What is she?

[Lybe8438]

A couple of days ago the neighbor came banging on the door saying a dog was running down the road with one of our chickens. I knew all of our girls were locked up in their pen which is 100% secure....But I wanted to see what this was all about and save the chicken from the dog...I retrieved the chicken from the dog fairly easily but she was missing all of her tail feathers and most back feathers but otherwise was unharmed. I asked around the other neighbors that have chickens and none of them were missing any birds so we decided to add her to the flock. She must be a fairly young bird as her eggs are pretty small and are a darker mocha colored much darker than the rest of the eggs we get. Anyone have any idea what breed she is? or is she just a mutt? I threw in a picture of her near our Dominique hen for comparison.

 

[Yellow chicky]

Lucky she's laying she might be traumatized, if she's young eggs may grow bigger in time, she looks like an uncommon breed, and looks like an overgrown. Quail

 

[Michael OShay]

She's not a Dominique as they have rose combs, not is she a Barred Rock which have yellow legs. The barred (or cuckoo) pattern, single comb, and whitish legs mark her out as a Cuckoo Marans.

 

[Summertime7921]

X2 cuckoo marans.

 

[Teila]

Sorry, I am not experienced enough to say what breed she is and will leave that to those more knowledgeable.

I just wanted to say kudos to you for saving her and how lovely it is to see her in the company of other chickens after her traumatic ordeal; such a lucky little girl

 

[Lybe8438]

thanks for all of the help!

 

[Michael OShay]

thanks for all of the help!

You're welcome.

 

[kari_dawn]

I concur. cuckoo marans. Have you put up flyers for her or checked surrounding neighborhoods for chicken owners you don't know yet? If I lost a cuckoo marans, I would be pretty upset. Especially if she was a pet like most of ours are....I feel so bad for the person who lost her especially since it doesn't look like she was poorly kept.

 

[Lybe8438]

I put up a flyer at the feed store about her... But I know there were some people down the road that moved two weeks ago that had chickens...I wonder if she came from their flock.

 

[kari_dawn]

if I were you, I wouldn't put a picture on the flyer, or state her breed. just say she is a stripy chicken, then make them tell you her breed before letting her go to anyone anyway. Chances are, if they have a cuckoo marans, they will know her breed. It is also possible they moved away without her...have you checked to see if there are any other chickens that got left behind? I want to leg band my chickens with my address and phone number just incase something like this ever happens. I would be devastated if one of my girls disappeared especially never knowing that she was alive and well.