What kind of an odd Barred Rock is this?

[Calomel]

Last month I received a call from the feed store, letting me know there were some chicks left over from an order and would I like to maybe take some home? Well, who can resist those fluffy little faces? We brought home two; a Golden Comet and what I was told is supposed to be a Barred Rock. But I'm beginning to wonder if the BR is one, or maybe just a not-quite-standard one? Looking at pictures of other 5-week BR chicks, her barring is more like speckles than bars and she's got feather tufts on her legs, which I'm pretty sure Barred Rocks aren't supposed to have. Her legs aren't wholly yellow, either, having a sort of grayish-black color to them. Is that just because she's young?

Since I'm not that familiar with Barred Rocks, this being the first I've ever owned, maybe someone here can help? She came from Cackle Hatchery.

 

[ramirezframing]

looks more like a cuckoo marans

 

[Nicole01]

I agree that's a marans. They are nice hens and lay nice eggs. I have one myself. They also like to go broody once in a while too(mine does anyways).

 

[Fred's Hens]

The yellow legs don't match with the requirements of a Marans either.

I've had some "Barred Rock" pullets with a very similar look. The "barring" improved greatly with age, but the truth is that these hatchery birds are bred to lay, lay, lay. To accomplish this, the birds are sorely tilted in their breeding. Blood from Mediterranean breeds are mixed in. You can see the influence in the tails, over all body size, and later one sees combs inappropriate for the Barred Rock. It's just the way it is.

Hatchery BR simply aren't bred to type. But then, neither would a hatchery Marans be bred to type.

So if it is healthy and happy, you'd likely be happy with that.

 

[Nicole01]

Maybe a marans/barred rock mix?

I've gotten a couple mixed breeds from the hatchery before.

 

[debid]

Do a search on "commercial black". Mixed breed brown egg layer with cuckoo markings.

 

[Calomel]

Hatchery BR simply aren't bred to type. But then, neither would a hatchery Marans be bred to type.

So if it is healthy and happy, you'd likely be happy with that.

Absolutely! She's the mellower of the two girls and very sweet, I think she's fantastic. I was just curious, since she didn't seem to fit the "barred rock" as I'd read about them.

Thank you so much for your posts everyone, it's wonderful to have a resource like BYC.