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

[Florida Bullfrog]

I’m really liking most of the Sherman stags. I have enough coop space to separate most of them out and enough pullets to give them each a couple.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Recent pic of Sherman.

Sons.

Talk to me about the 45° strip of skin or flesh that some orientals have that runs between their neck and the bottom of their beak. Sherman has it, so does one of his sons. Other sons do not have it, at least not heavily pronounced. Its not waddle. But it will turn red in maturity. What is it?

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Its a dewlap. Also you can feel Y shaped cartilage in the throat, and even see it when they crow, That is an oriental trait too. I'm pretty sure it has to do with their deeper voice.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Its a dewlap. Also you can feel Y shaped cartilage in the throat, and even see it when they crow, That is an oriental trait too. I'm pretty sure it has to do with their deeper voice.

Thanks!

Sherman has a large dewlap then but no waddles to speak up. Most of his sons are developing waddles. Most don’t have pronounced dewlaps. A few (the red ones with white legs) may end up with no dewlaps or waddles.

I’ll have to decide if I care or not which facial traits they have. The biggest blue one with the pronounced dewlap is one of my favorites for his large body and wing size. But I also like the hawkish look of the ones that lack dewlaps and waddles.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Indio gigantes seem to have massive dewlaps.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Indio gigantes seem to have massive dewlaps.View attachment 3930816

I think in glancing I would have simply called that his “waddles” and thought no more of it. When in reality its quite distinct from a waddle.

Or should it be thought of as a single waddle?

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

I don't know enough about the form and function of a waddle to be able to answer that.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

I will say that my birds have wattles separate from their dewlaps, This bird does not, if that changes anything.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I will say that my birds have wattles separate from their dewlaps, This bird does not, if that changes anything.

The big blue stag has both. Sherman his father only has a dewlap. I am presuming the ones that have waddles are getting then off the Liege side.

These 3 stags seem to have neither. Waddles may or may not develop as they mature.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

This guy is not a terrorfowl, although his genetic makeup is similar. He is 50% Cracker, 25% red-line Wahl asleep, 25% Liege. And he is FIRE. Red hot hell on legs. Free ranging my brother's farm, he killed a big Liege brood cock and all the pure Cracker brood cocks spread out over 10 acres.

So get this. I had the red guy free ranging and I turned the big blue stag a few posts up out to free range Sunday afternoon and I figured the blue stag being so young and with no spurs, he'd just run and stay out of red's way.

No, they went full bore and I finally had to catch up red and pen him before the blue stag could seriously hurt him.

The new terrorfowl, or at least that one blue stag, is bad news. This morning he decided to start running his brothers bad. Figuring he might beat them down by the end of the day, I turned the brothers out to free range. The big BBR terrorfowl with white legs I want to keep is high up a tree tonight in spite of his size. Tomorrow I'll start separating them out and give the BBR his own coop and pullets. I'll probably leave the other two brothers on free range. The big dominant blue stag can stay where he is with the majority of liege hens and terrorfowl pullets.