Anyone ever kept fighter hens with normal backyard chickens?

[TheTwoRoos]

I have no idea what they are.There tons of game hens so i am not sure what to use.But for now on il use game.My roosters is a little over a year old.

 

[Eric 2016]

I have no idea what they are.There tons of game hens so i am not sure what to use.But for now on il use game.My roosters is a little over a year old.

I truly didn't mean any insult to your post. I didn't realize my post would cause anger.

 

[sdm111]

If u really want to focus on terminology most everyone on this website with the exception of the gamefowl owners refer to gamefowl as

At least the op is a little closer by referring to fighter

 

[centrarchid]

If u really want to focus on terminology most everyone on this website with the exception of the gamefowl owners refer to gamefowl as

At least the op is a little closer by referring to fighter

What you cite is closer to correct.

 

[sdm111]

Not everybody can be me

So there u go as they say in black and white

 

[Eric 2016]

My apology. From now on anything that even remotely looks like game fowl will be referred to as "blood thirsty, violent, head ripping fowl"

 

[TheTwoRoos]

I dont think games should be judged i have had and still do have some pretty mean hens.

 

[centrarchid]

A coworker of my stedad has to get rid of his chickens and has sone fighter type hens.Was gonna give them a try but the saw many things on aggressivness and saw a hen take out a whole flock including a rooster.

Is this a good idea?Anyone else done this?

Time to answer this.

We used to routinely keep female game fowl (fighting chickens) in hen houses with Rhode Island Reds, Barred Plymouth Rocks, White Plymouth Rocks and White Leghorns. Combined the number of birds would be 75 to 150 individuals. The number of games seldom exceeded 50 and where usually around 30. I spent a lot of time watching this and was even allowed to do some experimentation which my grandfather helped with. We did some things he never had time to do himself previously. We had a couple decades to mess around with making observations together although he had been doing much longer and had a good idea on what the limits were.

Most hens so kept were what we called pullets that where less than a year old although a few where multiple years of age with some pushing 7 or 8 years. The games were held as backup broodies and brood fowl. Pullets introduced this time of year inserted themselves low in the pecking order and usually fared very well. Mature hens, also introduced this time of year, typically got into numerous fights with numerous other females in the hen house. Usually those fights were of short duration or distracted by a single gamecock or multiple production roosters. Somehow the males greatly suppressed the fighting inclinations of females. Fights were fairly consistent in not being a problem although older hens did get dinged up. Serious fights where between more mature female gamefowl. The other breeds seldom had trouble. Having more birds in the mix reduced likelihood a given pair would square off for a protracted length of time. You might see three for four engaged in a brawl with each other until male stepped in or we did. Games were stocked in on Saturday mornings since they were collected from walks on Friday nights. Saturdays we could have someone around to watch and intervene as needed. The games were the most valuable in the mix so having real damage was to be avoided.

When smaller numbers of hens were involved we would occasionally see more serious fighting and it was between games. I have that occasionally even now with free-range broodies making so I place an emphasis on spreading them out with respect to nest sites and loafing areas. I currently co-mingle female games in smaller groups with dominiques. Prior to introducing adult female games, I make certain a fully mature gamecock in place to deal with scraps that often get serious enough even with cock present when hens introduced.

Our games for the most part where American with very little if any of the Aseel type mixed in. My experience with Aseels is very limited although parties I have known indicate even the hens can be very intolerant of other hens with serious and potentially lethal fights being routine. Crosses which many American Gamefowl represent will fall somewhere in the spectrum described. That is where you need to do some research on the birds you have access to.

I would mix them and watch, problems typical start immediately when co-mingled and are sometimes easy to fix by removing one of the birds vested in fighting. Once a pecking order is worked out it is relatively stable but you need to make certain the hen house is big and complex enough.

Henhouse we used with a capacity for 100 hens was 20 ' x 30' with 20 foot ceilings where games could hang out for extended periods away from other birds on beam and rafters. A great uncles used a setup where the henhouse was 30' x 50' and it never had more than 150 hens in it. That location was here we brought pullets and hens to from walks. Within that hen house were several pens where each could hold a rowdy hen. BIOSECURITY WAS NOT CONSIDERED AN ISSUE.