Developing My Own Breed Of Large Gamefowl For Free Range Survival (Junglefowl x Liege)

[SunflowerKing]

Do you have anymore CrackerFowl Roosters, or was he the only one?

I'll be beginning my Rainbow Runners project next spring. They're gonna be a Giant Survivalist breed.

Also, interested in your genetics. Keep it up! And Merry CHRISTmas!

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I’m bored. The Liege and half-aseel aren’t laying. So just for the heck of it I’ve decided to put the two mystery pullets, what are supposed to be Blueface but may not be, back with Number 1. The pullet on the right is the one laying the blue eggs. You can see that even as pullets they are larger than Number 1 who is now a 2 year old brood cock.

I really like how well they free range. They fly excellently. My Crackers are great fliers but these two fly with every bit of agility as the Crackers but with an added amount of power that the Crackers lack.

If I can run down some American game pullets of the proper traits I’m looking for I’ll try them at a later time. But until Spring, this, the Liege, and the half-aseel, are what I have, so I’ll give it a whirl, and these are the only ones laying. As long as I’m careful to not lose track of what chicks are what, I don’t see a downside to trying them.

Another factor is Number 1 likes these two pullets but hates the Liege and half-aseel. He doesn’t like hens that aren’t colored like Cracker hens. His father Hei Hei is the same way.

 

[NatJ]

these are the only ones laying.

That would select in favor of winter laying (which always sounds good to me, but I don't know if you want that in your flock or not.)

 

[Beer can]

You all need to get some naked neck into your breeding program, just saying
...

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

That would select in favor of winter laying (which always sounds good to me, but I don't know if you want that in your flock or not.)

Yes, and where my ultimate goal with this project is a survival free range bird, that would be a plus. They are pullets now and I have more luck with pullets laying in the winter than I do mature hens, so I’ll have to see how that bears out as they mature.

I think only the one pullet on the right lays blue. She has longer legs and more florescence in her face (in daylight) than the pullet on the left. Not that it means anything, she just catches my eye because she looks slightly off. Her physique is actually good. Long legged, athletic, trim, like a game hen should look. But there is something different about her colors. Now that they’ll locked in the coop I’ll confirm what the hen on the left eggs look like. They both came from normal looking, cream-white colored eggs consistent with the American games they’re supposed to be. So I presume the blue tint is likely coming from the father if he was something other than an American game. I reasonably trust the honesty of the guy I got them from insists the hatching eggs he sent me had no chance of coming from anything but one of two blueface brood cocks.

 

[nicalandia]

How come the hens are larger than the 2 year old male? How much do you think he weights?

 

[Sara S]

I'm creating this thread as a journal for a breeding project I've been planning for some time. I would like to take my small junglefowl hybrids that I've been raising for the last year and a half and increase their size and attitude substantially. They've already proven themselves to be great survivors in the predator-dense Florida woods. But they're very small and their practical use for meat and eggs is limited. Not totally non-existant, but not ideal. I'd like to have a larger version that's three times the size and has some more anti-predator fire. A bird that can respond to a predator in other ways besides simply being agile and avoiding being caught. To some degree, this bird already exists in the American gamefowl (albeit not as large as I'm imagining). But I want to utilize my junglefowl which have proven their hardiness. I've been compiling genetic materials over the past year and refining my junglefowl. Here's where' I'm starting:

1. My junglefowl hybrids. Their info is located in this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ngle-fowl-in-the-american-deep-south.1309995/

Here is my chosen bullstag to sire my F1s:

View attachment 2380952

I have many junglefowl hybrid stags, but this one is my favorite that has survived two major rounds of culling. He has an athletic build and good feathering and so far I like his attitude. Human aggression was a problem in my first generation birds that I've seemed to have purged from the next generation. Of course only further generations will tell for sure. I call this bullstag "Number 1" because of a picture in which I labeled him "1" of several stags.

2. The Liege. I obtained 3 quality Liege pullets just recently. Originally I was going to avoid using the Liege in my project, but I've been so impressed with them I think they'll suit my purposes fine for my F1s. I actually wasn't expecting to find Liege on a farm near me, but low and behold I was surprised. Big thanks to hydlemour and Didby57. I don't yet have good pictures of the pullets, but this afternoon I took a quick video of one of the pullets right after a rainstorm in the breeding coop I'm going to keep them with until I get a hatch from them and Number 1.

