American Game Bantams

         

 American Game Bantams have been around as far back as the 1890s, although at that time they were bred mainly for pitting and were usually referred to as Pit Game Bantams. They also became very popular as an exhibition breed in the 1930s, and although they were remarkably consistent in type, size and plumage colors, there was no breed standard for them at that time. They were shown with a variety of different leg colors and with both red and white earlobes. Frank Gary, of New Jersey, made the assessment that the breed was lacking too much in length of hackle, saddle and sickles to make a truly attractive show bird. He decided to work on improving the breed in this respect and in getting it listed in the Standard. He purchased a Red Jungle Fowl male in South Carolina in 1940 that was well furnished in these areas and crossed the bird with a BB Red Pit Game Bantam female. The introduction of this male's bloodline increased feather length in these sections. By selection, the desired characteristics continued to be enhanced. Approximately 5-6 years were required to bring the fowl to the state of perfection required.

Gary approached the Standard Committee of the APA in the late 1940s to see if this new bantam could be admitted to the Standard of Perfection. A mandate was made that neither yellow, willow or pinkish white legs would be acceptable because these colors would conflict with Brown Leghorn, Modern Game and Old English Game. Eventually bluish slate was developed and became predominant. After coordination with other breeders, qualifying shows were held in New York City. Shape and color descriptions were listed in the 1950 ABA Yearbook. First varieties were Black and Black Breasted Red, but other varieties have become listed in the Bantam Standard since then.

The American Game Bantam never gained the popularity of the other Game Bantam breeds during the mid 1900s, and eventually became very rare. It is not known just how many individuals were still raising American Game Bantams during the last few decades of the 1900s, but there were a few dedicated breeders who kept the breed from extinction. In 2001, the American Game Bantam Club was formed to unite breeders and promote the breed. Since that time more breeders have taken a serious interest in them, and the breed has grown in popularity, with stock being supplied to numerous Game Bantam fanciers around the country.

Burmese Game Fowl "Pama game"

                       

Pama Game are a bit smaller than Thai games. They are considered the Speedy Gonzales of game fowl, being very quick in their motions. The Pama has very colorful patterns including Gray, Red, Black, and Golden Duckwing.

Asil Game Fowl

         

"Asil" is an Arabic word meaning "pure" or "thoroughbred, and is also spelled 'Aseel'. It is a very old game breed from the INDIA/PAKISTAN area and has been bred there as a game bird for many centuries, specifically for its aggressive behaviour. The Asil gamefowl breed might well be 3,500 years old as cockfighting has been mentioned in the Indian law, religion and philosophy manuscript "Manusriti" of that date; and in one of India's oldest manuscripts the "Dharmastrastra Manu, a classic work on law, order and ethics dating back to 1,500 B.C the first remarks about them were recorded. The breed was popular with the rulers of India (Mughal emperors & some Nawabs of states in India). They established the Asil for gaming and also developed their beauty. It is recognised as the oldest established breed of gamefowl, and this family of birds is a large one with many regional variations in size and type. Asil were developed primarily as a fighting bird, and this aspect of their development has had an overpowering influence on the breed's structure, constitution, and temperament as well as influencing its role in the development of more modern breeds. They are also known for their intelligent defensive and tactical thinking to keep power for long times in a endurance fight. The oldest evidence of organized cockfighting (based on archeological finds) has been found in the Indus valley (today Pakistan but Indian territory till 1947). The breed is difficult to keep due to these aggressive tendencies.

Thai Game Fowl

                   

The thai gamefowl is a breed of domesticated fowl - ie chicken - belonging to the asian, or oriental, gamefowl group, which also includes the ga noi don breed of Vietnam, the burmese (aka. pama) of Burma, the asil of the Middle East and India (arguably the oldest of all asiatic gamefowl breeds), and the shamo of Japan.

As its name suggests, the thai gamefowl originated in Thailand. Given Thailand's native name of Siam, the thai gamefowl is also sometimes referred to as the siamese fowl. The Thais, however, prefer their native term for this breed: "Gaichon."

