[Goldfinger]

We are hoping to get our first chooks (only 4 mind  )in the next few weeks but are struggling with what to go for, because, we have been looking on two supplier web sites near us but think that they have the same chickens but different names for them 

So, we would like to know if....

A border coucou is the same as a speckldy,

A border blue is the same as a blue haze,

A border sussex is the same as a light sussex or amber link

And finally, is a columbine blacktail the same as the 'pennine blacktail' ??

[GrannieAnnie]

Like you said Goldfinger, different breeders and rearers and hatcheries call the same chickens by different names.

The word border is probably something to do with the area or name of the people whose website you are looking at? so...

a border coucou is probably similar to a speckeldy,
a border blue is probably similar to a blue haze or a bluebelle
a border sussex is probably a hybrid of a Light Sussex in that it may have the black collar of the Light Sussex, but an Amberlink is different, although it is also derived from the Light sussex crossed with a RIR.

Do these websites have accompanying photo's that you can compare?  I wouldn't worry too much about the names, just see what colour birds and what colour eggs they lay and make your choice from that!

I've never heard of a pennine blacktail, but yes it probably looks like a columbian blacktail, which also looks like the Babcock B380's I reared last year!

[Goldfinger]

Thanks grannie annie for that quick reply. The web sites I am looking at are the very ones recommended on on here, (Durham hens and Teviotdale).

I was thinking the same thing that people give breeds different names in different parts of the country, but wasn't sure...

What we have got our eyes on are,
1 Columbine Blacktail, 1 Speckledy, 1 Light Sussex and 1 Rhode Rock (or RIR, depending on where we end up going to).

And, OH is asking as I'm typing this.... Will these breeds 'get on with each other', and what will they be like around children??

[TeaPots]

They should be great  good choice 

[hillfooter]

We are hoping to get our first chooks (only 4 mind  )in the next few weeks but are struggling with what to go for, because, we have been looking on two supplier web sites near us but think that they have the same chickens but different names for them  

So, we would like to know if....

A border coucou is the same as a speckldy,

A border blue is the same as a blue haze,

A border sussex is the same as a light sussex or amber link

And finally, is a columbine blacktail the same as the 'pennine blacktail' ??

If you want consistancy with well defined characteristics get pure breeds and the only one in this list is the good old Light Sussex.  The rest are hybrids which are great for lots of eggs but don't expect consistency between small breeders so your question is a bit irrelevant.  It's like asking if one mongeral dog is the same as another produced by a different breeder just because they have been given similar sounding names.  The names of hybrids given by small breeders are just to give them attractive marketing descriptions and they aren't strictly breeds.

HF

[GrannieAnnie]

Actually Hillfooter, I think all on Goldfingers list are hybrids!  the border Sussex is probably the Light Sussex hybrid, but I can't think of the other name for it.  

and Goldfinger, Hillfooter is right about the temperaments etc.  I've had Amberlinks that people have bought from me and some people ove them, lovely birds, no probs at all, then someone else will phone me up and say boy they are a bit flighty aren't they?  Or They are terrible feather peckers, so I think there is good and bad in all

Also you mentioned a Rhode Rock or a RIR depending on which company you go for.  The Rhode rock is also a hybrid, cross between a Rhode Island Red and a Barred Plymouth Rock I believe, (Hillfooter, is a Rhode Rock the same as a Rhode Bar do you know?)

Whereas the RIR (Rhode Island Red) is a pure breed.  

[hillfooter]

Actually Hillfooter, I think all on Goldfingers list are hybrids!  the border Sussex is probably the Light Sussex hybrid, but I can't think of the other name for it.  

and Goldfinger, Hillfooter is right about the temperaments etc.  I've had Amberlinks that people have bought from me and some people ove them, lovely birds, no probs at all, then someone else will phone me up and say boy they are a bit flighty aren't they?  Or They are terrible feather peckers, so I think there is good and bad in all

Also you mentioned a Rhode Rock or a RIR depending on which company you go for.  The Rhode rock is also a hybrid, cross between a Rhode Island Red and a Barred Plymouth Rock I believe, (Hillfooter, is a Rhode Rock the same as a Rhode Bar do you know?)

Whereas the RIR (Rhode Island Red) is a pure breed.  

Certainly a RIR is a pure breed.  When I said hybrid I was using this term very loosely in fact some of these 'breeds' are probably first crosses which are crosses between pure breeds.  True hybrids have a much more complex genetic make up.  Larger commercial breeders who supply the poultry industry have a very tight control on the genetic make up of their birds and can reproduce them with consistent characteristics, but they still need to be created at each generation from breeder stock.  They don't of course breed true.  Smaller breeders who supply the hobbyist market can't be expected to have such a tight control on the genetic makeup of their breeder stock hence the proliferation of confusing names.

Rhodebars are an auto sexing pure breed where as Rhode Rocks are hybrids or maybe first crosses between RIR and Barred Plymouth so they aren't the same (Black Rocks are similar hybrids of RIR and BPR).  I'm no expert on hydrids or genetics so probably there're better informed breeders on here who can answer this in more detail.
HF