Calling all APA and/or ABA breeders!

[MROO]

They are, dubbed along the lines of an Old English game bantam to where a little bit of comb is left. I don’t dub mine as I’m not showing them yet. Once I get them where I want them I’ll dub them.

It's such a shame you have to do that for showing ... his comb is gorgeous! In my neck of the woods, a comb like that would be prone to frostbite, so it would naturally dub itself!

 

[Amer]

For the American game bantam, I

started with this:

View attachment 2314181
Then I revised to this:

View attachment 2314182
Which I think is pretty darn close to this:
View attachment 2314183

But is too large, where the standard calls for 1.8lbs and the above stag is at 3lbs with room to grow.

So now I’m here:
View attachment 2314186

This guy should size out right. He is very young so I’m excited to see what he looks like when he fills out. He has lost one sickle feather to fighting with his brother but I just separated them so that should be the last time that happens.

I’ll post my JF later.

Wow! I’ve only ever seen American Game bantams once. What gave you the idea to use junglefowl blood to produce them?

 

[FluffyBottomBantams]

It's such a shame you have to do that for showing ... his comb is gorgeous! In my neck of the woods, a comb like that would be prone to frostbite, so it would naturally dub itself!

X2! What is the point of dubbing? Is it purely for aesthetics??

 

[Amer]

X2! What is the point of dubbing? Is it purely for aesthetics??

It’s traditional, I guess. The game fowl were dubbed once for cockfighting so they wouldn’t have something to grab onto, and it’s a tradition that’s never been changed. People who like OEG but don’t want to dub might breed a female line and only show the females.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Wow! I’ve only ever seen American Game bantams once. What gave you the idea to use junglefowl blood to produce them?

That’s actually how the breed was originally created in the early mid 1900s. Jungle fowl from South Carolina (probably a hybrid) were crossed to fighting pit bantams. The original American game bantams had no large American gamefowl in their makeup.

Those original bloodlines went extinct in the 1990s or early 2000s. All American game bantams since have been reproductions, usually from crossing large American gamefowl to something else.

I got the junglefowl hybrids because I was trying to find a bird that approximated the game bantams that Florida Crackers used to keep on their homesteads. Some sort of lost Florida landrace. I noticed American game bantams looked similar to what I remember and that my JFHs seemed similar to the American game bantam so that’s where the idea came from to breed to American game bantam standards.

The dubbing is a reference back to when the pit bantams they were bred from were used for fighting. But I imagine back then they were probably dubbed all the way to the scalp. I think the mohawk dub they get for shows is simply because that’s how OEGBs are dubbed.

 

[Amer]

That’s actually how the breed was originally created in the early mid 1900s. Jungle fowl from South Carolina (probably a hybrid) were crossed to fighting pit bantams. The original American game bantams had no large American gamefowl in their makeup.

Those original bloodlines went extinct in the 1990s or early 2000s. All American game bantams since have been reproductions, usually from crossing large American gamefowl to something else.

I got the junglefowl hybrids because I was trying to find a bird that approximated the game bantams that Florida Crackers used to keep on their homesteads. Some sort of lost Florida landrace. I noticed American game bantams looked similar to what I remember and that my JFHs seemed similar to the American game bantam so that’s where the idea came from to breed to American game bantam standards.

The dubbing is a reference back to when the pit bantams they were bred from were used for fighting. But I imagine back then they were probably dubbed all the way to the scalp. I think the mohawk dub they get for shows is simply because that’s how OEGBs are dubbed.

Very interesting! I didn’t know that was how American Games were created.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Very interesting! I didn’t know that was how American Games were created.

The bantams, yes. The large fowl American games are different.

 

[clickchicks]

This is a super casual curiosity question, didn't feel worthy of a new thread so hopefully its ok here.

If you are getting into breeding for the first time and want to breed to standard, how many birds do you start out with? Do you get just one breeding pair and go from there, multiple pairs, or something like several hens and one cock/cockerel? Do you only purchase from one breeder, or do you bring in birds from multiple lines/breeders?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I started with several and bred several. I started with 20 and kept around 13. Then I bred them as much as I could. I’ve probably been thru 100 birds over the last year and a half. I aggressively cull.

 

[Amer]

This is a super casual curiosity question, didn't feel worthy of a new thread so hopefully its ok here.

If you are getting into breeding for the first time and want to breed to standard, how many birds do you start out with? Do you get just one breeding pair and go from there, multiple pairs, or something like several hens and one cock/cockerel? Do you only purchase from one breeder, or do you bring in birds from multiple lines/breeders?

You can do both. Most start with a pair or trio from one breeder. Keeping related blood keeps predictable outcomes. If you’re starting with fowl that need a lot of improvement, genetic diversity is better, but if the birds are already good, if it isn’t broke, why would you fix it?
For my bantam Buckeyes, a lot of work is needed, so I started with a pair, but the next year I added a cock from a different strain because while he had faults the original strain didn’t have but he didn’t have the faults that the original strain did.
The Anconas started with a group of related hens and a cockerel, because the Anconas have already been refined enough that it would be advisable to breed related birds together.
Blue d’Anvers started with a related pair and an unrelated hen. I bought her originally because I thought then I’d only need a male to breed with, but ended up getting a pair.
For cuckoo d’Anvers I will cross a Dominique male with a cuckoo d’Anvers hen to correct the barring.

I am not doing what a breeder typically would do, though. Most would start with a pair from the same breeder, but my particular breeds/varieties need a lot more work.