Recreating the American Game Bantam

[Florida Bullfrog]

I’m starting this thread to document my attempt to make my own line of American game bantams in conformation to the ABA standards for the breed. This will be my first attempt at breeding a chicken to the standard. This will be a project for me, a hobby unto itself. I’m dedicated to see this thru until I succeed. This won’t be a passing fancy for me. I think I have the resources to do it. A 40 acre farm with plenty of room and many grow-out coups/runs to keep generations separate, access to additional family farms to send stock to if needbe, and what I believe to be some workable genetics to start with to get me where I need to be.

My base stock will be my red jungle fowl hybrids. These birds may or may not have game fowl in them, as I cannot vouch for what domestic blood they were crossed with to tame the RJF down. My hybrids are documented in the below linked thread and hensworth will be referred to as Florida “Cracker” bantams after the RJF-like, small, gamefowl or semi-feral bantams that used to be common on Florida Cracker backwoods homesteads.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ngle-fowl-in-the-american-deep-south.1309995/
My Cracker bantams are already near the size of an American game bantam and already have the slate colored legs. For starters, I need to get the white earlobe off of them and get their ears red. At this time I am only breeding for BBR and I want my birds to have as strong of a RJF look as possible while still conforming to the breed standard. I am planning to use OEGB as my other foundational stock and breeding them up with the Cracker bantams instead of breeding regular gamefowl down.

Is there any requirement that the American game bantam have a gamey disposition? I’ll be joining the ABA soon and will learn the details of the standard when I get their book. For now I just want to get the size and the overall look right, then I’ll focus on smaller details.

 

[ColtHandorf]

It sounds like an interesting breeding project. I wish I had the knowledge to help answer your questions, but alas I do not. Hopefully one of the game savvy breeders will be along to weigh in.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Project is commencing. My broodcock is this guy:

He is a RJF hybrid I raised to about half grown and gave away. I reacquired him this evening.

These will be my dams (don’t know if that’s the right term for a breeding hen). The one on the left has the right leg color but a bit too much grey in the tail and a white ear. The one on the right is colored right all around but the wrong leg color (ear is a mix of red but with a touch of iridescent white).

I’ll have to wait for their previous rooster’s semen to cycle out before I start collecting eggs.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I have my first hatch off of Tyrant and the OEGBs. 8 of 9 hatched. I incubated them along with 12 jungle fowl.

The problem is that I can only tell a couple apart from the jungle fowl. One for sure as it has yellow legs. The rest all have blue or green legs. I’m sure its 8 of the smaller chicks but there is some size overlap between them and a few of the jungle fowl.

Until I can definitively tell them, the entire flock of 20 will have to be quarantined from my main flock.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Here's an update on my RJF hybrid x OEGB crosses as potential American game bantam foundational stock:

- I was able to distinguish the crosses from the wider RJF hybrid flock as they grew. It took to about June for me to tell the difference.

- Body build is more like the RJFs but size is going to be more like a OEGB. I'll be surprised if they top out much more than a pound when mature.

- The pullets came out nice. Right colors for AGBs with the exception of one that has a grey frost like her mother. They just need to be larger.

- The cockerels are a mess. The one with yellow legs in the post above ended up having pasty-white legs. Wrong color for what I'm going for. His feather coloring appears ok. But he's aways from final adult plumage. I'm going to give him a chance to see if he'll throw dark legged chicks with hens of the proper leg color. The second cockerel has too much grey on him instead of black and I'll probably cull him after he gets his adult plumage unless his colors take an unexpected turn. He also came off the OEGB hen that had the frost on her otherwise partridge-like plumage.

- The game plan now is to run three breedings. I'll use the cross hens in all three batches.

- First batch will be to the white legged rooster. He is their brother, but I'm not concerned about that at this stage. I'm just curious to see whether the F2s will keep the same build and size as the F1s or whether the F2s will throw different traits. I'm especially curious to see if they climb in size.

- Second and third batches will be back to RJF hybrid roosters. Not their father Tyrant, but to Ragnar and to a yet unchoosen RJF stag that is tracking much smaller than my normal RJF hybrids. The hybrids in their first generation on my far run 2.5lbs as brood cocks. I'm finding many of the next generation run smaller and show more RJF traits. Lower tail carriage, longer legs, more slim bodies. Ragnar exhibits more AGB traits while other stags are exhibiting more RJF traits and I'd like to see how each sets of traits breeds with the OEGB cross pullets.

If I like the F2s from the above three contemplated broods, I'll continue with them and start setting up breeding trees so I can make sure they don't get too inbred early on and I'll work on culling for AGB traits (and possibly RJF traits according to the American Bantam Association as a separate line).

If I don't like the F2s, I'll scrap the entire OEGB cross project and just focus on meeting AGB standards through the RJF hybrids.

