I'll try to keep this short but I can't promise anything, cause it's my success story!!!
After becoming disabled from a 3 story fall working construction and suffering 4 spine surgeries I put myself back together and wanted to find things to keep me going crazy from boredom. I was looking on CL thinking of trying to 'homestead' for myself and saw my first Oriental Gamefowl. It was for sale for $250! I thought it was so beautiful that I wouldn't mind paying that amount for a rooster like that. I began to research them and everything I read says they are very tame, confident birds who act more like loyal dogs than skittish chickens. Sometimes when you learn about something new it just clicks with you and you know that it will only benefit your life. Yep COMPULSION! So I knew I had to have these Gamefowl. I contacted the guy on CL and began making plans to acquire a pair of Thai from him. Luckily he had a young Thai stag that he would sell for considerably less than $250. He explained to me that the birds had been free ranging and that is why they would act skittish. I though, 'OK I'll just spend time with them and they will tame'. I would catch these birds multiple times everyday, hold them and pet them or massage them for 20 minutes at a time. I would buy crickets and meal worms at the pet store and try to feed them from my hand but they would never approach me to even see what I had. They never ended up becoming social and would keep going panic crazy when I entered their coop and run, would never let me approach, it was always a big deal and they never would calm down. I still let her hatch out chicks and raise them. She turned all those chicks against me and they all acted like her or even worse. So flighty and skittish they were more like pheasants than Oriental Gamefowl. It is a total bummer to have beautiful birds who hate the site of you and want nothing to do with you.
I traveled 3 hours east from me to get a pair of Shamo. They were a little more calm but still not like what research would say about how they are suppose to be. I hatched out more chicks than I can count trying to work with them from when they are very young and they still all grow to have very poor quality temperaments. I found another Thai stag locally but he turned out no good in my opinion either.
So I have been working for four years on keeping only the friendliest stags and pullets and breeding them. I have culled so many beautiful birds I hatched out under hens and in my incubator who look very nice but have skittish, flighty temperaments.
Now I have something to show for it.
This is my favorite stag I have bred so far (approx 10 months old), not cause of his coloration but cause his temperament is amazing. He is very social and friendly, a little too much at times (like a male puppy realizing he is a male). When I come outside he runs up to meet me, dances for me, then just stands by me wherever I'm at following me all over. He seems to genuinely enjoy my presence even if we're just standing around not doing anything. He will let me approach him and pick him up whenever I want. He is very confident and a real pleasure to look at. He makes me want to spend more time outside with the chickens.
He is not physically perfect, his beak is too long, legs too short and skinny in my opinion and his eyes don't have the brow ridge. His eyes kind of bulge out of his head compared to the standard. But I think temperament is the most important part and even though he has flaws I will never sell this bird. He will always be in my yard.
This is my second favorite stag (approx 10 months old). He also has a very good temperament although not as great as Grey. He too runs to me and dances and always at my side. He is large and beautiful.
Although they are not pure breed I would hope any old time breeder of Orientals who met these stags, knowing what I started out with would tell me I have done a good job.
Thanks for reading!
After becoming disabled from a 3 story fall working construction and suffering 4 spine surgeries I put myself back together and wanted to find things to keep me going crazy from boredom. I was looking on CL thinking of trying to 'homestead' for myself and saw my first Oriental Gamefowl. It was for sale for $250! I thought it was so beautiful that I wouldn't mind paying that amount for a rooster like that. I began to research them and everything I read says they are very tame, confident birds who act more like loyal dogs than skittish chickens. Sometimes when you learn about something new it just clicks with you and you know that it will only benefit your life. Yep COMPULSION! So I knew I had to have these Gamefowl. I contacted the guy on CL and began making plans to acquire a pair of Thai from him. Luckily he had a young Thai stag that he would sell for considerably less than $250. He explained to me that the birds had been free ranging and that is why they would act skittish. I though, 'OK I'll just spend time with them and they will tame'. I would catch these birds multiple times everyday, hold them and pet them or massage them for 20 minutes at a time. I would buy crickets and meal worms at the pet store and try to feed them from my hand but they would never approach me to even see what I had. They never ended up becoming social and would keep going panic crazy when I entered their coop and run, would never let me approach, it was always a big deal and they never would calm down. I still let her hatch out chicks and raise them. She turned all those chicks against me and they all acted like her or even worse. So flighty and skittish they were more like pheasants than Oriental Gamefowl. It is a total bummer to have beautiful birds who hate the site of you and want nothing to do with you.
I traveled 3 hours east from me to get a pair of Shamo. They were a little more calm but still not like what research would say about how they are suppose to be. I hatched out more chicks than I can count trying to work with them from when they are very young and they still all grow to have very poor quality temperaments. I found another Thai stag locally but he turned out no good in my opinion either.
So I have been working for four years on keeping only the friendliest stags and pullets and breeding them. I have culled so many beautiful birds I hatched out under hens and in my incubator who look very nice but have skittish, flighty temperaments.
Now I have something to show for it.
This is my favorite stag I have bred so far (approx 10 months old), not cause of his coloration but cause his temperament is amazing. He is very social and friendly, a little too much at times (like a male puppy realizing he is a male). When I come outside he runs up to meet me, dances for me, then just stands by me wherever I'm at following me all over. He seems to genuinely enjoy my presence even if we're just standing around not doing anything. He will let me approach him and pick him up whenever I want. He is very confident and a real pleasure to look at. He makes me want to spend more time outside with the chickens.
He is not physically perfect, his beak is too long, legs too short and skinny in my opinion and his eyes don't have the brow ridge. His eyes kind of bulge out of his head compared to the standard. But I think temperament is the most important part and even though he has flaws I will never sell this bird. He will always be in my yard.
This is my second favorite stag (approx 10 months old). He also has a very good temperament although not as great as Grey. He too runs to me and dances and always at my side. He is large and beautiful.
Although they are not pure breed I would hope any old time breeder of Orientals who met these stags, knowing what I started out with would tell me I have done a good job.
Thanks for reading!
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