What is a chicken vs game bird?

[r41316]

I have taken in a coworker’s elderly father’s “chicken”. Someone has brought up that she may be a game bird/fowl. I’ve tried reading up and I don’t understand what a game fowl is and more importantly - can it live with my 8 hens and 4 older chicks? I don’t have a rooster but am suspicious that 1 of the chicks may be.

Can someone explain or point me to a resource that explains what a game bird is? Is it a type of chicken or not a chicken at all? Something like all labs are dogs but not all dogs are labs…

I’ve had her separated from my flock for a couple days now and should let her out soon. She does seem to have pretty thick feet/legs that have a tinge of green.

 

[fluffycrow]

First off. Game birds are quail and such. Gamefowl are what you have. Gamefowl are chickens, just chickens that have been bred for a long time to fight. As such, they've evolved certain features, and a temperament to back it up. What you have here are American gamefowl. I have Oriental gamefowl, so these guys are not my expertise. @sdm111 is our American gamefowl pro on here

 

[r41316]

First off. Game birds are quail and such. Gamefowl are what you have. Gamefowl are chickens, just chickens that have been bred for a long time to fight. As such, they've evolved certain features, and a temperament to back it up. What you have here are American gamefowl. I have Oriental gamefowl, so these guys are not my expertise. @sdm111 is our American gamefowl pro on here

Thank you - that helps.

 

[r41316]

I have taken in a coworker’s elderly father’s “chicken”. Someone has brought up that she may be a game bird/fowl. I’ve tried reading up and I don’t understand what a game fowl is and more importantly - can it live with my 8 hens and 4 older chicks? I don’t have a rooster but am suspicious that 1 of the chicks may be.

Can someone explain or point me to a resource that explains what a game bird is? Is it a type of chicken or not a chicken at all? Something like all labs are dogs but not all dogs are labs…

I’ve had her separated from my flock for a couple days now and should let her out soon. She does seem to have pretty thick feet/legs that have a tinge of green.

I should have also added that she has some pretty big spurs.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

First off. Game birds are quail and such. Gamefowl are what you have. Gamefowl are chickens, just chickens that have been bred for a long time to fight. As such, they've evolved certain features, and a temperament to back it up. What you have here are American gamefowl. I have Oriental gamefowl, so these guys are not my expertise. @sdm111 is our American gamefowl pro on here

I agree with everything said here, and would add that gamefowl are genetically closer to wild junglefowl than regular chickens. They’re somewhat of an intermediate form between the two. The fight drive is natural to the wild junglefowl. Its how nature selects the strongest cocks to reproduce. Thus the reason wild junglefowl and their domestic counterparts have spurs. So it isn’t so much that humans artificially put upon chickens a fight drive over thousands of years. Instead they only slightly tweaked the fight drive shortly after domestication and gamefowl have been kept in that state ever since. Chickens were originally domesticated for fighting, not food.

 

[fluffycrow]

I should have also added that she has some pretty big spurs.

Yeah that's not cause for concern. I've seen a lot of American game hens with spurs in particular. I was about to @ another member who is really knowledgeable with gamefowl, but I see that he found the thread himself

 

[r41316]

I agree with everything said here, and would add that gamefowl are genetically closer to wild junglefowl than regular chickens. They’re somewhat of an intermediate form between the two. The fight drive is natural to the wild junglefowl. Its how nature selects the strongest cocks to reproduce. Thus the reason wild junglefowl and their domestic counterparts have spurs. So it isn’t so much that humans artificially put upon chickens a fight drive over thousands of years. Instead they only slightly tweaked the fight drive shortly after domestication and gamefowl have been kept in that state ever since. Chickens were originally domesticated for fighting, not food.

Thank you. Is it possible she will live harmoniously with my chickens? I don’t have a rooster as of now but have 4 older chicks and I’m thinking 1 is likely a rooster.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Thank you. Is it possible she will live harmoniously with my chickens? I don’t have a rooster as of now but have 4 older chicks and I’m thinking 1 is likely a rooster.

Yes. They’re not hell with feathers like a lot of people think. They have a tendency to be more domineering than other chickens but given enough space, it ought not be a problem.

What you don’t want to do is lock her in a small coop with a batch of chicks she brooded and other chickens. She’ll be more likely to beat up other chickens over the protection of her chicks and kill rival chicks hatched by other hens. You want her to have as much space as possible when rearing chicks. When people in history talked about the proverbial mother hen that protects her bitties at all costs, it was likely a game hen people were seeing.

Here’s one of mine that’s rearing 8 bitties free range. She’ll disappear with them for a day or two at a time into far flung parts of the farm then bring them back up to the house for a while. Gamefowl are the best free range chickens there are.

 

[r41316]

Yes. They’re not hell with feathers like a lot of people think. They have a tendency to be more domineering than other chickens but given enough space, it ought not be a problem.

What you don’t want to do is lock her in a small coop with a batch of chicks she brooded and other chickens. She’ll be more likely to beat up other chickens over the protection of her chicks and kill rival chicks hatched by other hens. You want her to have as much space as possible when rearing chicks. When people in history talked about the proverbial mother hen that protects her bitties at all costs, it was likely a game hen people were seeing.

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Here’s one of mine that’s rearing 8 bitties free range. She’ll disappear with them for a day or two at a time into far flung parts of the farm then bring them back up to the house for a while. Gamefowl are the best free range chickens there are.

Thanks so much for all the info!

 

[Lukers]

Thank you. Is it possible she will live harmoniously with my chickens? I don’t have a rooster as of now but have 4 older chicks and I’m thinking 1 is likely a rooster.

she ought to, introduce them slowly through a wire divider with a top (they can fly like quail) and after a week or more, put her on the roost, and if one of your birds is a rooster, and you get some fertile eggs for her, that's the best momma hen you'll ever have. And since she's a she, and the rooster will have grown up in the flock it should be all well, and depending on how "game" (likely to fight and continue fighting once she's started) she is will determine how high she is on the pecking order. Though, great find, they are cool chickens, and I'm really hunting around for some to buy in my area.