Frizzy Asiatic-looking all black hen -- sort of looks like a vulture... What is she?

[TropicalChickies]

Hi BYC folks,

Here's Dusty, one of the new additions to my flock. She's an eight month old pullet I just bought from a neighbor a few kilometers up the road.

Dusty^

A little background on my chooks: We live in a very rural area of Ecuador, South America. Most people here (including us) farm sugar cane, bananas, cocoa beans and other "tropical crops." The climate is subtropical rainforest and the landscape a mix of humid jungle and farmed land. Practically everyone here keeps chickens, and while the gamecock keepers are particular about the breeding stock, no one else is, so all of the farmyard chickens running around the little villages are mixes of various domesticated breeds and interesting landrace varieties. The people call the mixtures "criollas" -- same thing people of mixed indigenous and Spanish descent are called.

For example, here's another one of Dusty with her pal Rusty. Rusty looks a lot like a Rhode Island Red, but she's very petite. Her eggs are cream colored with a bluish tint. Her feet are bluish as well.

Rusty (front) and Dusty (behind)

Dusty isn't laying yet. The locals here call her a "Chirapa" -- an indigenous Kichwa word for "tatters" or a "Rizada" -- meaning "frizzy" in Spanish. Her plumage is completely black with a green/blue beetle sheen. I think she's the most adorable ugly little hen ever.

I looked up all the breeds of black chickens and she looks mostly like a Cochin, but she's also very petite. They are eating very well in our farm, fed rations 2x a day and free roam all day for forage, so I suspect they will fill out.

So I'm asking just out of curiosity -- I'm pretty certain Dusty isn't a "pure" anything, but does anyone want to guess her possible origins?

 

[Party_Chicken]

She looks like a fizzle mix.

 

[ColtHandorf]

She looks like a fizzle mix.

Frizzle isn't a breed. It is a genetic trait. So she is Frizzled, but that only describes her feather appearance. It doesn't have anything to do with her breed.

To the OP, I think we might need to see what color eggs she lays before even making an educated guess.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Frizzle isn't a breed. It is a genetic trait. So she is Frizzled, but that only describes her feather appearance. It doesn't have anything to do with her breed.

To the OP, I think we might need to see what color eggs she lays before even making an educated guess.

Ok, she's eight months and if all goes well, should start laying fairly soon.

Like I mentioned in my post, I'm fairly certain she's not a pure breed. But she's so interesting looking and I can't match her up to any of the black chicken breeds I looked up, so I'm really just curious. I'm not planning to enter her in any chicken pageants

When she comes into lay, I'll update with pics of her eggs

 

[Chickenosauurs_RexNo54]

Hi BYC folks,

Here's Dusty, one of the new additions to my flock. She's an eight month old pullet I just bought from a neighbor a few kilometers up the road.

View attachment 3479767
Dusty^

A little background on my chooks: We live in a very rural area of Ecuador, South America. Most people here (including us) farm sugar cane, bananas, cocoa beans and other "tropical crops." The climate is subtropical rainforest and the landscape a mix of humid jungle and farmed land. Practically everyone here keeps chickens, and while the gamecock keepers are particular about the breeding stock, no one else is, so all of the farmyard chickens running around the little villages are mixes of various domesticated breeds and interesting landrace varieties. The people call the mixtures "criollas" -- same thing people of mixed indigenous and Spanish descent are called.

For example, here's another one of Dusty with her pal Rusty. Rusty looks a lot like a Rhode Island Red, but she's very petite. Her eggs are cream colored with a bluish tint. Her feet are bluish as well.

View attachment 3479817
Rusty (front) and Dusty (behind)

Dusty isn't laying yet. The locals here call her a "Chirapa" -- an indigenous Kichwa word for "tatters" or a "Rizada" -- meaning "frizzy" in Spanish. Her plumage is completely black with a green/blue beetle sheen. I think she's the most adorable ugly little hen ever.

I looked up all the breeds of black chickens and she looks mostly like a Cochin, but she's also very petite. They are eating very well in our farm, fed rations 2x a day and free roam all day for forage, so I suspect they will fill out.

So I'm asking just out of curiosity -- I'm pretty certain Dusty isn't a "pure" anything, but does anyone want to guess her possible origins?

View attachment 3479820

You're from Ecuador! That's nice, my family is from Colombia. I am very interested in what some of these crossbreeds are. What landraces are in the area?