Frizzles are little charmers that look like they’ve just walked out of a hair salon on a windy day, with their curled feathers puffing every which way. Kids adore their silly appearance, and families love how their small size and big personality make them a joy to keep.
Feather Colors
The fun begins with their surprise feather colors; anything from black, white, red, buff, splash, or mottled. Keep in mind: “frizzle” isn’t a breed, it’s a genetic trait that makes feathers curl upwards. Any breed can be paired with a frizzle parent to produce offspring with curled feathers.
Because of the frizzle gene, no two birds look exactly alike. Your chick may develop highly curled feathers, moderate curls, or in some cases, remain smooth. If a specific frizzle appearance is important (such as for showing), we recommend ordering multiple chicks to increase your chances of getting one with the look you want.
Frizzles are carefully bred with smooth-feathered partners to avoid “Curlies,” a condition where brittle feathers break and leave a nearly featherless bird. About 50% of offspring will have the frizzled appearance while the other half may remain smooth.
Eggs Hens Gift
These little beauties still pull their weight! Expect 2–4 small cream or tinted eggs per week, perfect for snacking, baking, or letting kids collect their first “mini egg basket.”
Personality
Frizzles are curious, friendly, and full of character. They love following kids around the yard, scratching for treats, and interacting with the family. Their playful personalities make them as fun as they are photogenic, and they’re ideal for households looking for a gentle, hands-on pet chicken.
Physical Characteristics
Bantam Frizzles are tiny, weighing only 1–2 lbs, but packed with personality. Their curled feathers make them look extra fluffy and whimsical, though special care is needed: frizzled feathers are more fragile, so roost bars and nesting boxes should be lower, and they should stay dry in winter since they’re less cold-hardy than smooth-feathered breeds.
History
The frizzle gene has been admired for centuries in Asia and Europe, eventually becoming prized among backyard and exhibition chickens. Today, frizzles—especially in Bantam size—are celebrated for their adorable appearance and playful charm, making them rare and highly sought after by chicken enthusiasts worldwide.
Sexing Method:
Bantams are generally only offered as unsexed straight runs because their sex is not reliably identifiable and vent sexing is unsafe for bantam breeds. To assist families, we offer unsexed chicks with our female coverage option or DNA-sexed females. Without DNA sexing, plan for roughly 50% or more of your order to be roosters. Some families order extra female covered chicks to ensure they get the number of girls they want, returning roosters for a store credit to use toward organic feed, more birds, or flock care.
Chick: Frizzle Surprise Bantam Cochin
Most families are attracted to obtaining their chickens from us because we are proud to be completely different than typical feed store/ hatchery industry standards. Industry standard is to sex as accurately as possible and sell as pullets (female chicks) and force customers to accept a >10% chance of an accidental rooster without the ability to accept returns nor refunds. In addition, industry standard is to sell bantams (such as silkies) as straight runs since they are too small for safe vent sexing. We offer multiple sexing options.
Male
If you are lucky enough to have a rooster, our male sexing option is a great way to save money on a wonderful breed.
Unsexed
This option means that the chicks have not yet been sexed and are sold as a straight run. While nature usually averages half girls and half boys in high volumes, families should only order if prepared for >50% possible roosters.
Female Coverage
This is our most economical choice for families seeking a female. We kept city ordinances that restrict rooster ownership in mind. This option is great for families that want to enjoy a backyard flock of ladies. We use traditional sexing methods on the breeds that capable of being vent sexed, home accidental roosters, and issue store credit of original purchased price. To learn more about how we sex baby chicks based on their breed view: How to Sex Chickens.
Depending on the breed, sexing accuracy can range as low as 50% for bantam breeds, 90% for standard breeds, and as high as 95% for auto sexing breeds. Our female coverage option is not a service fee for sexing the chick, it is the cost difference between purchasing a male or a female chicken. We do not believe in grinding males alive nor suffocating them as day olds to enable a profit when selling a stated female chick at ridiculously low prices. Thus, our female pricing takes into consideration the male left behind with each female purchased. Male chicks are typically half the price of a female.
To qualify for rehoming, the rooster must remain in perfect health. If the family decides to return the rooster, a store credit in the amount of original purchase price is provided. As a family, you are welcome to decide to keep any accidental rooster and forfeit the credit.
DNA Sexed Female Chicks
For families that get emotionally bonded quickly and do not want to risk a future discovery of a rooster, we offer DNA sexing. DNA sexing is the only true accurate method of sexing baby chicks. DNA testing is a significantly higher financial investment. In most cases, it is 3x the cost as (1) female sex covered chick.
Balance accuracy with financial investment
The sexing decision is one that needs to be made at time of purchased and the original order cannot be altered once the order is fulfilled. It is important as a family to determine the right balance between sexing accuracy and financial investment for your family’s situation.
We provide as much information on our website as possible to ensure families make an informed decision based on their situation and lifestyle. Some breeds are more accurate in sexing and most families find our female coverage adequate in providing a free home for their accidental rooster (up to $100 savings) and use the store credit towards a replacement or our organic feed. While harder to sex bantam breeds, or families that know they will develop a with strong emotional attachment prefer to invest in DNA sexing.