[Button Moon]

We bought a bantam cockerel and hen last summer (around £8 each), but not sure what breed they are. The cockerel has feathered legs, the hen has a couple of feathers on her legs, and both chickens have back toes that point upwards rather than being horizontal (so they are not usually used for walking or for perching). The hen is white with black feathers on the tail and around the neck, and lays large eggs for her size! Photos attached.

Does anyone know what the breed is?

[jhub]

not too sure but is the cock bird a dorking and the hen a light sussex?

[Casey76]

Sorry can't help you there but both are very pretty (sorry to the boy for calling him pretty!)

jhub, I dont' think the boy is a Dorking.  Dorkings have 5 toes, and the cock in the photo has 4 toes and a well developed spur

The hen could be a LS cross, but I don't think she is pure LS - the hackle feathers look to be more spangled than "laced", and LS don't have white ear lobes

[Button Moon]

Thanks for the suggestions! I was wondering if they had some Dorking / Light Sussex in them. Was hoping they were a pure breed but I suspect they aren't. Speaking of toe number, yes both the bantams here have 4 toes, but we have bred the bantam cockerel with some of our hybrid hens (goldline, speckled star, black star and white star - which all have 4 toes) and the resulting chicks have ended up with 5 toes! Not sure if this is some sort of deformity because of the hybrid hens being very inbred, or because the cockerel carries genes for 5 toes (from having some Dorking in him?). Apart from this the chicks are normal!

[jhub]

Sorry can't help you there but both are very pretty (sorry to the boy for calling him pretty!)

jhub, I dont' think the boy is a Dorking.  Dorkings have 5 toes, and the cock in the photo has 4 toes and a well developed spur

whoops- looked like 5 toes on left foot on first inspection....

[Mulberry1990]

Your white one looks identical to mine! She's apparently a mixture of white sussex and something else that I have completely forgotten the name of (so not very helpful sorry!)

[wildwitchy]

I'd say your cock bird is a old english bantam silver duckwing.

http://www.poultryhelp.com/sdoepics.html