New ticking on a full grown setter??

[shanebevel@gmail.com]

Is it possible for a full grown ES to develop new ticking? I have a mostly white setter with a chestnut/tan head and chestnut ticking and I swear that he has more brown than he did a month or so ago. He is about 3 years old we think.

He is adopted and didn't have much of a coat (very very malnourished) when we got him, and it's really starting to come in full this winter. We finally got him on a nutrition program that is working for him and I was just thinking maybe he that maybe that brown hair was just getting back on track?

So what do you think? Am I crazy?

Shane

[vzkennels]

I'm not a setter man but I think your probably correct with him getting healthy & gaining coat his true colors are coming out.I'm sure some real setter people can help you out better then I but that would be my guess.

[shanebevel@gmail.com]

OK, we hauled out the photos... there are for sure new spots on this dog. The new ones appear faded compared to those that were already there, but if you part the hair and dig down a bit they get darker. I'm actually very happy as I like the look of a heavily ticked setter more than a really white setter.

Would still love to hear if anyone knows for sure if this could be a nutrition issue. We are still a little unsure of his age, but he has been worked too much in the field to really be much less than a couple years old I think. I could be wrong, but he came to me quartering like a champ, adjusting to cover, whoa broke and a complete backing machine.

[vzkennels]

Sounds like you have a nice NATURAL BIRD DOG & he might be younger then you think.Good Luck with him & have fun!!

[shanebevel@gmail.com]

Could very well be. He still sometimes acts like like a pup, but then so does the female and she is 8. He's for sure a natural in my eyes, but he has had some schooling as well.

As far as fun... we started the season in Hays, Kansas on phez and quail, messed around in N Okla. over the holidays with some local quail, are headed to South Louisiana tomorrow night for a weekend of woodcock on a big river sugar plantation and the weekend after that is the big fun.... quail at our ranch outside Paducah, Texas. So yeah... we've had a bit of fun.

Shane

[ezzy333]

The amount of color has no connection to nutrition. They will add ticking for the first couple of years till they are fully grown. The amount that is noticeable will change with the change in coat sometimes ot the length you let it grow. Winter coat may show more or less than the summer coat.

Ezzy

[PntrRookie]

Shane, I also own a chestnut tricolor setter. Funny thing is we (my family and I) were playing with her Monday night and all of us said..."Is she getting more ticking?" She is primarily white with the tri head and only a couple SMALL solid spots. When we shaved her last spring and the spring before that, I noticed a little more ticking underneath the thick coat. Now it has been 9+ months of growth and we are seeing that ticking come through the thicker coat. Pretty cool to see her change. She is only 2.5 yrs old now.

These are prior to us noticing more of the ticking.

[Fowlplay]

Very common for ticking to become more pronounced.

[BrettBryan]

I thought all setters ticked. Just kidding guys/girls, just kidding. Just a little humor on an uneventful day.