This breed is relatively common in Thailand and small flocks of these birds can be found on most Thai rural farms, where they are usually allowed to free range or to live as semi-feral birds. These farmyard gaichon are often treated no differently from the average egg or meat-breeds of chicken, both in terms of their uses and their value. At the other, much smaller end of this spectrum are the hyper-specialized game farms that breed highly exclusive, pedigreed lineages of these birds. As they are the product of many long years of careful breeding and selection, these gaichon tend to be far more highly valued than their farmyard cousins, with each young bird easily capable of fetching prices of ten thousand baht or more.

Saipan "Jungle Fowl"

                     

Although they are known in the trade as a "Jungle Fowl," Saipans are really one of the large game, or fighting, breeds. The true Jungle Fowl comprise four species of smallish birds which inhabit India and Southeast Asia. They include the Red Jungle Fowl, ancestor to all our domestic breeds of chicken.

Saipans were brought to the States by a Mr. B. W. Saylor during WW II. They no longer exist on Saipan. The "stags," as the roosters are called, are very territorial and always ready to attack man or beast. They stand 2 to 3 feet tall and weigh between 10 and 12 pounds. The females, in contrast, are somewhat smaller, gentle and easy to handle.

Malays Game Fowl

                           

This hard-feathered old breed arrived in England from Asia, possibly as early as 1830. It was a very popular fowl in England until it lost favor due to the popularity of the newly introduced Cochins.

BBR Malays were admitted to the APA's Standard in 1883. At present, Black, White, Spangled, and Red Pyle are also recognized, as well as Wheaten females. Cocks should weigh 9 pounds and hens 7.

These birds are very long-legged, and the broad skull and projecting eyebrows give them a sinister expression. Malays have a strawberry comb. The outline of the back, from head to tip of tail, should describe 3 convex curves. They have yellow skin and lay dark brown eggs quite infrequently.

One of the Game Fowl, originally used for cock-fighting, the Malay is quite pugnacious. It is intolerant of other roosters and may attack anyone who goes near it's hens.

Irish Game Fowl

             

Irish Game can be found with either single or pea combs. They can be found in almost any color and most of these can be either normal feathered or hen-feathered (Hennies). Males should weigh around 4.5-5lb, although they vary from 3-8, and females weigh from 3-6lb. They are broad, short-backed fowl, similar in shape to the Old English Game and differing from the longer, narrower American Games. There has been no real attention paid to color in the Irish Game, so they can be found in a great variety of colors.

These birds are very feisty and the cockerels need to be separated by 5 weeks or they may start fighting. The hens are also known to be aggressive and will take on a dog or cat that even looks at their broods (and usually win).

The hens are good layers and produce a white to tinted egg.

Australian Pit Fowl

                   

Australian Pit Games were developed for cockfighting by British soldiers stationed in Australia.

The bantam version was developed by fanciers for showing. They should resemble the large fowl in all aspects except size.

The Pit Fowl are unique in being bred with "pit" characteristics in mind. Therefore, they may be any color, hen-feathered, muffed, tasseled, and single or pea combed.

Ga Noi Game Fowl

       

   The origin of gà nòi is unknown. Its history cannot be traced due to the lack of documentation. The 30 years civil war ended in 1975 that killed millions and ruined the whole country further contributed to the lack of information. 

Cockfighting in Viet Nam is an old tradition dating back at least 700 years. Gà Nòi is believed to be native of Viet Nam as there is no credible evidence of its origination from elsewhere. Gà nòi have been exported to neighboring countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia in recent decades. Vietnamese cockers living in the United States had also brought gà nòi to the States. Fowls bearing physical resemblance to ga noi can also be found in the Reunion Island.

For people who are interested in researching the origin of ga noi, a recent study conducted by a Japanese team on the origin of all chickens in the world can be found at www.accessexcellence.org. The new findings by the Japanese researchers suggest that domestication took place more than 8,000 years ago in what is now Thailand and Vietnam, the region in which the red jungle fowl is found today

China Game Fowl

               

                                                A China Game rooster

The fowl known in the US as "China Game" originated in the tropical Hainan Province of Southern China. Though they now exist throughout China. Hainan is a Chinese word meaning "South of the Sea." Hainan Province has 97% of its land mass on Hainan Island, "Hainan Dao." The remaining 3% of its land mass is scattered across some two hundred smaller islands in the region. Hainan first appears in written history ca. 110 BC. Its first inhabitants are estimated to have arrived there some 3,000 years ago. It is not known how long the fowl have been bred there.

