Hi Everybody! We just got back from visiting my husband's 90 year old uncle, who keeps chickens, and I was just wondering what kind he has (he had no idea - he only keeps them for the eggs, so breeds don't really matter to him). I'm sorry, I didn't have my camera with me, so I'll do my best to describe them to you. They came from some Amish people he knows down in Southern MD, so they could be mixed, but see what you think - there were three different types, 9 hens in all, all are standard size, all had smallish single combs, and all lay large brown eggs: 1. Black and white barred feathers, WHITE legs - barred rock, I'm assuming? He called it a "dominecker", but I know its NOT a dominique - the barring on each feather is much wider than I think a dominique's would be. 2. Solid black, except for gold hackle feathering, BLACK legs. (My heart jumped at first, thinking BCM, but the eggs were no where NEAR as dark as I've seen in pictures). 3. Red and white - not a "pied" type pattern, and not "lacing" - hard to describe, but it gave the bird a "streaked" look. White legs. I'll try and get back down there again this week to get pics, but if you all can give me some possible breeds based on these descriptions, I can look them up and hopefully match them up. Thanks so much!
1. Could be barred rock or cuckoo maran - Barred rocks start out with yellow legs, but the legs fade as they get older. I was just noticing that my barred rocks' legs are white now (at only 10 months old) even though they used to be yellow. Cuckoo marans have white legs from the start - their barring is not as clear as the BR and their eggs would be darker. 2. Black sexlink? You can see a picture of one of mine that is black with the gold neck on my BYC page. 3. Red sexlink? Just a guess because there are no pictures. BRs, BSL, & RSLs are all great egg layers and easy to find - your uncle would probably have paid more if his chickens were marans
Thanks Arizona! You hit the nail(s) right on the head! The barred hens were definitely barred rocks, that is, if their legs tend to fade to white as they age. The black hens looked just like your bird "Pecker". And I looked up red sex links and ID'd those red hens as such. He couldn't have paid more than 10 bucks or so for the whole lot, so I doubt any of them are marans. Now I gotta get down there and worm them. He was complaining of getting only 4 eggs a day from 9 hens, so I asked when he wormed them last. He replied that he's had chickens for 70 years and never heard of them having worms, so I went out and checked - SURE ENUF! They're loaded... But thanks so much for your time!
