hello,

i need to know what kind or rooster i have. here's my story, i was doing a poultry project for the 4-h association so that in the fall i would show and sell six of my black sex links pullets. sadly in the flock there wasn't a rooster. after the show and sell i got into another project which involes hatching a flock of my own. here's my problem, one of my friends gave me a rooster and we have no idea what breed it is, and that's a requirment for the project so maybe some one out there can tell me what he is. he has orange-red eyes, his body is striped black and white but more white than black and he stands about a foot and a half, weights around ten pounds, has big proud tail feathers that stand high and curl a bit, and a large full cone, and last of all a little white streak on eah side of his beak. and one more question if you know what it is will the eggs be fertile enough to hatch. he seems to be breeding pretty well. thanks

OK: first you need to determine some more facts. The colors you describe sound like silver penciled varieties. You say his "Comb" is full.I'll take that to mean it's a single blade with several points from the top.That would indicate a single comb. Now I'll assume since you did'nt mention it that it is a clean legged bird (no feathers on his legs or feet). That being the case, What you probably have is a Silver Penciled Rock.If it has feathered legs, it's either a Bramah or a Cochin.Tell them apart by their combs. Bramah's have small rose ( flat and wide) combs.You indicate you have a small number of hens,like dogs cross bred chickens are very prolific.Fertile? Yes!

Thanks!!!

I don't know that much about colorings, but I'd say it's a Silver Laced breed, because I thought silver penciled were grayish. Jaraco seems to know what he's talking about though.

When someone says "striped black and white" I think of the Barred type of plumage. Could this be a Barred Rock?

Fellows Please correct me if you think I'm mistaken.I was going by other clues as well as the color discription.Let's take another look.He describes a single comb,so not a Wyandotte.It weighs about ten pounds,so probably not Mediteranian.No english breeds to match this discription,nor continental.Must be American.Barred Rocks have usually been described to me as gray striped,but maybe,remember the barred pattern is a pigment suppressing factor that has two genes in females and only one in males so they do appear lighter.That does pretty much leave us with a Rock and since he did describe it as having more white than black it may well be a Columbian Rock.I would have thought a Columbian would have been described as a white bird with some black striping. If the person who asked the question would give a clearer discription then perhaps we could all conclude finally what he has.Thanks to everyone who answered as you have given me pause to be more considerate of my answers. Hope I can help further ,again Thanks Randy Henry (JaRaCo)

HI , It's me again(the one that got this all started up. I'm armed and ready with more clues. I will be checking this everyday if possible so keep the info rolling in. Okay here we go 1.) instead of thick feathers in and around his neck he has thin strand like feathers 2.) he does have clean legs 3.) when I say striped I mean these are really thin stripes 4.) He does have a single comb with several points 5.) He also has yellowish legs 6.)i live in the southern region near tennessee

hope this helps

Appreciate any addvice
thanks in advance
anonymous