries ago.

In the United States, authorities only recognize frizzled chickens as types within their parent breeds. However, in Australia, the United Kingdom, and some other parts of Europe, including France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, authorities recognize the Frizzle chicken as its own breed. Poultry organizations in countries where the Frizzle chicken is officially recognized also recognize frizzled varieties within other breeds. This distinction can be confusing to newcomers to chicken breeding.

Classification and Scientific Name

The Frizzle chicken’s scientific name is Gallus gallus domesticus. This same scientific name denotes other breeds of domestic chickens around the world. The specific epithet, domesticus, refers to the fact that these chickens have long been domesticated animals. The genus name, Gallus, refers to the Red Junglefowl, Gallus gallus. This species is thought to be the primary ancestor of modern domesticated chickens. This bird ranged across South and Southeast Asia. Linnaeus described Gallus gallus in 1758. Molecular evidence suggests that people domesticated at least some of these fowl as early as 8,000 years ago.

Appearance

The Frizzle chicken is defined by its frizzled feathers. These feathers curl away from the body, toward the head of the chicken, instead of lying flat like normal chicken feathers. Think of the highly layered and heavily sprayed, flipped hairstyles popular a few decades ago. Frizzle chickens have a similarly messy-but-stylish appearance. Breeders work specifically toward an abundance of lifted and curled feathers, avoiding pairings that will result in chickens with overly frizzled plumage. We’ll address that in a bit more detail in the next section, on genetics.

Frizzle chickens have short, rounded, full-breasted bodies that look particularly fluffy due to their frizzled feathers. They have long wings and full tails with somewhat loose feathering that they carry erect. They have a short, yellow beak and bright eyes. Their single comb is bright red, as are their wattles and their face. Most Frizzle chickens have yellow feet and legs without feathering, although some of the darker varieties tend toward black markings on their lower extremities.  

Frizzle chickens come in both large and bantam varieties. The larger varieties average about 7 to 8 pounds for roosters and about 5 to 6 pounds for hens. Bantam varieties average between about 20 and 28 ounces, and these are the preferred size for many breeders.

Color Variations

Frizzle chickens, where recognized as a unique breed, come in a variety of colors. The Entente Européenne, an organization that oversees the breeding of poultry and other species such as rabbits and guinea pigs, recognizes Frizzle chickens throughout much of Europe. This organization officially recognizes only four colors, including black, white, blue, and cuckoo.

Within the United Kingdom, the Poultry Club of Great Britain sets standards for the breed that include 19 recognized color variations. Several accepted on the Breed Standard page of the Frizzle Society of Great Britain include varieties such as white, black, blue, buff, mottled, barred, and cuckoo, all of which have similar appearances for both males and females. Other varieties, including spangle, red, pile, brown-red, black-red, silver, and gold duckwing, and more, exhibit sexual dimorphism, with marked differences between males and females.

In Australia, authorities recognize a variety of colors. According to the Open Poultry Standards of Australia, accepted Frizzle chicken colors include black, blue, buff, and white. Judges accept other “self-coloured” birds if they exhibit pure and even shading across their plumage. Varieties including black-red, gold, and silver duckwing, and others, are also accepted as long as they are recognized color variants.

Genetics

If you took a high school biology class, you probably remember learning about Gregor Mendel and his famous pea plants. Mendel experimented with pea plants that had flowers of different colors. When he bred pea plants with red flowers to pea plants with white flowers, the resulting plants all had pink flowers. This trait, called incomplete dominance, means that neither the red gene nor the white gene was completely dominant over the other. The offspring of this first cross, therefore, all had a color somewhere in the middle.

With a second cross of pink-flowered pea plants bred to each other, the offspring appeared in a consistent 1:2:1 ratio. In Mendel’s experiments, 25 percent of the offspring had red flowers, 25 percent had white, and 50 percent had pink flowers. The same thing happens with many chickens, including the Blue Andalusian and its blue coloring, which was studied by Reginald Punnett, and the Frizzle chickens and their famously frizzled feathers.

