Conservation status | Breed association (2002): secure
[1] FAO (2007): not at risk [2]: 152 |
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Country of origin | England |
Traits | |
Weight | |
Egg color | white tinted [4] |
Comb type | Single |
Classification | |
APA | All other standard breeds [5] |
PCGB | Hard feather [6] |
|
The Old English Game is a British breed of domestic chicken. It was probably originally bred for cockfighting. [4] Two different standards are recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain: Carlisle Old English Game and Oxford Old English Game. [6] There is also an Old English Game bantam. [6]
The Old English Game has many colour variants. Twenty-eight are recognised by the American Poultry Association, [5] while the Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture lists thirty-three. [7] In Britain, thirteen colours are recognised for the Carlisle type, and thirty for the Oxford type. [4]
Since the abolition of cock-fighting in 1849, the Old English Game has been kept primarily for show. Old English Game hens may lay about forty small tinted eggs in a year. [4]