Lavender Orpingtons with "shredded" tails

[FatherBrown]

One of my four lavenders has the shredded tail. I think she's the prettiest of the bunch. I actually prefer the fluffy tail. It makes her look like she's wearing petticoats. However, I have seen this referenced as "bad feathers." Is the so called "shredder gene" really such a bad thing?? Is it somehow harmful for the chicken?

 

[Dovethesilkie]

I have a too who’s tail is always shredded he’ll come back from free ranging not a scratch on him but split tail feathers I don’t believe it hurts the chickens because silkies are supposed yo have shredded wings and tails

 

[kurby22]

It’s only bad if you plan to show the chicken as far as I know. I too have a Lavender Orp roo and two lavender Ameraucanas with shredded feathers and they’re all still gorgeous and very happy. I don’t plan to show them so it’s not a big deal to me, but it’s not a good gene for breeder stock.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

The shredded feather gene is associated with self blue (lavender) colored birds. Because of this people who breed chickens with the lavender color often have to breed back to black birds to improve the feather quality in the offspring. It does not hurt the bird and is completely without any consequence for the average backyard chicken owner who just wants to keep some beautiful birds!