The fowl are referred to properly as "Hainan Fowl." However, individuals in many rural populations refer to them simply as "tail fighters." Their physical appearance and occasional mutations suggest they have Green Jungle Fowl from Java in their ancestry. Aside from the long tail feathers of the rooster, pea-combed birds having one centrally located wattle and rounded neck feathers are known to exist within the flocks of older, long-time breeders. This suggests that southern China had trade with Java, Indonesia, prior to the 7th century AD.

Black-breasted Red is the most common plumage color pattern. Silver and Gold Dwucking are also known to exist, as well as Black-tailed Red Ginger. Leg colors are green and yellow, varying even within the same flock.

Corn is an expensive commodity that is not readily available. Brown rice itself is not necessarily fed to the fowl either, due to its demand as a staple of the human diet. So only the byproducts of brown rice, fruit, and vegetables are fed to the fowl. Hainan Island is a typhoon prone location. Debris from the sea often washes up on the beaches. Dead fish, crustaceans, and sea weed are commonly collected from the beaches and fed to livestock, including the Hainan Fowl.

Despite this diet of rice byproducts and sea refuse, it seems the fowl do well in the US living on other grains. This is in stark contrast to other fowl such as non-molting long-tail fowl that have a similar diet in their native country of Japan and do best maintained on such a diet.

The fowl were fought sometimes ceremoniously at specific times of the year. It's said that they would not fight during the winter months and were used mostly during the spring and summer months during breeding season when the roosters were already prone to fighting.

Today the fowl are still used in this manner in rural villages in China. Elsewhere outside of China they are kept as pets and ornamental fowl.

Shamo

                                 

The Shamo is another of the hard feathered Game breeds; the breed was developed in Japan, but its ancestors came from Siam (now Thailand) between the 17th & 19th centuries (the Tokugawa period). There are many different kinds of Japanese Games, but currently the best known is the Shamo. They were developed for use as fighting fowl, and were imported into many other countries for this reason; they also make fine meat birds, if slow growing, and crosses have been used to develop other types of table fowl. Currently, Shamos are catching on in popularity as exhibition birds. Many American game fanciers refer to the Shamos as "Japs," although this nickname has also been applied to the radically different Japanese bantam.

Shamos are tall, with a rather upright stance; they have the typical Oriental 'bird of prey" expression, with heavy brow ridges and short, sturdy beak. Eyes are usually pearl, the comb is pea, wattles are small or non-existent, and the feathering is exceedingly short and hard, to the extent that the breastbone is left bare. Although broad shouldered and heavily boned, they lack the exaggerated curves of the Malay, and are taller and less compact than the Asil. Tails are small, and generally follow the line of the back sloping downward to the ground. Colors in the American standard include Black, Black Breasted Red (Wheaten), and Dark, and colors in the Japanese standard include Akasasa (red-hackled), Kisasa (yellow-hackled), Shojo (brown), Goishi (mottled), Abura (dark red-hackled), Hakushoku (white), Asagi (blue), and Kokushoku (black).

I found the Shamo personality to be very similar to that of an Asil; birds were generally easy to handle and pleasant tempered, as well as being outstanding broodies & mothers--my Shamo hens were actually quite decent layers though, and far surpassed the Asils in this respect. They were also very territorial and aggressive towards each other; fights among baby chicks were also a problem. I no longer have any pure Shamos, and regret not having preserved my original line, as they are a fairly rare breed. They are handsome fowl, quite clever, and make nice pets if you can allow them personal space away from each other. My old brood cock was sold to a fellow who had bought some of his offspring in the past; his new owner enjoyed riding around in their pickup truck, with the Shamo cock perched on the front seat beside him.

