The Narragansett sometimes has bars of white feathers on its wings due to a genetic mutation not found outside the United States.

It has a black beard, a horn-colored beak, and a mostly featherless head and neck which range in color from red to blueish white.

They mature early, are good egg producers, have excellent quality meat, and "when kept at liberty, [it] doesn't wander too far from home".

It was not commercially cultivated for many decades until the early 21st century when a growing niche market was established for consumers with a "renewed interest in the biological fitness, survivability, and superior flavor" of the Narragansett.

Never accepted by the American Poultry Association and very rare, Silver Narragansett mutations still occasionally appear in flocks of more typically colored birds.