Enjoying Aseel I see. You need to get some more oriental orientals to compare. Aseel are the highest standard of excellence, but their traits are almost intermediary compared to others.
From studying what I have read and observed, it would seem to me that the Ga Noi Don could be the root of oriental fowl. The traits that make orientals different are more compounded in them. Birds that traveled to the persian empire became Aseel, Shamos are named for Thailand in Japanese, the exhiled Prince of Vietnam took Ga Noi very close to Madagascar (Madagascar game), Saipans were just abandonded Shamo. And Malay, most likely a large oriental from who knows where named for their port of exit by Dutch traders (very similar to some large strains of South Indian Asil like Kulang)
My pakastanis fly pretty well, not as good as an american game, but better than a leghorn. My Saigons fly somewhere between RIR and Leghorn, roosting ten or fifteen feet high with a little limb hopping. My pakastanis can fly out of a six foot fence, my saigon hens can if excited.
Smaller core area is a trait, they make more use of less ground, by burrowing deeper into it. A pen of Americans will still have grass when a pen of orientals will look like a hog wallow moved at the same time on the same ground.
Observation that I made was that range birds would be out foraging while Americans were still roosted and after they flew up in the evening. Atkinson attributed them with night vision. I think it is jsut a dense forest adaptation in all regards, despite all the musings about longer legs meant for grasslands (there are plenty of wild, terrestrial birds of similar build suited to forest dwelling). They are accurate at night according to predator encounters I have observed but could be hitting sound and just getting lucky eyeball shots in. If you don't want one eyed dogs keep dogs away from nesting asil.