Ragnar, my favorite F1 from my RJF hybrids. High tail carriage like an AGB. Mostly red ear too. Will probably top out 2lbs, a bit over AGB standards.

My OEGB crosses:

The pullets, which I think are showing the most promise:

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Here's an update on my RJF hybrid x OEGB crosses as potential American game bantam foundational stock:

- I was able to distinguish the crosses from the wider RJF hybrid flock as they grew. It took to about June for me to tell the difference.

- Body build is more like the RJFs but size is going to be more like a OEGB. I'll be surprised if they top out much more than a pound when mature.

- The pullets came out nice. Right colors for AGBs with the exception of one that has a grey frost like her mother. They just need to be larger.

- The cockerels are a mess. The one with yellow legs in the post above ended up having pasty-white legs. Wrong color for what I'm going for. His feather coloring appears ok. But he's aways from final adult plumage. I'm going to give him a chance to see if he'll throw dark legged chicks with hens of the proper leg color. The second cockerel has too much grey on him instead of black and I'll probably cull him after he gets his adult plumage unless his colors take an unexpected turn. He also came off the OEGB hen that had the frost on her otherwise partridge-like plumage.

- The game plan now is to run three breedings. I'll use the cross hens in all three batches.

- First batch will be to the white legged rooster. He is their brother, but I'm not concerned about that at this stage. I'm just curious to see whether the F2s will keep the same build and size as the F1s or whether the F2s will throw different traits. I'm especially curious to see if they climb in size.

- Second and third batches will be back to RJF hybrid roosters. Not their father Tyrant, but to Ragnar and to a yet unchoosen RJF stag that is tracking much smaller than my normal RJF hybrids. The hybrids in their first generation on my far run 2.5lbs as brood cocks. I'm finding many of the next generation run smaller and show more RJF traits. Lower tail carriage, longer legs, more slim bodies. Ragnar exhibits more AGB traits while other stags are exhibiting more RJF traits and I'd like to see how each sets of traits breeds with the OEGB cross pullets.

If I like the F2s from the above three contemplated broods, I'll continue with them and start setting up breeding trees so I can make sure they don't get too inbred early on and I'll work on culling for AGB traits (and possibly RJF traits according to the American Bantam Association as a separate line).

If I don't like the F2s, I'll scrap the entire OEGB cross project and just focus on meeting AGB standards through the RJF hybrids.

Ragnar, my favorite F1 from my RJF hybrids. High tail carriage like an AGB. Mostly red ear too. Will probably top out 2lbs, a bit over AGB standards.

View attachment 2234413

View attachment 2234431

My OEGB crosses:

View attachment 2234416View attachment 2234415View attachment 2234429View attachment 2234419

The pullets, which I think are showing the most promise:

View attachment 2234417

The grey cockerel is actually a variation of black called blue. Blue x black will produce 50% blue and 50% black offspring. There’s nothing wrong with blue, unless you want to produce birds that are strictly black. The color variation you have is blue breasted red, also called blue golden duckwing.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

The grey cockerel is actually a variation of black called blue. Blue x black will produce 50% blue and 50% black offspring. There’s nothing wrong with blue, unless you want to produce birds that are strictly black. The color variation you have is blue breasted red, also called blue golden duckwing.

It will be a while before I have my standards book in front of me. Is blue breasted red the same as blue-red?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

It will be a while before I have my standards book in front of me. Is blue breasted red the same as blue-red?

Yes

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Yes

Ok, that’s great to know. I actually had my wife check the ABA standards for me a few minutes ago out of my ABA book for the AGB and Blue-Red is a recognized AGB color. I would have probably culled him out of ignorance but for you speaking up. Thanks!

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I culled the white-legged stag. Besides having the wrong leg color, he just all around favored an OEGB too much.

The blue-red stag is looking nice by the ABA AGB standards. I weighed him tonight. 1.44lbs and he will fill out more. He'll probably come out close to the right weight. His posture is good. Only major flaw that stands out to my novice eye (besides the fact he isn't dubbed) is his white ear. And of course his tail has a lot more filling out to do but he's young and I think it will happen. Normally he holds his wings higher, but in the heat a lot of the roosters are drooping their wings out. Its 96F in the shade late evening not counting heat index.

Unfortunately Ragnar is out of the breeding project. I weighed him tonight too. He's too heavy. Nearly 3lbs. Half a pound larger than his father and he's 8 months old so he'll get bigger. I'm not culling him, he's just no longer a potential breeder in my AGB project unless I use him for some new blood to a OEGB. Its too bad. He's an excellent specimen of an American game bantam in posture, color, feathering, build, and tail. He even holds the tip of his beak in line with his chest in conformance to the standards. The more I think about it the more sure I am I will probably cross him back to small OEGBs to make a second line to run concurrent with the first line.