I have been watching my games for a good number of years paying particular attention to those kept in family groups of rooster, hens (1-10) and their young-of-year offspring. When the number of hens was small the rooster would take over tending of juveniles at about time the mother hen would start brooding another clutch. Looking into literature I can find no evidence for wild red jungle fowl roosters caring for offspring beyond giving alarm calls concerning predators. Alternatively I can find a note indicating rooster grey jungle fowl will do as I see with my games. Supposedly domestic chickens are a combination of red jungle fowl (~85%) and grey jungle fowl (~15%) so the latter could be source of observed behavior in the games. Has anyone observed their red jungle fowl in a free-range situation or under natural conditions and seen adult roosters in company of juveniles?
