Historic Presence of Jungle Fowl in the American Deep South

[Florida Bullfrog]

I have a question.. are there junglefowl (besides red junglefowl) in the US?

I was a member of a FB junglefowl group that had breeders of some of the rarer kinds of junglefowl. But in hindsight it is possible that they were not located in the US.

If there are, I would be surprised if there were more than a handful.

 

[JadeFarms]

I was a member of a FB junglefowl group that had breeders of some of the rarer kinds of junglefowl. But in hindsight it is possible that they were not located in the US.

If there are, I would be surprised if there were more than a handful.

Oh okay

 

[Ntsees]

I have a question.. are there junglefowl (besides red junglefowl) in the US?

There are 4 "species" of junglefowl in the world, and the US has all 4. There are the red, grey, ceylon (Sri Lanka), and green.

 

[JadeFarms]

There are 4 "species" of junglefowl in the world, and the US has all 4. There are the red, grey, ceylon (Sri Lanka), and green.

That is so cool, I didn’t know that. I’ve always wanted Sri Lanka and green. I should look around for some, if anybody knows where to get some them definitely lmk.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I've culled Hei Hei out of the flock. Its time for Number 1 and Ragnar to take over as the fathers of the next generation, as they're the better birds, with Ragnar better representing the American game bantam-type birds and Number 1 better representing the wild phenotype.

Edited: These two are Number 1 and Ragnar.

 

[JadeFarms]

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I've culled Hei Hei out of the flock. Its time for Number 1 and Ragnar to take over as the fathers of the next generation, as they're the better birds, with Ragnar better representing the American game bantam-type birds and Number 1 better representing the wild phenotype.

Oh wow but he was beautiful. You should’ve sold him. Your other birds must be gorgeous because if they look better than him, they must be absolutely stunning.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Oh wow but he was beautiful. You should’ve sold him.

Two bits of information to explain. First, I'm getting some good birds and they're getting better, so I'm getting a little stingy with my genetics. I regularly get offers for some of my birds. Apart from selling the hatching eggs, I've turned most offers away. I cull 10 or more for every 1 you see. So generally the ones I post pics of, even if they end up being culled later, are ones that survived initial rounds of selections so they're better birds than any random one that hatched. In the interest of continuing to hone what I have and make some birds that are unique, I'm not too keen on letting them out.

Second, Hei Hei is a good rooster for no other reason that he throws good offspring and he behaves well. So he should be rewarded for that just as he comes into his prime. I didn't say I killed him . I just culled him from my flock. As of yesterday he's living the high life on my brother's farm where I suspect he'll spend the rest of his long days in comfort. As a good rooster should.

But I don't need him here. He's likely to kill Ragnar and Number 1 as they mature and that's no good. If I don't get better offspring than those two, I'll let them continue to mature and become my brood cocks for many years to come. And then when they throw an offspring that's better than they, then they'll be retired and the offspring will take over.

I also culled Tyrant today And yes, I did kill him. He was the most beautiful one of them all. But I have his genetics harvested off of him and his temperament was so bad that he was a danger to my daughter and my dogs. Here's his spurs yesterday. I used him for practicing spur removal:

 

[JadeFarms]

Two bits of information to explain. First, I'm getting some good birds and they're getting better, so I'm getting a little stingy with my genetics. I regularly get offers for some of my birds. Apart from selling the hatching eggs, I've turned most offers away. I cull 10 or more for every 1 you see. So generally the ones I post pics of, even if they end up being culled later, are ones that survived initial rounds of selections so they're better birds than any random one that hatched. In the interest of continuing to hone what I have and make some birds that are unique, I'm not too keen on letting them out.

Second, Hei Hei is a good rooster for no other reason that he throws good offspring and he behaves well. So he should be rewarded for that just as he comes into his prime. I didn't say I killed him . I just culled him from my flock. As of yesterday he's living the high life on my brother's farm where I suspect he'll spend the rest of his long days in comfort. As a good rooster should.

But I don't need him here. He's likely to kill Ragnar and Number 1 as they mature and that's no good. If I don't get better offspring than those two, I'll let them continue to mature and become my brood cocks for many years to come. And then when they throw an offspring that's better than they, then they'll be retired and the offspring will take over.

I also culled Tyrant today And yes, I did kill him. He was the most beautiful one of them all. But I have his genetics harvested off of him and his temperament was so bad that he was a danger to my daughter and my dogs. Here's his spurs yesterday. I used him for practicing spur removal:

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Ohh okay that makes sense. Those are really large spurs. How old was Tyrant? I’m kinda curious as to how long it takes to develop those kinds of spurs.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Just to be clear, the two birds I posted above are Number 1 and Ragnar. Hei Hei isn't in those pics. I can tell them all apart plain as day but I understand that someone who doesn't see them daily might not. When I have guests out all the birds look alike to them.

Hei Hei has some glaring faults. He's not quite a junglefowl in appearance and not quite an American game bantam in appearance but has a mix of both traits. Is biggest flaw was his bulging chest. I'll repost his pic below:

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That bulge is his crop. All chickens can have a bulging crop when full, but Hei Hei's offspring carry a full crop much better than he. His comb, while looking very wild, is very flawed by the show standards for either junglefowl or American game bantam. He holds his tail right for a AGB but too high for a junglefowl. He was a great starter bird and most importantly, he gave me a good disposition towards humans that none of the other first gen roosters had. That good disposition has passed to his offspring but they have better builds.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Ohh okay that makes sense. Those are really large spurs. How old was Tyrant? I’m kinda curious as to how long it takes to develop those kinds of spurs.

Tyrant was 19 months old, as is Hei Hei. Hei Hei's spurs are different. Long as well, but not quite as long but much sharper and darker.

Ragnar and Number 1 are 11 months old. They are the only two males left of their group. I culled all the rest.

Here's one of the next batch (approximately 6 months old) that's survived a round of culling this weekend, more because I like his large wings and I like his behavior. He's begginning to roost towards the woods away from the homestead. If he can get some hens to come with him, he'll be the first to totally break away from the farmyard and will represent the third territory set up by a cock.

I have 5 left in this 6 month old batch. I have 2 that reasonably conform to basic show standards for junglefowl. Number 1, although I consider him my best example for the wild phenotype, doesn't actually conform to the show standards. I don't care, to me he looks more or less like a contemporary wild junglefowl where even the wild ones have some mixed genetics and will exhibit different single comb shapes. Nonetheless, I have two that could be so-so show birds by American Bantam Association standards. But I don't have pics of them yet.