Contemporary Research

Recent research has identified additional candidate genes related to frizzled feathering, indicating that the genetic basis may be more complex than previously thought. Like Mendel’s pea plants, Frizzle chickens pass their mutation via autosomal incomplete dominance. It results in the same 1:2:1 ratio of offspring, with 25 percent of the offspring having smooth feathers, 50 percent frizzled, and 25 percent over-frizzled, or frazzled. In 2018, another team of researchers found that the frizzled feathers in Qilin chickens may result from parallel genetic mechanisms.

Whatever specific mutations affect the keratin in Frizzle chickens’ feathers, the result gives them the uplifted, curled appearance common to the breed. Overly frizzled individuals, sometimes called Frazzles, inherit two copies of the frizzle mutation, leading to feathers that are brittle and sparse, along with other potential health problems such as balding, enlarged hearts, and a shortened lifespan.

Behavior

Breeders describe Frizzle chickens as docile and friendly birds, fairly well suited to life as pets. Owners primarily breed them as show and exhibition birds. They are neither a preferred meat bird nor a particularly productive egg layer. These birds actively forage and prefer to range freely. They do not fly well, despite their long wings, so high fences are not required to keep them safe. They do adjust well to confinement, though. Owners may utilize a secure coop and perhaps even a covered daytime run to prevent predation and undesired breeding.

Diet

Frizzle chickens are omnivores. Although they are not particularly fast, nor good at flying, they are especially good at foraging. These active birds love to range freely all day long and hunt for food. They prey on invertebrates such as insects, larvae, worms, spiders, and centipedes. They may even catch small animals such as mice, lizards, and frogs. They also eat seeds, green plant parts, and other vegetation.

Owners should supplement their flock’s diet with a high-quality commercial feed rich in protein and calcium. The extra protein will help support feather growth and retention. Frizzle chickens also welcome leafy greens, other fruits, vegetables, and treats like pasta and rice.   

Reproduction

Frizzle chickens are not the best egg layers. They lay approximately 120 to 150 eggs per year. Hens do tend to become broody, and they are excellent mothers. They begin laying eggs by the time they are about 5 to 6 months of age. They produce medium-sized eggs that are white or cream-colored. Chicks take about 21 days to incubate. The hens spend considerable time foraging with their chicks after they hatch.

Because owners breed these chickens mainly as show birds, they must take precautions to avoid the dreaded frazzle chickens. These overly frizzled birds hatch roughly 25 percent of the time when two frizzled birds mate. Frazzle chickens suffer from brittle, overly frizzled feathers, in addition to health problems, including heart disease. The only way to avoid getting these birds is to employ careful breeding techniques, keeping undesirable roosters away from hens.

Predators

Frizzle chickens can fall prey to a number of predators. Although they are large- to medium-sized chickens with long wings, they are poor flyers. Therefore, they are susceptible to common ground predators, including foxes, raccoons, and weasels. Large birds of prey, such as owls, hawks, and eagles, can easily snatch young chickens or chicks, or the tiny bantam variety Frizzle chickens, if they roam outside an enclosure. Snakes may prey on eggs and chicks at the nest if the coops are not completely secure.

Lifespan

Frizzle chickens are a relatively hardy breed. They have an average lifespan of about six to eight years. Cold or damp weather can pose dangers to these birds. Their frizzled feathers do not provide as much protection from the elements as smooth, tight feathers do. In recent years, diseases such as avian flu have threatened flocks in Europe. However, because Frizzle chickens are usually raised in small flocks, they may have a lower risk due to isolation from other poultry.

Other Frizzled Chickens

As noted before, many other recognized breeds have frizzled varieties. The genetic mechanism — or mechanisms — that cause frizzled feathers in the Frizzle breed (recognized in the United Kingdom, Australia, and several European countries) is also found in chickens all around the world. Pekin and Polish chickens are two of the most popular breeds in the United States that often exhibit frizzled feathers. Cochin chickens and Plymouth Rock chickens also come in frizzled types. Bantam varieties, such as the Japanese, Orpington, and Polish, are quite popular. Some breeders even cross different breeds to create frizzled birds with unique qualities. No matter the breed, a bit of frizzle in the feathers makes the chickens extra cute and fluffy. That is a quality backyard breeders seem to appreciate.