Chickin Fairy
Songster
This reminds me of the chickens in the Florida Keys. Wild things. They are closer to the original Jungle Fowl line.The chickens my family had were from a remote corner of the globe where they had been bred selectively towards successful brooding as the most crucial characteristic for countless generations. They weren't particularly docile--I've seen a hen run straight at and attack a hawk that had landed on the ground nearby and was eyeing her chicks, and we had some failed integrations where they nearly killed a hen by pecking her half to death before we stopped it. But I think their instincts were just more finely honed regarding chick raising than most of the chickens currently available in the US today. I have to wonder how much epigenetics factors in.
I have one bird that runs right at a stalking cat. She is fearless and my alpha female. She's high production, too. She's just barnyard, but I do always wonder about how more modern birds have had broodiness bred out of them intentionally.