Barred Rock? Dominique? California Gray? Something else? lol :)

[Sunshyne276]

I just got this hen, not sure of her age, at least a year old I was told.
She thought she was a Barred Rock, but she doesn't look like one to me?
Or is she? She just seems small for a Barred Rock?
Is there a difference between barred abd "cuckoo" patterns, by the way?
Any ideas?







(yes, she made a mess on the carrier she's standing on - and I didn't clean it so well before the pic lol)

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

She looks pretty good sized in that second pic. I'd guess barred Rock, and hatchery stock (which could also make her smaller than exhibition birds).

 

[smarsh]

her tail seems to erect too, and a little too slim and over all, and her barring isn't very crisp. i would say she is mixed and may have some leghorn or game in her

 

[debid]

I think hatcheries use Leghorns A LOT in their productivity-oriented breeding programs. That would explain the tail and smaller size. I'm sure she'll lay lots of brown eggs for you!

Wait, did you get her from a hatchery? If not, she could be just a barnyard mix that picked up a barring gene someplace.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Her colouring is more accurately described as cuckoo, but in hatchery stock the distinction between barring and cuckoo can get pretty fuzzy (pun intended). SHe does not look like a plymout rock, but from hatchery stock...maybe. What colour of eggs does she lay?

 

[hdowden]

she's a cuckoo pattern chicken and she might be a California gray

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/CalGray/BRKCalGray.html

 

[Sunshyne276]

Thanks everyone No, I didn't get her from a hatchery. I got her from a lady a few towns over. She had gotten her at an animal swap in the Fall, to keep her Silkie rooster company until her Silkies chicks were big enough to let run with him. She said she picked her because she was the smallest of the chickens she seen (and the only one with the barring/cuckoo pattern), and she was trying to find a small hen for her small roo.

Oh, and eggs - She hasn't laid any eggs for her in the time she had her, which is making me wonder if she may be an older hen, does she look older to you all too?
(which is fine, she can retire here lol)

 

[Sunshyne276]

That's one breed I hadn't considered! She could be a California Gray. The tail/body shape is very close. I had thought of a Dominique, and a Cuckoo Marans.. California Gray could be it, assuming she isn't just a mix of breeds of course - I really don't know. lol

 

[hdowden]

an off dom could be a possablity (would say a mix but i have dom/br mixes right now in the brooder and their combs look more like a doms and not straight at all) but as for a marans i highly doubt that as they have white legs instead. when i saw how her tail and her patteren the first breed that popped in my head was a califorina gray. i really dont think shes a mix though. as for age there really is no telling her comb and wattles are not that red right now to indacate that shes going to lay just yet, it may take her awhile with all the moving shes done to start laying again.

 

[stephanie1992]

looks california grey

<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4871961/album/6132747"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/5902570/width/400/flags/LL"></a>