Red Junglefowl

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Try cutting out soy in the diet and increasing dietary fat and fibre. The new development of the inclusion of round up ready soy in gamebird maintenance diets is shutting down reproduction in many species, especially those that are largely invertivorous. Call the San Antonio Zoo and ask what they are feeding as they took up the stewardship of the Bronx Zoo's imported Green Junglefowl stock and produce a number of the birds, which they surplus through a few select aviculturists. We have found over the years that most aviculturists will take up the surplus and go to feeding them commercial gamebird feed and end up not producing anything from them. They'll generally end up losing birds and give up on them or blame the stock.

Something that has often worked for me with Green Junglefowl is keeping a pair in a large covey of toothed ( "New World") quail. They are a highly social species that move in tight formations and tend to be too batty when confined in pairs or trios with no other birds present. I will often also keep a peafowl or two or waterfowl in that same enclosure. Shade cloth from the ground up to ~ four' is highly recommended- and some shade cloth stretched over portions of the aviary roof is also advisable.

In nature they produce at least three clutches a year and in captivity, provided they are on the appropriate diet, you will find that they produce just as assuredly- provided they have adequate nutrition and are encouraged to incubate a few eggs twice a year. It's important to leave a few young with the parents- one big mistake is to surplus all the offspring- Because the birds are so gregarious and exhibit such delayed maturity- it's critical that the flock grow- and juvenile as well as subadult individuals are necessary even if they are in adjacent enclosures.

As for the systematics issue- there are three major papers being published in 2012/2013 by three independent research teams- including a monograph that formally reclassify the Galliformes.

Pheasants and the True (Perdix) Partridge belong to a single monophyletic lineage. Their closest allies are the Tragopan, Monal, Turkey, Snow Partridge, Koklass and Grouse, which form a sister lineage. The combined family is the Tetraophasianidae.

Quite separately, the Gallusinidae is split into three distinct sibling lineages - one subfamily that includes the Francolin, Junglefowl and Bamboo Partridge; the subfamily that includes the Coturnix and Chukar. The third lineage includes the Junglebush Quail.

Another isolated lineage - the Peafowl belong to their own family, which includes both genera of Argus. Another well defined monophyletic family includes Peacock-Pheasants, Galloperdix Spurfowl, Roul Roul and Hill Partridge.

It is remarkable that morphological types once classified as "quail", "partridge" and "pheasant" end up being split into different lineages representing clearly defined monophyletic families. The Gallusinids are no more closely related to the Tetraophasinids than Civets are related to Felines. They resemble one another superficially but are not closely related.
 
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First of all thank you for the updates on the future taxonomy, it is amazing how technology and advances in DNA has changed the view of different animal relationships. It is also funny that you use the similarities of civets and felines as an example, I mentioned that I have kept exotics most of my life and those are two groups that are among my favorites. I have kept about a half dozed species of civets like binterongs, palm and African civets and about a dozen cats including servals, caracals, leopard cats, golden cats, I raised a pair of cheetah sisters that were abandoned by their mother from one day old until both of their deaths (one died at 14 years and the other at 18 years). I am still active in consulting for both zoos and aquariums along with game parks and a few different breeding programs that work with endangered animals. Even though I only have a single female serval as a pet right now I am current with all of my permits so if I ever want to start up my business again (I used to provide animals and work with several different zoos and game parks from all over the world) I won't have a lot of re-testing and paperwork to get it back up and running.

Because of this in my background I don't believe it is the diet that is giving me the problems with the green jungle fowl. Both my greens and greys only get about 1/4 of the total diet from commercial grain mix, and I use a high protein mix of game and wild flock feed with scratch grains added to the mix. I also add a vitamin supplement, oyster shell, freeze dried meal worms and a small amount of food grade diotomatious earth to the grain. This makes up about a quarter of the diet, the rest is live meal worms, fresh fruit and vegetables mixed with oyster shell. Almost daily I give treats, things like scrambled eggs or crickets, whatever I have around that they like. I don't feed cat food (which is what they were fed up until I bought them). It is more likely that they are just too young. I keep saying they are 3 years old but that is an estimate, I got them when they were sexable juviniles, maybe 4 or 5 months? I say a year old but I really don't know exactly except that they were in their first year. Greens take a little longer to get to maturity, the grey jungle fowl will lay fertile eggs at a year old, greens take 2 to reach maturity.

