Meet "Ugly-stepsister" - ugliest hen I've ever seen, a mongrel red frizzle (?)

[ChicksWereDinos]

Ugly-stepsister and sister Princess Ariel came to use a few weeks ago. Both billed as Red Frizzles. It didn't take long to realize Ugly-stepsister (affectionately named in honor of the scene in Shrek where Prince Charming is in the tavern and says "Oh so you're the Ugly Stepsister!" - we've got kids and watch Shrek tons) isn't the prettiest picture on the block.

What is she? Clearly significantly different than her classic Red Frizzle sister. Specifically:

• Her head has no feathers, it's naked & can give a rooster a run for his money - flops over on top to one side
• She's a light orange
• She looks "disheveled" - feathering isn't as uniformly nice, neck is mostly naked, she is fuzzy around the rear, her wings seem to have no feathers
• She fights like crazy when I catch and hold her (thought I'd throw that in because I've never had a chicken like that)

For the longest time I thought she was a cockerel because of her head, but I never heard her maker cockerel sounds so thought of her as an "it" for a long time ... until discovering she's the only one of the two that lays eggs!

No offense to anyone who loves a breed that mixed to make her! I thought maybe Naked-Neck, but I just don't know enough about breeds that ... never quite caught my eye

Thank you if you can shed light on what she is if she's not a regular red frizzle cochin!



Notice how different she is (on the right) than her typical red frizz sis



Naked neck



Body shot, mostly featherless wings



fuzzy bum

 

[Texasmja]

maybe she is molting

 

[ramirezframing]

how long have you had her? she looks like a frizzled cochin. Has she always looked like this, if you have had her for a few months?

 

[CluckyCharms]

I don't know, but I don't think she's ugly by any stretch. =) I think she is adorable!

 

[yorklady]

I think she is adorable too!!!!

 

[juliechick]

As far as the head feathers being missing it looks like a rooster has been mating her. They will likely grow back. Other than that she looks like a normal frizzle Cochin to me.

 

[Fettfarm]

I would Love to have 20 of them if I could sneak them past my honey bunny! LOL

 

[thebanthams]

If you really dont like her, I will take her ! she is cute !

 

[ChicksWereDinos]

lol you guys are too nice! I wish she could hear your kindness bokbok!

I've looked at lots of pics of red frizzle hens, I've never seen any like this. I'd think if it was defeathering from a roo it'd be like we usually see - bald spots with normal skin beneath. The difference here is her head is all red comb-like skin (whatever that thick red skin is called); it's natural. Her whole head is that type of skin, and her wattle and comb are gigantic rivaling any red star rooster I've seen, again unlike anything I've seen from ref frizzles. Strange! There's got to be something going on, she's not a typical red frizzle!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

It looks like she was a frizzle on frizzle breeding. When you breed two frizzles together, you get funky feathered chickens with brittle feathers and patches where feathers won't grow. It's also possible she is molting, but I would bet money on the frizzle/frizzle breeding. Usually, a frizzled parent should be bred with a smooth parent for best frizzling.