That is a nice looking BB Red Old English Game Bantam rooster. I raise a few of the Silver Duckwing OEGBs myself.
Feral chicken
well, QueenB, good luck with that, sems he only has eyes for you! And a gorgeous guy he is!
DuckWingMtn, beautiful birds? May i ask why the cocks comb is different fromt the hen's?
and also, just curious, at what age should i be able to differentiate between cockerels and pullets of rose combed brown leghorns? and is it the top feathers that are pointed or rounded?
thanks, tf
Thank you! But shhhh...Buddy is at the mirror behind my couch right now, admiring himself. I think he already knows what a pretty boy he is! He's so funny. He always challenges his reflection, then he just stands there and stares it down. If he didn't feel the need to eat or cuddle, I think he'd be doing that for hours.
Our Feral is definately a hen. Easter, our free range one eyed rooster, is madly in love with her.
trois
i thought you said she crowed! this is to funny... but i am happy for Easter ;-)
I think she has made every chicken noise available. I guess it worked, she got Easter.
The comb, wattles and earlobes on the male are 'dubbed' or trimmed. This is a common practice for most Game breeds as the Standard requires it for showing in single comb Game breeds. It also prevents frostbite of the comb.
Oh so the feral chicken was a hen. You said she crowed. Sometimes hens will make a sound similar to a crow when they are lost or seperated from the other chickens they are used to being around. About the only times I have witnessed a hen crowing was when I seperated one into another pen away from the chickens she had been with.
I have a hen that behaves 'manly' around other hens. Is she confused or is she really a rooster?? Or what??
It's a mystery to me.
"The comb, wattles and earlobes on the male are 'dubbed' or trimmed."
was that in answer to my question? because i was referring to what you called saddle feathers...
i have one trying to crow in the mornings. but his comb is single, i don't know if that could be a genetic crop out or a mismarked egg, but he sure is nice looking. i hope to find him a better home than the pot, since he is an antiquity breed...
Saddle feathers drape off the male's back behind the wing and in front of the tail. They're long, thin and pointed and sometimes a contrasting color. Hackle feathers are the long, thin, pointed ones that are on a roos neck, and are sometimes the same color as the saddle.
Stacey
This message was edited Apr 27, 2006 5:09 AM
TamaraFaye you wrote:
"DuckWingMtn, beautiful birds? May i ask why the cocks comb is different fromt the hen's?"
I replied:
"The comb, wattles and earlobes on the male are 'dubbed' or trimmed."
Then you wrote again:
"was that in answer to my question? because i was referring to what you called saddle feathers...
My reply:
"I don't know what the saddle feathers have to do with the comb. You have me a little confused on this one."
Duckwing, nice to meet you. Since you are very knowledgable in this area, are Old English Game roosters' regular comb and wattles large, or smaller. Perhaps all the pictures I have seen are of roosters that have already been dubbed. Another problem for me, is that I want large comb and wattles, but live in frigid zone 4. Help! Any advice you could offer, I would appreciate. BAM
Easter, the one eyed rooster and his girlfriend.
Easter crowing about it.
Hey duckwing, sorry i was the confused one LOL Now i understand which question you were answering, as i had forgotten i even asked it!
;-)
thanks for the info Stacey!
glad Easter has something to crow about!
tf
Easter appears to have some feathered legs. Is he part Cooochin? LOL
He was a colored Easter gift a couple of years ago. No idea what he might be. I don't know that much about chickens. He does have redish, feathered feet.
trois
BAM, Undubbed Old English Games normally have single combs that are medium sized, which is larger than rose combs or pea combs or dubbed birds, but smaller than larger single combs like what Leghorns' have. The comb size will vary somewhat between different strains of Old English Games. You can see what a typical OE Game male comb looks like in QueenB's photo above in this thread with her BB Red OE Game Bantam rooster.
If you keep the Old English Games in a real cold climate the top spikes may get frostbitten but that usually will not be detrimental to the birds health. The frostbitten part will turn black and eventually just fall off and the bird will be fine. It will help to provide them with a chicken house in which they can get in out of the cold winter wind and rain, but their comb may still get frostbitten a little if it is extremely cold. I wouldn't worry about it too much. If only the very highest points of their spikes freeze off it won't change their appearance that much.