Breeding advice for gamefowl?

I have some gamefowls hens that I acquired here and there and don't know their history. I bought two gamefowl roosters to breed them with a few days ago and I want to breed them with the roosters that share closer genetics. I don't think any of my hens or roosters are pure breed but they do seem to lean more heavily one way the or the other.

I have two hens which I believe to be of the American Grey variety and four that I think are of the Black Breasted Red variety.

Here are the hens I think are American Greys






Here are the hens I think are Black Breasted Reds







This rooster was sold to me as an American Grey Stag




I bought this rooster from the same person I bought the Grey Stag from and they said it was a Gamefowl rooster, but I do not remember what type they said it was (I was really only interested in the Grey Stag, but this one was too pretty to pass up).




After looking through endless pictures trying to determine the breed of the above rooster, it does appear that he might have some Black Breasted Red in him. My thought is to breed the four that I think are Black Breasted Reds with him and the two I believe to be American Greys with the Grey Stag. But since I have no earthly idea what I am talking about, because all I have done is looked at random information and pictures I have found on the internet, I would like to hear a more experienced opinion on the subject.

Nice looking fowl Jungleexplorer, looks like you done your research. The first two hens are what you would call buttermilk in
color, which is one type of grey hen. The other hens are black breasted reds and are partridge color. You have the right idea
as far as what hens to put with what roosters. So many bloodlines can resemble each other, so as far as their strain goes you
should contact the breeder or the person you got them from. But when I look at that black breasted red cock I do think he looks like
a Hatch but that's only a guess. Definitely American gamefowl though. How do you like them so far?

I love all of my hens. They are very hardy birds with lots of survival skill and attitude. I have only had the two cocks since Sunday, but they are very proud birds. I separated them in a divided pen, but they kept fighting through the fence so I had to put a piece of plywood up so they could not see each other. They have caused a big ruckus with my other birds that are out in the my large pen. I have three rooster that have lived in peace with each other for three years and this morning I awoke to find my five year old alph male white rooster covered with blood (but still standing) and a three year old red rooster beaten all most to death. My Grey Stag has a very wild attitude. He nailed me twice in the hand while I was working on the divider wall. He is extremely nervous and aggressive and seems to be the one instigating most of the fighting (even with hens). I like him that way though because my goal is to breed a flock of almost feral birds as free rangers.

I was doing some more research since I posted and I noticed that the red game rooster has green legs. I found that both Leiper an Hatch bred a Green Leg cocks. I also noticed that both the Grey Stag and the Red Stag have no comb. This quality (I don't know what to call it) seems to be also specific to Leiper and Hatch breeds from the pictures I have reviewed on the web.

So, you do think I have the right idea? Thanks.

Jungleexplorer said:

I love all of my hens. They are very hardy birds with lots of survival skill and attitude. I have only had the two cocks since Sunday, but they are very proud birds. I separated them in a divided pen, but they kept fighting through the fence so I had to put a piece of plywood up so they could not see each other. They have caused a big ruckus with my other birds that are out in the my large pen. I have three rooster that have lived in peace with each other for three years and this morning I awoke to find my five year old alph male white rooster covered with blood (but still standing) and a three year old red rooster beaten all most to death. My Grey Stag has a very wild attitude. He nailed me twice in the hand while I was working on the divider wall. He is extremely nervous and aggressive and seems to be the one instigating most of the fighting (even with hens). I like him that way though because my goal is to breed a flock of almost feral birds as free rangers.

I was doing some more research since I posted and I noticed that the red game rooster has green legs. I found that both Leiper an Hatch bred a Green Leg cocks. I also noticed that both the Grey Stag and the Red Stag have no comb. This quality (I don't know what to call it) seems to be also specific to Leiper and Hatch breeds from the pictures I have reviewed on the web.

So, you do think I have the right idea? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Jungleexplorer,
Your roosters at one time did have a comb. They were dubbed, which is the comb and wattles were cut off or trimmed down.
Here is a pic of my Leiper undubbed.
Notice he is pea combed, so his comb and wattles aren't that big as a straight comb. But either type of comb can still be dubbed.

most game breed chickens are dubbed, meaning that the wattles, comb, and earlobes are removed. this only really needs to be done to show birds as in the SOP they have to be dubbed to even be shown. also the hens are never dubbed just the roosters

all your chickens are pretty

Thanks for the information. I thought my rooster were bred to have no comb. I did not know that you could cut their combs off. Learn something new every day. Nice rooster gamelife.

Thanks for the compliment hdowden. I think they are pretty too, but that is not the reason I decided to try to breed Games. About four years ago, I moved out into the country and wanted to have some chickens for eggs. I went to flea markets and such and bought about twenty adult hens of different breeds to start off with. That is where I got these Game hens, although I did not know they were Game hens at the time. Then I raised a whole flock of RIRs (Rhode Islands Reds) from chicks. Out of fifty RIRs, only ten remain after only a couple of years, but all of my Games are still of alive and thriving. This is why I started looking into breeding them. They are impressive birds with a strong survival instinct and very hardy. I don't know about their egg production yet, but if they turn out to be poor producers, I may try to do some cross breeding to capture the production rate of good producers like the RIRs or Leghorns, but keep the hardiness of the Games. We will see what time and breeding revels.

Jungleexplorer said:

I love all of my hens. They are very hardy birds with lots of survival skill and attitude. I have only had the two cocks since Sunday, but they are very proud birds. I separated them in a divided pen, but they kept fighting through the fence so I had to put a piece of plywood up so they could not see each other. They have caused a big ruckus with my other birds that are out in the my large pen. I have three rooster that have lived in peace with each other for three years and this morning I awoke to find my five year old alph male white rooster covered with blood (but still standing) and a three year old red rooster beaten all most to death. My Grey Stag has a very wild attitude. He nailed me twice in the hand while I was working on the divider wall. He is extremely nervous and aggressive and seems to be the one instigating most of the fighting (even with hens). I like him that way though because my goal is to breed a flock of almost feral birds as free rangers.

I was doing some more research since I posted and I noticed that the red game rooster has green legs. I found that both Leiper an Hatch bred a Green Leg cocks. I also noticed that both the Grey Stag and the Red Stag have no comb. This quality (I don't know what to call it) seems to be also specific to Leiper and Hatch breeds from the pictures I have reviewed on the web.

So, you do think I have the right idea? Thanks.

Click to expand...

People that keep gamefowl generally surgically remove the combs, wattles, and earlobes. Also can be done to prevent frostbite. It's a disqualification to show gamefowl without them being trimmed ( combs, wattles, and earlobes removed )