I want to see how much of the JF traits will pass on to the F1s. So far the JF traits seem to dominate anything I cross them to, including leghorns, Wyandottes, and OEGB. The Wyandotte cross I have running around is the first one I've produced that involved breeding the JF to something other than a straight comb. I presume that I'm going to lose the straight comb on these F1s, but I suppose that also depends on what is floating around in the background of the Liege.

I have aseel on my farm I'm keeping in my back pocket in case I need to breed more fire into them, but I also understand that may introduce a whole slew of other traits I may not want. My brother is going to undertake a project crossing aseel to both Liege and the JF, so we'll compare notes on our F1s to see what we like best. My original plan was to use the aseel for my F1s to the JF, but my choosen strain of aseel isn't showing the size I want. I'm guessing the aseel I have are going to top out around 5lbs at the most. I also have access to some straight Americans if I decide the next gen needs them.

I'm thinking to get the look somewhat close to what I want, its going to take junglefowl x Liege, then Junglefowl x F1. I should get some straight combs on the next gen. It will depend on how much size will be sacrificed on the next gen of crosses. Of course, if I like the F1s right off the bat, I'll formulate a plan to lock the traits in.

I'd love for my final bird to look mostly like my JF hybrids just much bigger. But I also want a functional bird first and foremost so selection for appearance is secondary. A definite must is for my final bird to be able to launch itself high up into a tree to roost. I basically want the final bird to do anything a wild turkey can. I have a few JF stags with abnormally large wings I may have to cross in. I can see a definite difference in vertical take off between the birds with very large wings and those with normal wings. All of them can fly up to roost fine but the big winged birds can shoot straight up into a large pine to the branches of their choosing in the first flight. That's going to take bigger wings on the Liege and also shaving a few pounds off.

Is that what they’re called? I’ve seen some of those chickens by my friends house, I’m in fl but practically everyone has chickens so maybe they aren’t wild

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

How come the hens are larger than the 2 year old male? How much do you think he weights?

The brood cock is a different breed than the pullets. The brood cock is a Cracker. The pullets are either American games (what they’re billed to be) or American game crosses.

I think the brood cock is no more than 3lbs. I bet he’s more like 2.5lbs. My Cracker cocks have near-full sized frames but light bodies. Their frames are twice as big as my American game bantams for the same weight.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Is that what they’re called? I’ve seen some of those chickens by my friends house, I’m in fl but practically everyone has chickens so maybe they aren’t wild

The junglefowl hybrids? I call my line Cracker gamefowl, as they’re basically what the Crackers kept on their homesteads. Back then the chickens weren’t called “Crackers” (nor did the human ethnic group usually refer to themselves as such). The chickens were just called “game chickens” and the backwoodsmen didn’t acknowledge any other gamefowl except those. They were all over Florida and the remnants are still found all over the state in feral populations, albeit more highly mixed with other breeds these days. I have a thread about them exploring their origins.

My final thought is that the original Cracker birds were Spanish gamefowl and junglefowl hybrids the Spanish brought to Florida from trade with Asia, refined through natural selection in the Florida woods, and at various time interbred with American gamefowl. I think what we often call “blueface” American gamefowl aren’t really the Sweater McGinnis blueface but are instead hybrids descended from these rustic birds.

 

[Sara S]

The junglefowl hybrids? I call my line Cracker gamefowl, as they’re basically what the Crackers kept on their homesteads. Back then the chickens weren’t called “Crackers” (nor did the human ethnic group usually refer to themselves as such). The chickens were just called “game chickens” and the backwoodsmen didn’t acknowledge any other gamefowl except those. They were all over Florida and the remnants are still found all over the state in feral populations, albeit more highly mixed with other breeds these days. I have a thread about them exploring their origins.

My final thought is that the original Cracker birds were Spanish gamefowl and junglefowl hybrids the Spanish brought to Florida from trade with Asia, refined through natural selection in the Florida woods, and at various time interbred with American gamefowl. I think what we often call “blueface” American gamefowl aren’t really the Sweater McGinnis blueface but are instead hybrids descended from these rustic birds.

Wow I didn’t think there was so much to chickens! Nice to learn about this defo gonna follow!