PHOTOS Alan Robertson has a beard, says Duck Dynasty contracts required facial hair

Alan Robertson, the “perfectly shorn black sheep of the Robertsons,” is beardless no more! The newest star of Duck Dynasty recently showed up on the sets of two talk shows looking rather furry ’round the face.

“I’m hanging by a thread in this family. Everybody knows that. I just found out about my heritage so I figured I better do a little something to hang on to what I have,” the oldest Robertson brother joked to The 700 Club‘s Terry Meeuwsen about his decision to grow out his facial hair.

Alan’s new look also has him eating his words, considering he was previously committed to a clean-shaven alternative.

“I don’t want to get stuck with that look,” he told Religion News Service in August. “Everybody needs to see what the Robertsons look like without a beard, like ‘Where’s Waldo?'”

Fortunately for those who appreciate facial hair variety, Alan’s beard is likely just in honor of duck hunting season — which kicks off in Louisiana in mid-November and ends in January. (As he’s previously demonstrated, Alan’s a fair-weather fan of beards.)

While speaking with Good Day L.A., Alan explained the other male members of his family aren’t able to grow/shave their beards at whim.

“We all used to cut them off. But now, since they are such big stars and their beards are in their contracts, they have to keep them a certain length,” he said of Willie, Phil, Si and the other Duck Dynasty men. “Their beards are about to get their own agent.”

Now that Alan’s gotten involved with his family’s popular reality show, he can be counted among the show’s stars. So, if producers like what they see, we shouldn’t be surprised to see Alan sporting a full-time beard after his next contract negotiation!