I have the same problem and have been told they are \"angel feathers\". They appear to be an extra set of muffs above and behind the real muffs. They were pointed out to me at a show, by Paul Smith as I recall. They are something we have to breed out, but I only have one female without them and she is way too small. She is in a separate breeding program from the others just because she doesn\'t have them. As you know we sometimes concentrate so much on breeding out one fault with a variety that we are letting others slide. With the LF silvers we are trying to get the size up where it should be, reduce (forget about eliminating) shafting, eliminate angel feathers, eliminate white in the male\'s breast, improve type, etc.
I always say \"breed from the best that you have available\", and if they are the best I can find I keep breeding from them. At the same time I am trying to make improvements with each generation.