Show Off Your Games!

[cwc362]

Here is my Rooster ( Madagascar game) I got from a friend of mine last tuesday- So far he's as gentle as a puppy with me but haven't had him with other birds yet . When he comes out of quarantine I'll probably throw a couple of hens in with him just to keep him company . If I can't find another madagascar hen to go with him . what breed do you all think would make a good cross?

 

[cicene mete]

Hey Pop,

Thanks for the advice. I'm trying to figure out which ones will be the best free rangers/flock protectors. My wife only wants me to keep one, but we have separate pens within the barn that would house two groups who could alternate free ranging, and I'd rather have two roosters in case something happens to one of them.

I'd like to keep more to see how they turn out, but my wife has the primary responsibility for taking care of the animals because I am disabled, and she doesn't want any additional pens. Plus, I have neighbors with small children, so all of the chickens are kept in pens inside the barn until the kids go to school. We have three pens inside the barn (a big one for our egg layers and two smaller ones for the Gamefowl). The last thing I want is to be disturbing my neighbors with a lot of crowing at 5:30 AM.

So there you have it. But like I said, I'm trying to figure out which two would be the best for free ranging, but also the easiest to manage. I'm not looking for more lap chickens (already have Cochins), but we do need to be able to handle them and don't want any man-fighters. Here's what I've noticed:
The Aseel cross is by far the calmest. He's easy to handle and very mellow. He's often the first to explore new things, but he also stands apart from the others, and he's the smallest and sometimes gets picked on.
The Hennie cross is a little more high strung, but he is still easy to handle. He's by far the biggest, and he seems to interact well with the others.
The Brownred is a bit more flighty. He's also a fantastic flyer and is as fast as lightning. He freaks out a little bit if I lift him up.
I haven't had much one-on-one time with the black roundhead stag, except that he tries to bite my hand.
The Kelso cross is very confident. He has gone after a couple of the other chickens (both male and female). He completely freaks out when I picked him up and acts like I'm killing him.

We are in the process of fencing in our property, which is mostly open field with few trees, so the primary predators would be hawks, and there are lots and lots of them. I'm not sure if any of the coloring would make them stick out to aerial predators. The other issue to consider is that we are in Massachusetts, and it gets pretty cold in the winter.

PS, cwc362, your rooster is very cool looking.

 

[chickenlover54]

Hey guys

I have lots of Sid Taylor and Pumpkin Hulsey Chicks to sell they hatched yesterday so I will ship them in 3 weeks. The Sids are $15 each and the PHs are $30 PM me if interested

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Great find, cwc362. Lemme introduce you to my friend saladin. PM him and he will guide you to a hen and not just any hen, but a correct hen. I`ll let him guide you to his website and tell you about himself, if he wants. Tell him I sent you........Pop
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/profile.php?id=26505

 

[saladin]

cwc,
(Just saw this Pop).

If you are wanting to keep the Malgache type then I'd breed him to the biggest Malay hen you can find. Some chicks will have naked zones and some will not. Just breed the one's with the naked zones back to this fellow and you'll have it.

If you are wanting to improve the gameness of the Malgache and still retain the type the best you can then I'd use a Shamo hen or the absolute largest Asil hen you can find and the breed back as above.

Just remember that the Malgache has a look all it's own: crow headed!
saladin

 

[shelleyd2008]

I've never seen a naked-necked game, that's something new to me

 

[cwc362]

Quote:
Thanks Saladin And POPs - I probably would have trouble finding Malays around here but might be able to find some Asils. Don't know this birds pedigree , He might have originally came from the Ideal stock - I have no idea- But he's something else- He doesn't act like he's got a mean bone in his body but I have him quaratined right now - so we'll see how he reacts to other birds when quarantine is over. This thing looks like he could do some damage with that beak if he wanted to!! LOL He does have the whitish colored eyes- don't know if that's called pearl or not. He has a dewlap . He is feathered on the thighs but has a narrow naked patch on his keel His legs are yellow but have a grayish overlay type color on them. The only thing I've got to go by is what I've read on feathersite. But no matter what - I'm really enjoying him so far!!! Thinking about calling him Deano since he looks like a dinosaur !!

 

[DTchickens]

Here are some new additions to our flock! I thought of just uploading a photo of the two, but decided to take some short videos. You'll have to forgive the shakiness, I hadn't been up very long. My hands are already bad about shaking and worse after I've been asleep. I told Roman to stay out of the shot since he is in every video I take, but after previewing the Roundheads video he was right in the back ground

. At least he was more subtle this time than the last ones..

1/2 Gilmore 1/2 yellow legged hatch
View My Video

Pure Lacy roundhead (actually borrowing him, but he'll be around here awhile with some pretty little hens we have

)
View My Video

These roosters really have the personalities I like, they're very talkative usually, confident, and fearless. They're really calm, just about walk up and grab them without them even moving and once you get them in your hands they won't peck or hit you. I'd probably handle them more, but both cocks are molting so I don't want to handle them too much.

-Daniel

 

[Lollipop]

Wayne, remember saladin said "absolute largest Asil". Most Asils you will find in the US will be under 6 1/2 lbs. The largest Asils will go 12-14 lbs, but are rare. You might have better luck looking for an O Shamo hen. In any event you don`t want to waste such a bird by breeding wrong. Best of luck........Pop

 

[cwc362]

Quote:
Thanks Pops- Come to think of it I haven't seen any really large asils around here either- I have a friend close to Memphis who is much more knowledgeable about gamefowl - He raises a lot of oddball stuff - maybe he can hook me up with something good . I've got some more pics on my mobile uploads on facebook- http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=45122&id=1617164486 if any wants to look at them . I'm really glad I can come here and learn something - A lot of what I've learned about gamefowl has been you guys on this thread- And all the info is much appreciated!!!