Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 1, 2026

Old English Game

The Old English Game is a British breed of domestic chicken. It was probably originally bred for cockfighting. Two different standards are recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain: the Carlisle Old English Game and the Oxford Old English Game. There is an Old English Game bantam.

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Jul 1, 2026
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Old English Game
Golden duckwing bantam cock and hen
Conservation status
  • Breed association (2002): secure1
  • FAO (2007): not at risk2: 152 
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    • Carlisle: up to 2.94 kg3: 207 
    • Oxford: 1.8–2.5 kg3: 214 
    • Bantam: 620–740 g3: 222 
  • Female:
    • Carlisle: up to 2.50 kg3: 207 
    • Oxford: 0.9–1.36 kg3: 214 
    • Bantam: 510–620 g3: 222 
Egg colourwhite tinted4
Comb typesingle
Classification
APAall other standard breeds5
EEyes6
PCGBhard feather7
  • Chicken
  • Gallus gallus domesticus
Black-breasted Red Game, illustration by Harrison Weir, 1867 source ↗

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.78

Characteristics

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

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

References

  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. 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. Old English Game. Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed November 2016.
  5. APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
  6. 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. 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.