I've been around Thai/Brazilian/Asil/Shamo roosters since I was young.... but still don't know how to tell the difference between them. On my grandparents farm, they automatically know what type of rooster/hen it is just by looking at it. How do you tell? What are the characteristics of each breed?

I find it's incredibly different when you raise your own as opposed to walking onto someone's yard and trying to pick them out. Raising your own, you have a personal stake in them. You interact with them on a daily basis and it's easy to tell which bird is which breed. Eventually that will help you be able to identify strange fowl, but not always.

I saw a stag for sale at a flee market a few weeks ago. It looked very much oriental but it was a mix because it had been dubbed. I had to ask if it was aseel or shamo. The guy said it was shamo (or shamu as he pronounced it ) and about a 1/4 Spanish (which explained where the comb came from).

I'm still new to the orientals; I still have much to learn!

thai brazil and shmo look the most alike but shamo are heaver high stance birds with a upright look thai seems to go more vertical to me and birzil i cant ell u much bought ant asils are thick can be big as well but look more permitice and dont look as tall as the rest all good breeds it best to chose one but if u can have all of em lol

Recognition of the various breeds comes with familiarizing yourself with them through research. Of course what some call asil, shamo (shamu, LOL), thai, etc.... are far from what I would expect to see.... One mans shamu is another mans soup bird...

I was talking to a guy about a white oriental stag he had for sale at a local flea market. I wanted to know what all was in the bird, 'cause I could tell he wasn't pure due to wattles and a dubbed comb. He told me it was a bout 1/4 spanish and 3/4 shamu. I had a hard time not laughing.

No, I didn't buy the stag.