LOS ANGELES county CA under bird quarantine :(

[Animalfisherwoman]

Here’s a *flighty* 5 yr old dirtbag gamehen taking care of her chicks. Unlike most laying hens that can’t manage to live past 3 yrs without going belly up. Multiple trips to the vet (moving birds around) just to prop up unhealthy birds.
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@roosterhavoc, I certainly didn't mean to call you personally a "dirtbag." I know someone who breeds show pits because she enjoys the breed so much. She has a good job and does this for a hobby, not as a living. She only deals with people she's known personally for years. If she were more involved, there'd be more pressure to enhance how "game" the dog is. Does gamecock breeding work the same way?

My question (for gamecock aficionados in general) is how/why would people keep multiple cocks, especially fighting ones, as a non-fighting hobby? They don't lay eggs. They're loud. And now I'm hearing that they need to be tethered apart to keep from killing each other.

 

[Animalfisherwoman]

Here’s a *flighty* 5 yr old dirtbag gamehen taking care of her chicks. Unlike most laying hens that can’t manage to live past 3 yrs without going belly up. Multiple trips to the vet (moving birds around) just to prop up unhealthy birds.
View attachment 1765840

That picture looks a lot like my red junglefowl hen, or what I thought was a red junglefowl hen. Her name actually is Flighty.

Do you have another picture of this hen standing up?

 

[roosterhavoc]

@roosterhavoc, I certainly didn't mean to call you personally a "dirtbag." I know someone who breeds show pits because she enjoys the breed so much. She has a good job and does this for a hobby, not as a living. She only deals with people she's known personally for years. If she were more involved, there'd be more pressure to enhance how "game" the dog is. Does gamecock breeding work the same way?

My question (for gamecock aficionados in general) is how/why would people keep multiple cocks, especially fighting ones, as a non-fighting hobby? They don't lay eggs. They're loud. And now I'm hearing that they need to be tethered apart to keep from killing each other.

I have 52 gamecocks. I have just as many hens too. I have 51 pens and 3 coops. I like roosters and the crowing doesn’t bother me at all. If a rooster crowing outside in the morning is waking someone up they need more exercise.
Yes they do need to either be kept on a tie cord or penned one rooster per pen with a hen or two. Gamefowl are absolutely not flighty at all and are generally very calm. My 7 yr old son can walk up and pick up a rooster no problem. The hens are extremely protective of their young and can be quite aggressive too. Without going into a long dissertation about breeding they are closer to jungle fowl than other chickens. This means the hens will lay eggs then want to hatch them. Unlike the selective breeding that’s created laying hens that generally don’t live very long or end up with all sorts of reproductive problems after a few years of laying 200-300 eggs. I’d argue some game hens will end up laying more simply because they live longer.
The aggressive nature of gamefowl is genetic. The roosters will fight for territory and their hens. This is all they know. It’s easily avoided by keeping them in control at all times. Laying roosters will fight too just not to the extent that gamefowl will. I’ll argue that gamefowl are far superior in health, intelligence, survivability etc.. when compared to layers. I’ve had numerous hens whoop a hawk.
Imo most layers are big fat fluff balls that lay eggs for a few years then drop dead. They’re intelligence is severely lacking and their ability to avoid hawks or at the very least notice predators is also not impressive. The broodiness has been bred out of them for the most part while increasing egg production all at the cost of a shorter lifespan and many health issues.
I’ve owned all sorts of chickens and close to 50 different breeds and none of them can hold a candle to American gamefowl in any way.

 

[BreanneRN]

Of course it is always wrong to jump to conclusions, but I have to say that in certain communities I have passed through, the chances that the person just has "a love of the breed" are not particularly good if there are 200 roosters and most look torn up. I understand that you have a love for the "rootstock" chicken, which is great, and I'm sure they receive good care, your hen very much resembles some of my EE hens (no offense intended), which arguably also has recent wild type ancestry through the Araucana from South America. I am fond of them because they are great free rangers and can roost in the trees and learn to avoid predators. As to people on this site being ignorant and not knowing how to care for chickens, well, we ALL start out that way... There are also a huge number of people here who have tons of experience and knowledge and are willing to share and help others. I am sure there are as many of one as the other and a full range of those somewhere in between... Never the less, great care will not keep your chicken from getting VND if it is exposed and there is no treatment. Hope you never have to find that out. As to the "dirtbag" thing, those who fight the chickens are dirtbags, not the chickens! As to the vet thing, you will have trouble even finding a vet that will look at a chicken around where I live let alone know how to treat it. It is great that there is a site like this to go for support and information. Most likely there are even some of those dirtbags searching for info on here... Still, I would have trouble raising OEGB's because I would be afraid of what would happen to them down the road... and I don't really like mean roosters.

 

[Animalfisherwoman]

FB SOB members are saying multiple commercial farms in the area have been depopulated. My guess is that the entire area has to wait 120 days from the last known case before the quarantine is over and commercial farms can resume operations.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Of course it is always wrong to jump to conclusions, but I have to say that in certain communities I have passed through, the chances that the person just has "a love of the breed" are not particularly good if there are 200 roosters and most look torn up. I understand that you have a love for the "rootstock" chicken, which is great, and I'm sure they receive good care, your hen very much resembles some of my EE hens (no offense intended), which arguably also has recent wild type ancestry through the Araucana from South America. I am fond of them because they are great free rangers and can roost in the trees and learn to avoid predators. As to people on this site being ignorant and not knowing how to care for chickens, well, we ALL start out that way... There are also a huge number of people here who have tons of experience and knowledge and are willing to share and help others. I am sure there are as many of one as the other and a full range of those somewhere in between... Never the less, great care will not keep your chicken from getting VND if it is exposed and there is no treatment. Hope you never have to find that out. As to the "dirtbag" thing, those who fight the chickens are dirtbags, not the chickens! As to the vet thing, you will have trouble even finding a vet that will look at a chicken around where I live let alone know how to treat it. It is great that there is a site like this to go for support and information. Most likely there are even some of those dirtbags searching for info on here... Still, I would have trouble raising OEGB's because I would be afraid of what would happen to them down the road... and I don't really like mean roosters.

OEGB are not the same thing as American gamefowl.

 

[BreanneRN]

FB SOB members are saying multiple commercial farms in the area have been depopulated. My guess is that the entire area has to wait 120 days from the last known case before the quarantine is over and commercial farms can resume operations.

Note to self... "Do not live near commercial poultry enterprises".

 

[BreanneRN]

OEGB are not the same thing as American gamefowl.

I stand corrected.

 

[Kathy Golla]

Note to self... "Do not live near commercial poultry enterprises".

Yeah bottom line.
I don’t, well I guess not 3 miles from one, but probably a good rule of thumb.
But if I ever wanted more livestock I would not have them in suburbia.
Would save a ton of heartbreak every 15 or fewer years.

 

[Kathy Golla]

For awareness. Posted on SOB site.