Developing My Own Breed Of Large Gamefowl For Free Range Survival (Junglefowl x Liege)

[Florida Bullfrog]

I also breed for tail length. Males should have a tail that is at least as long as their body. Often longer.

And Sherman you sent me has that.

I have seen occasions where a stag keeps a short tail until their 18 month molt, and Liege especially seem prone to keep a short tail until true maturity. So I'll give Azog this molt to see how he looks.

What it comes down to is that Azog simply isn't larger than a very large American Gamefowl. He's a good looking and properly tempered bird all around. But lacks the size I need. Sherman is likely going to take his place in the next step of the project.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Do you happen to have a pic of Sherman and Azog, and Indo. To compare sizes?

 

[Klutch]

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These are some of the Gen 3s drying off after a storm. The last pic is the most significant. The brown hen is a large American game that’s around 3 years old. The terrorfowl stag to her right, who is quite young, is already larger than her. He and a couple of other stags of similar size may end up being large birds.

Something else of import is how far some of them range independently. At random times I find them in the far reaches of the farm where none of my chickens normally go. View attachment 3551169

Finally, I saw two of the terrorfowl stags fight this morning, and then do it more like wild turkeys. They wrap their necks around each other before kicking. Has anyone observed orientals spar this way?

There two main styles of fighting, (Plucking) where they wrap and attack the back and plucking feathers and straight ahead pounding with their jackhammer beak.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

There two main styles of fighting, (Plucking) where they wrap and attack the back and plucking feathers and straight ahead pounding with their jackhammer beak.

Well of head hunting. There are lots of other styles. Single stroke, locker, shuffler, weaver, and different types of hitters.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Do you happen to have a pic of Sherman and Azog, and Indo. To compare sizes?

I won’t be able to put them literally together because it would cause a melee, but I’ll try to get some pics against the same backdrop and size them so they can be compared.

Closest thing I have is this pic and its outdated. Sherman has filled out a lot since this pic.

 

[Red Mangrove]

What it comes down to is that Azog simply isn't larger than a very large American Gamefowl. He's a good looking and properly tempered bird all around. But lacks the size I need. Sherman is likely going to take his place in the next step of the project.

I have some half Indio Gigante running around right now and the majority of them seem to be nearly identical in size to their pure AGF half-siblings. Only 2 of perhaps 10 are significantly larger

I suspect that size comes down to a variety of different genes and the AGF size genes are dominant

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I have some half Indio Gigante running around right now and the majority of them seem to be nearly identical in size to their pure AGF half-siblings. Only 2 of perhaps 10 are significantly larger

I suspect that size comes down to a variety of different genes and the AGF size genes are dominant

I believe you are correct. I think the genes for large size come out through inbreeding and run counter to the size that would be genetically dictated when the genes are fresher or more diverse. They’re trying to revert to a more junglefowl-like size, in other words, because that’s their default programming. Crossing is hitting the reset button.

Thus the quandary. I think their genes need to be diverse for survival purposes. But they can’t be very diverse or else they won’t preserve the abnormally large size. So we’ll see what happens when a Liege is crossed to a very large, unrelated, oriental gamefowl.

The next step in the project is to move Indo and all the aseel x Liege crosses to the woods paddock and allow Indo to line breed the hens for the next year or two in semi-feral conditions. They’ll have the protection of the electric fence but they won’t interact with me beyond me checking their water and their deer feeder. Concurrently, I’m going to allow Sherman to breed the new Liege hens. I’ll throw their offspring out in the woods paddock and let them intermix at will with those already there. When I finally produce a terrorfowl cock that is the right size and temperment, I’ll remove Indo and let the new cock line breed the surviving hens for several years and hopefully impart more of his size with each generation.

I really want a stag like this to represent the line. Long, strong, legs. Low, long, tail. Large, full feathered wings. Long neck. Sharp face. Full feathers. But he needs to be many times larger.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

My farm and the protected eye path of hurricane Idalia. I theorize the free rangers will be fine, the coop birds might get crushed if their coops can’t hold up. Tonight I will consider turning out as many coop birds as I can while holding brood cocks back

 

[Nero70002]

I won’t be able to put them literally together because it would cause a melee, but I’ll try to get some pics against the same backdrop and size them so they can be compared.

Closest thing I have is this pic and its outdated. Sherman has filled out a lot since this pic. View attachment 3616586

So is Sherman the one on the left?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

So is Sherman the one on the left?

Sherman is the one on the right in the coop.