Pure Wild Junglefowl Cock

[quibs]

what about breeding pure junglefowl?

That sri lanka jungle fowl is beautiful. are they kept as utility birds like chickens or pheasants? or are they too endangered for people to have

 

[PortugalBreeder]

Quote:
If you like their looks, there are some chicken breeds with similar aspect and use those you can use as utility bird, but obviously the wild fowl isn't kept as utility, at least on the western world (maybe the native/tribes do, but they are aware of many most of the stuff), but people can keep them as ornamental bird. Just like people keep exotic finchs, etc.

 

[Lollipop]

I`ve read accounts of these birds being very hard to breed and very delicate and susceptible to disease and weather. Any experience with these problems? Do you keep any of these pure birds?.........Pop

 

[PortugalBreeder]

Quote:
I keep Galliformes, but none of this species, but I can explain you why those problems happen.
The people that say they are hard to breed are people who treat them as chickens.
First, this birds had none (or very few) resistance to diseases that exist/are produced in a common chicken coop (due to small space, feces, etc.), unlike chickens who are a product of thousands of years of breeding the birds that resisted being kept in those situations;
Second, this birds are wild birds, so they need cover and some space to forage in the aviary, otherwise their stress levels will be permanently high and they will not breed, and very probably will die young.
Last, this birds should not be feed scraps from the kitchen. This are birds designed to survive in a low food intake (they eat little) which means that if you fill them with mostly water and Chlorophyll (cabbage, Lettuce, etc.) their bodies will fight to survive not even "thinking" about reproducing. They should be feed a balanced wild galliformes feed. Never forget they are very small, pretty much like a bantam, and very thin so their body doesn't have much margin for errors.

This are the main problems when it comes to having unexperienced breeders keeping them (but there are more things we should pay attention, like parasites, environment noise, cover for the night if yo live in a cold environment).

P.S.-The first video is from a breeder that lives near by.

 

[Lollipop]

Thank you for the posts and explaination. They aren`t for everybody, but they are quite interresting..........Pop

 

[ABoone93]

Yes they will. But you should never do that, not even think about it, future generations would be very mad at you.

Let me explain, nowadays this wildfowl face extinction, and it's not extinction by fisically vanishing but by genetic pollution because where they are native from the villagers have domestic chickens and sometimes wildfowl may breed with them which produces a birds that is neither a wildfowl neither a domestic breed its an mongrel dog from the bird world, that will further pollute the wild populations. So, this almost uncontrollable mistakes are bad enough, no need for people to do it voluntarily (which unfortunately still happens).

Some people nowdays believe they may be already extinct, but it's not widely accepted.

Consequences of this:

-It's is extremely difficult to find a pure bird in captivity (and catch wild ones may not be the solution because of the problem referred before, also it's illegal); In united states may be impossible, even at zoos (that don't sell animals for start) birds are not pure because of mistakes made(like this referred www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6625194#p6625194);

-A pure bird with DNA certificate retails for a LOT MORE that a regular chicken (sometimes hundreds of euros~=dollars) that's is why many people try to fool others, be careful; And are so exclusive that many sellers require you to be a WPA member to buy one from them.


So, don't think about doing that, and spread the message. Thanks



About what you said regard their looks, hens have to be like that because when they are brooding their eggs they must not to be seen by predators (camouflage) while cocks can escape, hens don't even have a comb. And in pure jungle fowl at the end of the breeding season cocks molt to a less showy plumage (no need to impress the girls anymore) called 'eclipse molt' so that they can go more unnoticed.

 

[ABoone93]

Is there any chance of purchasing the gallus lafayetii in the United States