What does the Game in gamefowl mean?  

Could someone give me a clear understanding of what the majority of people are talking about when the use the term Game, Game fowl or Gameness?  Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldhound 

All males of the species of Junglefowl and their domestic descendants( chickens) will fight to establish dominance. The loser or less dominant one will run off. The gamefowl have been selectively bred not to run or quit , but to stand their ground and fight until they drop. Like any trait it can be bred out of them because not all will "stand their ground".  Cock fighting is Illegal in the U.S. and most of Europe . It is considered a Felony in most  if not all States. here in Florida it is punishable with jail time and fines of up to $5,000. per count. The discussion of cock fighting Is Not Permitted on BYC.

Thank you for this explanation.  I was under impression that gamefowl were a breed and color, size and shape determined what was a gamefowl.  I also thought that the word Game meant that they were more like natural wild Game Birds like Pheasant, Quail and Turkeys. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by gallorojo 

There are multiple definitions to the word "game". The one you want is as follows-
adj. gam·er, gam·est
1. Plucky and unyielding in spirit; resolute: She put up a game fight against her detractors.
2. Ready and willing: Are you game for a swim?
Have you ever heard the phrase " game as Ned Kelly"?
Look up that story and you will know what this definition is all about.

Never heard of this use of the word, Game, before. I have heard of the word Game being used like; "Hey, you want to go fishing? I'm game if you are."  Or something like that. In this sense the word is used as an indication of willingness to participate. I have never heard the word use in the sense of aggressive defiance.  But in terms of talking about chicken breeds, I was totally under the impression that the word game was related to the use of the word in the in the following sense; "I have been out hunting game."  In this sense, the word "game" is synonymous with wild animals.  

When I first heard about gamefowl, I was looking for a breed of chickens to raise on my farm as totally free range almost self maintained flock. I was looking for birds that were strong, intelligent, and had a more wild natural instinct and that were not like these dumber then dirt inbred show breeds or hybrid production breeds that are so common these days.  I thought the word Game meant the birds were more like wild game birds, so I was excited to invest in them.  Imaging my surprise when people I would meet had some odd reactions when they heard I was raising American Greys. People would ask why I wanted to raise them and I would answer that I wanted to raise a free range flock.  That's when I would get the old, "Oh Okay, free range. Right! wink wink.  It was totally confusing for me, because I had no idea what they were talking about.  I have raised chickens for over 30 years in three different countries, but only for eggs and meat.  I have never been around people that only saw chickens in the singular light of that other thing some people sadly use them for.

But I guess I am really lucky because now of I have a bunch of chickens that are supposed to be bred to have a lot of "Game" (new meaning here) and they have to be the most docile birds I have ever raised. I mean, I have had white leghorns that had more "Game" in them then these birds.  I believe in letting nature take it's course when it come to the pecking order in the flock.  In the Amazon, I raised mostly Orientals and those birds started working out the pecking order as young as 1 month old.  When I first started my flock here in Texas, I bought about thirty adult birds of various breeds and let them figure it out.  One white leghorn rooster became the alpha male (He won the name, Maximus) and held that position for five years.  I gave him away to a family that had lost their rooster in a dog attack when I started raising Greys because I was afraid, because he was old, he would be defeated by one of the game (LOL) roosters I was going to bring in. He had been a good rooster and deserved to live out his life with dignity and an old alpha male will starve himself to death if he is ever defeated.

I do love my birds though. My problem is that I don't know what to refer to them now that you have explained to me what it means to be a gamefowl.  I mean, I bought gamefowl, but they have no game in them at all,  Take a look at the picture below.  There are four 7 month old cockerels in this picture (3 BBR and a Golden Duckwing). They were all raised together and there are six more in this group that are not in this picture.  They live together in peace and I have never seen so much as a squabble between them.  Their fathers were a Hatch and Grey that were meaner then all get out when I bought them, and I had to keep them penned with a sight barrier so they would not fight through the fence. I managed to tame them both down to the point that they can run free with the rest of my flock and eat next to each other.  Maximus would have never tolerated this.  So I guess Maximus was a true gamefowl, and I have no idea what to call these birds.  I guess I should refer to them as their Black Breasted Reds and Golden Duckwings.  What do you think I should call them.