Old English Chicken Game: Features and Breed Information

As its name suggests, the Old English game chicken is one of the oldest varieties of poultry. The breed originated from ancient cockfighting birds (known as pit game) brought to Britain in the 1st century by the Romans.

And the breed has been seen in Britain since the 19th century and hasn’t changed much in over a thousand years.

Old English game fetches a very high price and is popular with poultry farmers. Today, poultry farmers have kept the breed for poultry competitions and have tried to develop breeding. In the past, standard Old English game roosters were originally bred for cockfighting.

But in the 1850s, cockfighting became illegal in Australia and Britain, and now Old English game chickens are usually kept only by poultry enthusiasts. This breed is probably the first chicken breed ever bred in Britain. And they were used in the breeding of many other breeds.

Today, the Old English game chicken is bred primarily for display or ornamental purposes. There are many colorful varieties of this breed of chickens. There is a bantam version of the Old English Game chicken. Below are the breed’s characteristics, behavior, and full profile.

Features of the Old English Game Chicken

The Old English chick is a small bird with dense feathers. It stands upright with a bulging chest, which makes the bird appear larger.

The traditional English gamebird has a muscular, compact body, broad shoulders with hard, shiny feathers. They have large necks with strong heads.

Their beaks are large and well curved. They have an indomitable spirit and big fearless eyes. They have small earlobes and thin beards and their comb is a single comb.

Old English Game Bantam Rooster & Hen

Combs and earrings are red. Their skin color is white. This breed of chickens has short and strong legs, and the wings are large and powerful. They have four fingers ending in long curved nails. Since they have very good musculature, they are excellent for meat production.

On average, standard English game roosters weigh around 2.26kg and hens around 1.18kg. This breed of chickens has many color varieties. Some popular varieties are black, white, glitter, pyle red, brown red, golden duck, black breast red, taupe, brass back, etc. Image from Wikipedia.

Behaviour/Temperament

The Old English Game Chicken is very popular with poultry enthusiasts due to its gameiness, alertness, upright appearance and self-confidence. The breed tends to be loud, very active, and intolerant of confinement. They are excellent foragers and are ideal for keeping free-range chickens.

Roosters are aggressive and should not be kept together. Old English game roosters are very territorial and will defend their territory against other invading roosters. For this reason, it is recommended to keep males separately after six months of age. If roosters are kept together, they will fight to the death.

Old English game hens are also aggressive and should not be kept with other more docile breeds. Hens lie well, they make excellent reliable producers and very caring mothers. They produce medium sized white eggs.

Old English chickens have a fighting temperament from a young age and mature quite slowly. The Old English game chicken is also known for its longevity. Its life expectancy is on average 15 years or more. Bentham is very good as a pet. See this chicken breed’s full profile below.

video

Breed nameold english game
another nameeverything
Purpose of the breedExhibition / Ornament
Broad temperamentFriendly, talkative, does not tolerate confinement, aggressive
Breed sizebig
sullen instinctfrequent
combA
climatic toleranceAll climates
egg colorWhite
Egg sizemedium
Egg performancemedium
feathered feetNot
scarcityAvailable
VarietiesThe Old English game chicken has many color varieties. Some popular varieties are: Black, White, Bright, Pyle Red, Brown Red, Golden Duckwing, Black Breasted Red, Dark Brown, Brass Back, etc.
Native countryEngland
You can bookmark this page