Hybrid rooster

Back in the spring, I asked my father to save me some Rhode Island Red eggs from his flock.  I wanted to try out the breed, and knew that he had both hens and a rooster that would breed true.

Unfortunately, his flock was also full of Golden Comet hens, but Daddy and I were positive that we'd picked out the Rhode Island Red eggs for our brooding experiment.  It turns out we were positively wrong!

Take a look at the result of the experiment --- notice how our young rooster has white mottling on his tail and around his neck?  Clearly, this isn't a pure breed Rhode Island Red.  Instead, the genetics of his White Rock grandmother are showing through.  Nevertheless, I've decided that this cockerel will father next year's broiler experiment...as long as he stops pecking at my sandaled feet.