Mystery bantam from feed store

[pinkl72]

I believe this chicken came from the bantam bin from Atwoods or Tractor Supply. I think it's a hen, but let me know if you think otherwise. Shes probably 4-6 months old. She could possibly have hatched from one of our barnyard mixes, but we don't have anything that looks like her. Thanks for any help.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

It looks like some sort of mix as usually TSC bantam EEs don’t have feathered legs. Her coloring is absolutely stunning!

 

[jpalmatier83]

Dang, she’s a very pretty bird!

Brahama mix with the feathered legs?

 

[NatJ]

I believe this chicken came from the bantam bin from Atwoods or Tractor Supply. I think it's a hen, but let me know if you think otherwise. Shes probably 4-6 months old. She could possibly have hatched from one of our barnyard mixes, but we don't have anything that looks like her. Thanks for any help.

I think she is probably a barnyard mix.

Based on the traits she has, and the genes that cause them, I would expect the following:
At least one parent has feathered feet.
At least one parent has a crest of feathers on the head (could be a small crest like hers, or a large crest like Polish often have.)
At least one parent has normal-textured feathers (not Silkie type).

Her father has the silver gene. That causes the white in her feathers. If she had the gold gene, she would have gold or red or brown instead. Hens inherit their silver or gold gene only from their father.

 

[pinkl72]

Could this be a deathlayer? I saw a picture of one today and thought they looked similar but I'm not at all familiar with the deathlayer breed.

 

[-Chanticleer-]

Whatever she is she’s beautiful

 

[NatJ]

Could this be a deathlayer? I saw a picture of one today and thought they looked similar but I'm not at all familiar with the deathlayer breed.

The coloring is fairly similar, but it is also common in barnyard mix chickens.

I do not think deathlayers have feathered feet or crested heads, so your pullet is probably not a deathlayer.

Deathlayers are also quite rare at present, so there would probably not be one in a bin at the feed store (the rare breeds in those bins are usually the ones offered by major hatcheries, but I don't think I've seen deathlayers offered by Hoovers, Ideal, or any of the other hatcheries that feeds stores commonly order from.)

I still think barnyard mix is the most likely source for your pullet. If you want to give a list of what chickens you had at the time, we may be able to figure out who her parents were (for example, if you only had one crested chicken, that is one parent, because the pullet has a crest. But if you have lots of crested chickens, then we may not know which one was a parent of her.)

 

[pinkl72]

The coloring is fairly similar, but it is also common in barnyard mix chickens.

I do not think deathlayers have feathered feet or crested heads, so your pullet is probably not a deathlayer.

Deathlayers are also quite rare at present, so there would probably not be one in a bin at the feed store (the rare breeds in those bins are usually the ones offered by major hatcheries, but I don't think I've seen deathlayers offered by Hoovers, Ideal, or any of the other hatcheries that feeds stores commonly order from.)

I still think barnyard mix is the most likely source for your pullet. If you want to give a list of what chickens you had at the time, we may be able to figure out who her parents were (for example, if you only had one crested chicken, that is one parent, because the pullet has a crest. But if you have lots of crested chickens, then we may not know which one was a parent of her.)

Thanks for your input; good information to know! We have some many different birds. As far as crested, we have a few polish, lots of silkies, and a crevecoeur, but I don't think she's laying yet. We did have a crevecoeur roo, but I don't think he reached maturity before passing.

 

[JedJackson]

I don't think she came from a hatchery. Looks like a silver old English game bantam crossed with a white Silkie to me, but who knows for sure?

 

[NatJ]

Thanks for your input; good information to know! We have some many different birds. As far as crested, we have a few polish, lots of silkies, and a crevecoeur, but I don't think she's laying yet. We did have a crevecoeur roo, but I don't think he reached maturity before passing.

In that case, yes there are plenty of possible parents with crests and of course the Silkies have feathered feet too.

Does your pullet have an extra toe on each foot? If so, she probably had one Silkie parent (crest, feathered feet, extra toe) and one other parent (non-silkie type feathers).