Making a large chicken breed

[NatJ]

Indian Game, are just now mainly called Cornish Games, or Just Cornish nowadays.
Think that's where the confusion came from when you just said Indian Gamefowl.

I think they are confusing no matter what you call them.

If you say "Cornish," then people assume you mean the big white Cornish Cross meat birds.

If you say "Cornish Game," some people are going to think of those little chickens you can buy in the grocery store (Cornish Cross butchered young).

And as you pointed out, "Indian Game" or "Indian Gamefowl" causes another kind of confustion.

I personally like Cornish (pure breed, standard or bantam, also called "Indian Game" and various other names). But I think they do have too many names, and every one of their names is easy to confuse with something else!

 

[Rock17]

I think they are confusing no matter what you call them.

If you say "Cornish," then people assume you mean the big white Cornish Cross meat birds.

If you say "Cornish Game," some people are going to think of those little chickens you can buy in the grocery store (Cornish Cross butchered young).

And as you pointed out, "Indian Game" or "Indian Gamefowl" causes another kind of confustion.

I personally like Cornish (pure breed, standard or bantam, also called "Indian Game" and various other names). But I think they do have too many names, and every one of their names is easy to confuse with something else!

They also have other names in Cornwall

 

[Nicks_Chicks]

I know it's not a good picture, but these are the two indio gigante mix chicks. Idk what they were mixed with. The IG cockerels looks just red right now, idk. Hopefully I will get him sometime within the next few weeks. I'm hoping both chicks are pullets, or at least one. With my luck they are both boys. If these are both pullets, then next year they will be crossed with the IG cockerels. I will also get some orpingtons from papa's poultry next year for the project. I have three hens that have the right traits for the project as well (Kinda leggy and tallish, have pea combs, and have the angryish looking face that a lot of gamefowl have (idk what it is called)

 

[Nicks_Chicks]

I know it's not a good picture, but these are the two indio gigante mix chicks. Idk what they were mixed with. The IG cockerels looks just red right now, idk. Hopefully I will get him sometime within the next few weeks. I'm hoping both chicks are pullets, or at least one. With my luck they are both boys. If these are both pullets, then next year they will be crossed with the IG cockerels. I will also get some orpingtons from papa's poultry next year for the project. I have three hens that have the right traits for the project as well (Kinda leggy and tallish, have pea combs, and have the angryish looking face that a lot of gamefowl have (idk what it is called)

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Some 2 cents that I’ll offer is that I’m a few years into a large gamefowl project and I’ve found that crossing breeds of highly inbred bloodlines lends itself towards erasing abnormally large size. Gigantism of the sort we see in some chicken breeds may sometimes be a trait that was created and/or reinforced with extreme inbreeding at an earlier time in a breed’s history. When fresh genetics are mixed in, the size genes may refresh towards a more natural size.

“May” is the operative word. I have of course not tried more than a handful of genetic combinations. I have some produced some largish chickens, but nothing that would be outside the normal range of a large duel purpose breed. Even though my parent stock can produce huge birds when kept pure to themselves.

 

[Nicks_Chicks]

Some 2 cents that I’ll offer is that I’m a few years into a large gamefowl project and I’ve found that crossing breeds of highly inbred bloodlines lends itself towards erasing abnormally large size. Gigantism of the sort we see in some chicken breeds may sometimes be a trait that was created and/or reinforced with extreme inbreeding at an earlier time in a breed’s history. When fresh genetics are mixed in, the size genes may refresh towards a more natural size.

“May” is the operative word. I have of course not tried more than a handful of genetic combinations. I have some produced some largish chickens, but nothing that would be outside the normal range of a large duel purpose breed. Even though my parent stock can produce huge birds when kept pure to themselves.

Thanks for the info! I have also seen people that will cross two large breeds and will get a bird that is larger than both parents.

 

[Karoo permaculture]

Indian Game, are just now mainly called Cornish Games, or Just Cornish nowadays.
Think that's where the confusion came from when you just said Indian Gamefowl.

Mostly in the US, the rest of us calls them Indian Game(cock in my profile pic)

 

[2 chiks n a roo]

Hello. Sometime in the next few weeks I am hoping to get an indio gigante cockerel. I have at least two indio gigante mix chicks. I want to make a big chicken starting from these birds. All I have right now are those three. My largest hen is an Orpington but she isn't that big since she is hatchery quality. My goal is to get a really tall, meaty bird that lays decently and makes a great mother and a great forager. I know large birds take a long time to reach full size, so I'm going to add something for accelerated growth. @MysteryChicken

Sounds interesting, never heard of the gigante breed, not even sure we have them in NZ.
My roo is a RIRxShaver an stands 60 cm to his comb, his first son of 8 months old is even bigger, and one of his 24wk old daughters is almost as big as him, their mumma is a tiny hy-line.. I'd love to know/see more about the gigante's you're breeding

 

[Nicks_Chicks]

Sounds interesting, never heard of the gigante breed, not even sure we have them in NZ.
My roo is a RIRxShaver an stands 60 cm to his comb, his first son of 8 months old is even bigger, and one of his 24wk old daughters is almost as big as him, their mumma is a tiny hy-line.. I'd love to know/see more about the gigante's you're breeding

That sounds cool! And thank you!

 

[Nicks_Chicks]

So, an update. The two gigante crosses are about a month and a half old now. The darker colored one is not really tall at all, so I will probably cull her. The lighter colored one is taller than a bird that is a week and a half older than it (which would make a difference in size at this age). I also figured out this one's mom's breed. A bielfelder. Its a bonus since biels are decent sized as well.