Speckled Sussex or Not?

[Matejka]

I have welsummer, speckled sussex, and rir. When little the welsummer/speckled sussex looked close to each other, the only difference was leg color. Then the speckles started showing.

 

[Matejka]

Month old going to New home in coop

 

[NatJ]

I can't see the comb clearly enough to be sure, but I think that chick may be a Dark Cornish. Dark Cornish would have a pea comb (more likely a little flat thing, not the rows of "peas" that some other breeds have.)

Dark Cornish may look small, because their feathers stay close to the body instead of fluffing out, but they tend to feel quite heavy when you pick them up, because they are a pretty solid chunk of meat & bones.

Despite being a bit extra meaty, Dark Cornish from a hatchery can be considered a dual-purpose chicken, and you can raise them like any other normal chicken. Dark Cornish are NOT the same as a Cornish Cross meat chicken, that easily gets too fat and dies young.

"Show Quality" Cornish chickens from "good" breeders grow very wide and awkward, lay very few eggs, and can have trouble mating. But hatcheries have more practical types, bad for show but good for backyard flocks.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

Looks to be a Barnevelder to me personally, but definitely get a good comb picture as Dark Cornish is another possibility

 

[Kiahlyan]

I don't have a better picture of her comb currently, I am waiting on my friend to send one. But it looks like a straight comb, nothing really out of the ordinary unless I missed something. She is also the largest of the four of them. I don't think she is a Dark Cornish, you would have to go to an actual breeder to get one, I doubt they would just pop up. But I'll keep that breed in mind as she grows.

I wouldn't be surprised if she has Barnevelder in her since she looks so much like one, except a few details. It kinda hints at her being a cross. But with what I don't know.

And thanks for the photos Matejka, good reference. The SS I had kinda looked like that too, but the white specks came through. Unlike with Lucia here who has very minimal speckling.

Thank you everyone for your input, it really helps!

 

[NatJ]

She is also the largest of the four of them. I don't think she is a Dark Cornish, you would have to go to an actual breeder to get one, I doubt they would just pop up. But I'll keep that breed in mind as she grows.

Where did the chicks come from?

You can get Dark Cornish from McMurray Hatchery, from Ideal Poultry, from Privett Hatchery, and probably from some others as well. They seem to be a fairly common "rare breed" for hatcheries to carry.

 

[Kiahlyan]

We got our chicks from a Hatchery down in Victoria... Australia. A lot of chicken breeds are uncommon here. It took me 4 months to find myself a pair of modern game bantams, and someone who bought welsummers off us said they couldn't find them anywhere for weeks, and that's one our most common breeds!

That's really the only reason I doubt it's a Dark Cornish, since that breed would be more something you find at a specific breeder rather then a Hatchery. Or from what I know of the Hatcheries here.

 

[NatJ]

We got our chicks from a Hatchery down in Victoria... Australia. A lot of chicken breeds are uncommon here. It took me 4 months to find myself a pair of modern game bantams, and someone who bought welsummers off us said they couldn't find them anywhere for weeks, and that's one our most common breeds!

That's really the only reason I doubt it's a Dark Cornish, since that breed would be more something you find at a specific breeder rather then a Hatchery. Or from what I know of the Hatcheries here.

That makes sense. In that case, you are probably right to assume it's not a Dark Cornish.


I have the bad habit of assuming that everyone lives in the same country I do (USA), unless they say otherwise. I definitely need to stop doing that!

 

[Kiahlyan]

Haha, it's all good. I have found myself doing that on occasion. You sometimes forget how much you are open to the world until someone actually brings it up.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Thank you both. I had a feeling that was the case, unfortunately I'm gonna have to break that in for my friend. She wants a multiflock but as she is looking so much like her other chicken, the Barnevelder. Is she possibly the same breed?

Or if anyone has any suggestions on what she is that would be great, whether she looks like a pure or not.

I think it’s a Barnevelder.