What breed is the "closest" to Indian jungle fowl?

[Kazz]

I'm hoping to move into a house on several acres of land somewhat soon and my GF and I have entertained the idea of getting a few chickens. Initially I wanted pheasants but now I'm not so sure...but that's neither here nor there.
One breed I'm somewhat interested in are sebrights, but I think red jungle fowl are a great looking bird and I tend to like "wild type" domestic animal breeds in general ("wolfish" looking dogs, Heck cattle etc..), so I'm wondering what domestic chicken breed is either genetically or morphologically the closest to their wild forebears. Based on my limited research thus far, American games seem to look pretty similar, are there any others?

If I end up getting some they are basically going to be pets so I'm not concerned with how easy they are to breed, egg production, or what kind of meat birds they make. Cold resistence might not be a bad idea though since I am in the northeastern US.

Also a secondary question just to satisfy my own curiosity, why do domestic hens tend to have more pronounced combs and wattles than jungle fowl hens? Is it tied in some way to domestic hens tending to be bred for larger size, hormonal perhaps?

 

[Michael OShay]

The closest breed to the Indian Jungle Fowl would probably be the Black or Brown Breasted Red Old English Game Fowl. Their appearance is very close to that of the Indian Red Jungle Fowl and like the Jungle Fowl, they are great foragers.

 

[QueenMisha]

Gamefowl are the closest to Junglefowl. Gamefowl are some of the most ancient breeds, being as cockfighting was the original reason for the domestication and development of chickens. They have often retained Wildtype coloring (e+e+ in genetic terms, commonly known as Black Breasted Red) and many wild characteristics - territorial aggression, broodiness, foraging ability, seasonal laying ability (though some strains have been bred into being good producers - my Shamo hens lay like a typical game, maybe 30 eggs a year, while my spectacular Hatch (I'm guessing) girl gives me 4/5 a week). Games are also very wild, and very fast.

There have been studies linking comb size with laying ability. This does indeed show heavily in some high-production breeds, such as the Leghorn. Junglefowl lay seasonally and produce maybe 2 dozen eggs in a good season, while a high quality Leghorn may produce over 300 in a year. Their combs have evolved accordingly as they were selected for egg production.