These are new to the farm, having received chicks from Sand Hill Preservation Center in the summer of 2024. They are currently a challenge to work with because the gene pool is tiny in the US. In truth, they are pretty rare in the UK also, and really need more breeders to keep them in diverse locations with segregated breeding groups.
The only color in the US is Cuckoo, a black barred color. What makes them most distinctive is that some possess the gene for short legs. As far as I know, this is the only large fowl breed with that gene as part of its standard. The Japanese Bantam (aka Chabo) also has this gene. What makes this gene hard to work with is that it is lethal in a homozygous state. That means every live chicken with this gene has just 1 copy of the gene, paired with a normal gene for normal length legs. If both parent are short legged, then about 25% of the chicks will have 2 copies and will never hatch. Of the ones that do hatch, about 2/3 of them will have short legs and the rest normal legs. If only 1 parent has the short leg gene, then the chicks are all viable and about half will have the short legs.
As a breed, they have proven to be quite cold hardy (their Scottish heritage I think) and good layers of small to medium, light brown eggs. They are very calm birds, and I see no reason not to recommend them as pets for backyard flocks. I am planning to keep most of the chicks that hatch in 2025, unless a serious breeder inquires about them. If they prove easy to hatch and raise, I should have a much larger flock in a year and be able to offer them in 2026.
The pics below are of Fiona, a pullet that fell behind her peers in the brooder and had now found a comfortable winter home in my garage with 2 frizzle bantam pullets. Her color pattern is unique, I have never seen a barred chicken that look like her. I found out that this is genetic and a characteristic of one of the breeding groups kept by Sand Hill. Once she is laying, I will arrange some conjugal visits from one of the males, but for now she is “chillin with her peeps”.
