Photos for nnbreeder (or anyone) to identify please

[Lucylou]

Hi nnbreeder & anyone else that can help identify my chook.

He's possibly an Asian Hard Feather breed but I'm uncertain, all I know about him is that he possibly came as a fetilised egg from a farm that does have some rare breeds. I got him at approx 14/16 weeks (she wasn't sure exactly when they hatched!)

I have managed to take some photos of ' Scruffy' today. Despite best efforts he didn't want to oblige. I couldn't get any pictures of him standing upright so I've included 1 photo taken about 7 weeks ago, soon after he was hen pecked & the damage to his head is quite visible, before this he had feathers on his head which are starting to grow back now, as seen in the other picts. Can't remember if the feathers stood up on his head before he was attacked.

He always was a funny little thing, different from the others & had a sort of 'wobble' as if he was unstable on his legs. Not knowing otherwise I just thought he was the 'runt' of the brood.

He's about 7 months old now & a lovely chap, very friendly to me & easily handled. Anyone that knows about these breeds I'd welcome your input.

Many Thanks.
P.S. Happy New Year Everyone

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Lucylou,
he is lovely,I can see the similarities in him to an Asil,it's just his stance isn't as up-right.Maybe he's a crossbreed,which would explain his punky feathering on his head.

 

[nnbreeder]

The full feathering in the neck kind of threw me off for a bit it looks like he could be a Reza Asil. Here is a near perfect match that I found on the web.

My other choice would be a Boles Asil but they were bred here in the U.S. and I don't have any idea whether any made it to the U.K.. Chances are your bird is part of a breeding program to "improve" a line of birds.

 

[Lucylou]

Thanks nnbreeder, its good to know that I'm on the right track. Being fairly new to chicken keeping I didn't know about the hard feather asians & had never seen one.
I have looked up Reza Asil on the internet & you're right,he is very similar, the one thing I don't know is what he will look like when fully mature. I have read that Asians take much longer to reach maturity so I'm assuming he's still a young lad & got a long way to go! he's already quite big, twice the size of my other hens & even taller than the Marans which are biggest of all my girls, but very gentle nature.
Thanks for your info.

 

[nnbreeder]

The Boles Asil in the bottom pic is full grown and that is a 55 gallon barrel behind him. Generally it takes a full three years for them to get their full height and weight. If you compare Scruffy's weight to another bird roughly his size he should be much heavier. The weight of an Oriental game should suprise those not familiar with the breeds.

If he was raised with other birds he is much less likely to fight with those he was raised with. But if new stock is brought in he will not be as willing to back down from them. As you have already found he will be your best buddy and you will never be afraid to turn your back on him as with other roosters like Leghorns or even Rhode Island Reds.