With that in mind my birds are more likely only 2 1/2 years old not 3, and it is now winter. Hopefully in the spring I will get my first signs of breeding or at least eggs . I keep them with other birds, there is nothing else in the flight pen with them but I have free ranging guinea fowl and chickens that can walk to within 8 inches of the pen and the barn is divided with doors that open to each seperate pen so I can keep all of my birds that need heat in the same area. I also have the flight pen planted with tree and black bamboo. I have perches up at least 5 ft off the ground that run through the bamboo so they can be hidden on the perches if they feel they need to hide. Overall I am happy with the set up except for 2 things, first the winters here are way too cold, and second there is a lot of activity around their pen. I will see what happens next year but I have other options if I continue to have trouble.
 
I looked at the website for the company I will be getting the green junglefowl from and their price is $350 per pair. Do you think these birds will be any good for that price?
 
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Seems very inexpensive to me but that doesn't mean that they are not good quality or purebred birds. No way to know unless you know the pedigree and can trace the birds back to original breeders. My choice would be to buy them from known breeders who have a reputation and good quality stock, it may cost you more but you can then have birds whose lineage and quality you know.
 
I have red jungle fowl in central Missouri from Cackle Hatchery. They are kept free range with no confinement of any kind. They look a little like OEG bantams, being slightly larger and much more muscular, but simularities of importance end there. They are much more physically capable and very smart, almost crow like. They have a broader range of vocalizations than any chicken breeds I have experience with. They are tuff when it comes to my local disease issues but I have avoided giving them access to feeds that are not based largely on animals by-products or simply used natural forages (most frequent situation).

As for the flightiness, even when pure or nearly so, red jungle fowl are not flighty like pheasants. Wild does not mean crazy and experience can greatly influence behavior. I have experience with crows and they are similar to my red jungle fowl in that they can readily be tamed for handling yet retain other wild characteristics of species.
 
when i checked the cackle hatchery those red jungle fowl where very cheap i dont think they would be good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if the right person with proper skill set and resources got into raising the pure birds, they could be raised for a lot less than reputed pure birds are sold for now. If birds do not have documentation that deals with genetic evidence, then statement of purity is little more than some bodies opinion used to increase selling price.
 
I know this is an old post, but I have to say that I totally agree with Centrarchid's two previous post!! I purchased red jungle fowl from cackle hatchery and LOVE them! They are extremely hardy, smart and just a joy to have. There is no way I personally would pay anywhere near the amount others are willing to pay for so-called "pure breed" stock. Mine may not have "papers" but they are very good at free ranging and avoiding predators which is why I bought them.
 
I have pure red junglefowl caught in the jungle in cambodia where i live. The female died and the male fly away but I suceed to keep their eggs and hatch them. I got 6 female and 1 male and let them free range with other fighting chicken, ducks, peacock and dove. They are all in good health and only 1 died and I have many many chicks now some pure and some mix with fighting chicken.
If someone is interrested to get some pire cambodian res junglefowl email me at [email protected]
 
First THERE IS NO HACTHERY THAT HAS PURE TRUE JUNGLEFOWL There are many here in the states that work with these birds, I say work because that is what you must do to keep tem healthy and breeding for you. I am luck to have the Reds murghi (there are 5 subspecies of the red JF), Grey JF and the Ceylon Jf. I have yet to work with the Greens but, are on my list. contact me if you are interested in any of the four Jf species, if I don't have yet will direct towards someone that does. Again stay away from hatcheries
 

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