Thoughts on what breed or mix this rooster may be?

I'm a big fan of heritage breeds. We had Plymouth Barred Rocks when I was little and I have a Golden Spangled Hamburg and had, until a recent break in by a couple of stray dogs, a beautiful Silver Laced Wyandotte. She had such personality (as does my Hamburg) and my children and I were heartbroken when we lost her. I don't raise for meat, just eggs and gorgeous looking pest control. I wasn't even keen on having another rooster; my last one was awful to my girls but that was a cockerel and this one is far more mature and very sweet. His last keepers had him for 2 years and he was fully mature when they got him so he's at least 3 years.


When I first saw him, I immediately thought BR mix but I was thrown by the brown barring. Someone had mentioned Golden Cuckoo Marans and though he's much darker than many, I've been seeing some photos that are much closer to his coloring. He also resembles the Birchen Marans a bit except for all the barring. He does have quite a bit of gold coloring in his hackle and saddle feathers but it's difficult to see in the photos and it's more cream than white the way it appears. I don't know if that helps narrow it down any more.

The first pic shows pink legs, so Marans ancestry could be a possibility. That white skin is usually dominant.

Does he have a straight comb? I can't really tell, it's late and my eyes are tired.

I'm thinking cuckoo Marans mix. That excessive solid in the hackle and saddle feathers happens when you mix barred (or cuckoo) birds and non-barred, the barring loses some cohesion especially in those sex feathers.

Another thought is Buff Orpington mixed with barred Rock, but he really doesn't have an Orp shape at all

Thank you all for the input!

He does have a single comb and very large wattles.




His legs are more red on the insides and have a stripe on the outside and the bottoms are red. I had initially attributed this as a result of his recent predator attack but his previous people said his legs have always been like that. (My apologies for the poor photo quality, he had a soak last night and prefers to keep a healthy distance from me this morning. The zoom on my phone isn't so great.)

beautiful rooster, whatever he turns out to be

Thank you. He's just plain sweet. That's what he's turned out to be.