Yamato Gunkei

               

                                                      A pair of Yamato Gunkei
The Yamato Gunkei is an in-between size of oriental Gamefowl from the 1.3kg pullet to the 2kg adult cock. Although it has the Chibi Shamo as a smaller version, it is nevertheless usually also considered to be, and shown as, a bantam Shamo breed (a totally different breed from the Ko Shamo). The most important attribute of this breed is "exaggeration." When adult it has a massive frame, strong chunky legs and feet, and a large head with pendulous dewlap and very wrinkled skin, which gets more wrinkled and grotesque with age. Colour of plumage is not important, but it must be hard and sparse with bare red skin showing at throat, point of wing, down the keel and around the vent. The wings are held away from the body at the shoulders, and the shoulder coverts should show clearly on the back, giving the characteristic "five hills" as seen from the back: wing / shoulder coverts / back / shoulder coverts / wing. The "prawn" tail is short and should point down and inwards between the legs. The females are not usually as exaggerated as the males, but in both sexes the aim is for as much exaggeration as possible within the weight limits. Very rarely seen in the British Isles, the breed is in very few hands even on the Continent. It seems that birds or eggs are difficult to obtain, even from Japan where, although they have specialist shows for small Shamo breeds, stock is jealously guarded.

Game fowl or Gamecock

A Philippine gamecock

A gamecock or game fowl is a type of rooster with physical and behavioral traits suitable for cockfighting. The first use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a “game”, a sport, pastime or entertainment, being in 1646.^[1] after the term “cock of the game” used by George Wilson, in the earliest known book on the sport ofcockfighting in The Commendation of Cocks and Cock Fighting in 1607. Game fowl are more closely related to their wild cousins "jungle fowl"; a shy wild chicken from forests in South Central and Southeastern Asia. Game fowl are physically more similar to jungle fowl than domestic chickens and are bred to retain these physical attributes as well as the jungle fowl's natural territorial instinct. This instinct among sexually mature males is the driving force behind their desire to dominate (and eliminate) other males that would compete for breeding rights in their territory. Hens also will often have an above average need for territorial dominance. In some bloodlines the hens must be kept separate, just as with the cocks. Domesticated chickens – in contrast – have been bred over many generations to cohabitate on farms or other smaller pieces of land. Because of this change in environment, the aggressive attributes found in wild chickens (and modern game fowl) are not desirable for farm life. The "gameness" or fighting spirit has been bred out of domestic chickens. Domestic chickens are primarily bred for egg and meat production.

The roosters will fight each other regardless of human contact, it is their natural instinct to fight. There are numerous chicken breedsthat fit the gamecock type, but a gamecock is not in itself a breed. Today, cockfighting, like most blood sports, is illegal in most of the world, but exceptions exist. Ireland, England, the U.S. and Spain are well known for the quality of their gamefowl.

A gamecock may undergo physical conditioning in preparation for a fight. The conditioning process is sometimes referred to as a "keep" and is designed to, among other things, tame the cock so that he can be handled during a fight. The primary purpose of a keep is to ensure that the bird is physically and mentally fit for its upcoming match, similar to the conditioning a boxer or wrestler goes through. The keep usually includes a special high energy diet as well as physical exercise.

Prior to physical conditioning, a gamecock that is to be fought or shown is often groomed. The comb (the red skin on top of the head) and wattles (skin under the beak) is usually trimmed at around a year old. This process is called “dubbing”. The feathers are sometimes groomed as well. The sickle feathers of the tail may be trimmed or any long feathers that a cock might trip on during a fight. In some cultures (particularly among Cuban game fowl enthusiasts), the feather trimming is much more extensive. The feathers of the chest and the back are sometimes shorn completely off. The reason for this extensive trimming is to help prevent a bird from overheating during a longer match. The reasons for this vary among individual game fowl enthusiast. Some trim their birds according to a tradition and others do it because they believe that losing the “bulky” feathers improves mobility during a fight.

Because of the physical attributes of gamecocks, they are often raised not for fighting but as “show fowl”. The athletic musculature and usually long colorful plumage causes them to be well suited for chicken beauty pageants.

Cockfighting is a seasonal sport. From September to November, gamecocks go through their molting stage (lose old feathers and grow new ones). This is a sensitive period of time for the gamecock, so no fighting occurs.

Gamecocks are bred for traits that make them less suitable for barnyard use, and are kept today in the developed world primarily forexhibition purposes. There are several breeds of chicken, such as the Modern Game and Old English Game Bantam, which fit the gamecock type, but are not directly used in cockfighting. Although cockfighting is illegal in the U.S., in Puerto Rico it is very popular