Old English Game

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Not to be confused with Old English name.

Old English Game
Bantam cock and hen
Conservation status
  • Breed association (2002): secure[1]
  • FAO (2007): not at risk[2]: 152 
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    • Carlisle: up to 2.94 kg[3]: 207 
    • Oxford: 1.8–2.5 kg[3]: 214 
    • Bantam: 620–740 g[3]: 222 
  • Female:
    • Carlisle: up to 2.50 kg[3]: 207 
    • Oxford: 0.9–1.36 kg[3]: 214 
    • Bantam: 510–620 g[3]: 222 
Egg colourwhite tinted[4]
Comb typesingle
Classification
APAall other standard breeds[5]
EEyes[6]
PCGBhard feather[7]
  • Chicken
  • Gallus gallus domesticus

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: the Carlisle Old English Game and the Oxford Old English Game]].[7] There is an Old English Game bantam.[7][8]

Characteristics

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The Old English Game has many colour variants. In Britain, thirteen colours are recognised for the Carlisle type, and thirty for the Oxford type,[4] while the Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture lists thirty-three.[6] Twenty-eight are recognised by the American Poultry Association,[5]

Use

[edit]

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]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Old English Game.
  1. ^ Breed data sheet: Old English Game / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Chicken). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2025.
  2. ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Victoria Roberts (2008). British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 9781405156424.
  4. ^ a b c d Old English Game. Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed November 2016.
  5. ^ a b APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
  6. ^ a b Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
  7. ^ a b c Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
  8. ^ Breed data sheet: Old English Game (miniature) / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Chicken). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2025.