Do you remember the story of our “Jimmy” chicken?
A couple of springs ago, we had a Buff Orpington hen who wanted to be a mother. She hoarded eggs, puffed and hissed, feathered her nest—but to no avail, because we had no rooster. We tried all the tricks we knew to break her broodiness, and finally in desperation we called Farmer Jim across the road (who DOES have a rooster—several, in fact), and begged three fertilized eggs.
Three weeks later, one egg hatched. A fluffy black chick peeked out from behind his mom’s blonde feathered back. We named the chick Jimmy.
Now, there are plenty of reasons for adopting a chick –feathered, furry or human. I know from personal experience that an adopted grandchild is just as much our family as all the other grandchildren– I forget most of the time that she isn’t biologically related. Jimmy’s mother was the same –her chick was HERS. In fact, Jimmy’s mother coddled her only chick to the extent that we never were able to pick the chick up—Jimmy “peeped” until he was much too big to be peeping, and slept in the same next box under his mother’s wing even after he was bigger than his mother.
Jimmy grew and grew. When he was too big to sleep in the nest box with his mother, they graduated to side by side on a roost. His comb grew, a little. His little comb turned bright red. In the fall of that year, Jimmy began laying eggs.
Two years later, Jimmy has been through a molt, regained all HER feathers, and is laying well again. She’s still very close to her mother, but she’s friendlier with me and with some of the other hens in the coop. She’s a lovely big, black hen.
Sometimes, with adoptions, there are reasons for wanting to know parentage. Perhaps there’s a medical question, or perhaps it’s just curiosity. In Jimmy’s case—it’s my curiosity. I would really like to know what breed (breeds?) of chicken make up Jimmy’s genetic background.
With all of the knowledge in our Chicken Community, I thought if I gave you the clues, you might be able to give me an answer.
So.
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| Jimmy with some of her friends (that’s her mom just behind her) |
Clue #1: Jimmy is a big hen. She’s slightly bigger and heavier than our Buff Orpington hens.
Clue #2: She has a fairly small rose comb. At least, I think that’s a rose comb.
Clue #3: Jimmy has feathery legs. Not lots of feathers, but a few.
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| Feathers on Jimmy’s baby legs |
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| Closeup of Jimmy’s adult feathered leg |
Clue #4: She lays big pink eggs. I can always tell her eggs by the lovely bloom—and they are definitely the “pinkest” brown eggs in the nest boxes.
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| That’s Jimmy’s pink egg right in front–the biggest one, too! |
Can you help satisfy my curiosity? Can you use these clues to give me an idea of Jimmy’s heritage?
23 Comments
Black star or black sex linked
Thank you all for sharing your stories and educated guesses! I love hearing about all your
broody mamas” that have adopted –even from other varieties of poultry. To answer your questions, when in the sun, Jimmy has more of a “coppery” tint to her feathers than blue. She is, no doubt, a Black Farm Chicken, a cross of some sort, but you have given me some terrific clues as to her ancestry. The farmer has chickens. That’s really all he knows about them–they’ve been gathered at various swap meets, and have crossed, laid eggs in each others’ nests, raised broods that might or might not belong to the mother hen. Thanks again for all the comments!
A few years ago we had a female duck that hoarded her eggs but without a male around, they just went bad as she would not let us collect them. We had chickens as well so we collected chicken eggs for about 10 days then when she was off her “nest” we switched the duck eggs with the chicken eggs. She hatched out 10 baby chickens and loved them because they were “her babies”!!! She had no idea they were chickens & they had no idea she was a duck. We called the babies “chucks” 🙂
why not ask the farmer you got them from what type of chickens he has? I think its a mix of some kind- maybe just a “farm chicken”
I have a Midget White Turkey hen who loves to set on eggs. We named her Broody. So far she has hatched and raised 3 Midget White poults, 2 Rhode Island Reds and 3 bantam Mille Fleurs. I can just imagine the bantams walking around the yard telling the other chickens “My Mom is bigger than yours”. Broody actually cared and watched over them til they were 6 months old. It’s a real sight to see.
Jimmy looks like my Black Jersey Giants, although they do not have feathered feet. They do lay those big pink eggs, though.
Well… what breeds does the neighbor (her genetic ‘hood) keep?
French Black Copper Marans.
French Black Marans is what she looks like to me.I had one and she looked like your adopted chick.
I am thinking maybe a Black jersey giant or black astralorp mixed with a dark brahma…hence the feathers on the feet. just guessing but she looks just like my jersey giant except for the feet that is why I beleive she is mixed with a dark brahma.
I completely agree! My guess is also a cross between a Jersey Giant and a Dark Brahma. I had a hen just like your Jimmy…her name was Alia. I still miss that sweet, snuggly little Darling.
What a great luv story!It really made me smile & feel warm & fuzzy.
Thanks for sharing!
Jimmy looks like my black copper marans. I Loved the story!
Jimmy looks exactly like my black Austrolops
Really nice story, well written. Could picture each step. In my opinion she has some cochin due to the feathered feet.
Hope’s Hen House, Townsend, MA
Looks like a Black Austrolorp X with a Cochin.
Rumpley
She looks just like my black Australorps.
sweetfudge2@gmail.com
Except for the feathery feet I’d say Black Austrolop. Does she have the blue coloring on her black feathers? My BA’s lay “pretty pink” even to almost violet eggs.
I have a Black Langshan, and your description of Jimmy sounds very much like her. She is large, lays pink eggs, and has feathered legs, though she has a lot more feathers on her legs(covering her feet)than Jimmy. Maybe yours is a mix. Though our Langshan is not a terrific layer, she is a beautiful hen.
Jimmy looks almost exactly like my Black Chicken. Black Chicken is a black Jersey Giant. The difference is the feathering on the legs and a slightly different comb. Black Chicken’s comb is a small single comb. One of my ducks did an adoption – my Mallard hen Pip adopted an egg from a Rouen – Pekin cross. The baby outgrew Mom in about 2 weeks and the sight of tiny little Pip with a gigantic baby following her around was hysterical. They stayed very close as adults too.
Thanx for another great article. I love the interaction between a mama and her babies. I have a mama Buff Orphington, Buffy, who has laid on two batches of eggs but each time, only one has hatched/survived. She really pampered her babies. I would like to see her raise at least 3 at one time; would love to see that interaction. The first one was a Black Australorp and a Brown Leghorn combo, Mira (miracle she survived). The second one is a Black Copper Maran. Mama didn’t care who’s eggs she was laying on, just that she was. So it was a surprise to see what type of chick hatched as I have 12 different varities of chickens!
She is a black langshan? What ever she is, she is gorgeous!
Put golf balls in her nest find or buy chicks, go in at night and switch she can’t count and or don’t know how long she has been setting. Take advantage of a broody hen she is better than an incubator.