An ancient breed, Hamburghs were already common in northern England at the time of the Roman invasions. They were the first breed to be shown in organised exhibitions with competitions held in local inns in Yorkshire and Lancashire way back in the 1700's. In Australia, the Hamburgh was once a highly popular show fowl, but over the past 20 years have declined markedly. The difficulty of breeding the correct markings, keeping the head gear tidy, as well as their flighty nature have made them less popular. They come in 5 traditional colours with Blue and White recently standardised.
They are a wonderful laying breed, but their eggs are a little small. Their true value lies in the beauty of their exquisite colours and markings.

Originally developed in Cornwall, the Indian Game, or Cornish as it is known in America, has become a very popular show fowl around the world. An extremely heavy fowl, it has very dense muscle along with stout bone structure. Unfortunately, many strains have become far too short in the legs, which makes mating difficult. These strains must be artificially inseminated to achieve fertility. The Indian Game comes in large and bantam with the most popular colour being the Dark. In Australia, the other main colours seen are the Jubilee and the Blue-laced. On the showbench, The Indian Game is a worthy performer, often being among the major awards.

When cock-fighting was banned in the middle 1800's, the game fowls were taken up by showmen. The Modern Game fowl was developed solely for exhibition, with the important points of the fighting gamefowl being exaggerated and elongated. It was very popular in the late 1800's until high prices forced its demise. Nowadays, the large Modern Game is extremely rare, with the few specimens seen being of rather poor quality. However the bantams are still seen in good numbers with some strains being of very high quality. Black Reds, Piles, Duckwings, Birchen and Brown Reds are the most commonly seen colours. It is a stylish bird, which requires training to show at its best. It is not an easy fowl to breed.

The Old English is the traditional fighting fowl from Britain. Its origins are lost in the mists of time, yet the beauty of this fowl remains ever strong. Even though cock-fighting was banned over 150 years ago, the Old English is still possibly the most popular fowl in the world. They are a light, strong and lively breed, these traits coming from their fighting origins. They take pride of place as being the most popular show fowl in Australia today.
Old English Games are easy to breed and are very hardy, with the chicks growing quickly. They make wonderful mothers. Their biggest drawback is the requirement of the males to be dubbed for show and the fact that some strains show wildness and aggression. Both large and bantams are popular.

Originally developed by William Cook as a utility breed, the Orpington was taken up by show faddists and turned into a big fluffy parody of Cook's original bird. It was used extensively in the development of the Australorp. Orpingtons come in a limited range of colours, with black and buff being the most commonly found. They are quite popular as show birds, with the blacks in particular often winning major awards. Orpingtons are not particularly good layers, but they make good broodies. They tend to grow rather slowly, but the chicks are quite hardy. In Australia, both large and bantams are found. Like most English breeds, they have white skin and flesh and lay pinkish eggs.

The Sussex is an ancient meat breed, being developed from the old Surrey fowls. They are massive birds, with no upper weight limits being specified in the Australian standards. They are very popular on the showbench, with the Light variety being by far the most commonly found, however Speckled and Silver Sussex are being seen more frequently. Sussex come in large and bantam and are generally of very good quality in both. They are typical of English fowls, having white skin, legs and flesh and laying a tinted egg. They are quite hardy and do well on open range, being good foragers.
The chicks are easy to raise and they grow quickly.