questions about Aseel

[flocksalot]

I just received some chicks that I think are Aseels. I'm really not sure what they are as the guy doesn't speak the best English. All I know is that he ordered them from Tiawan, they will have very long necks and not be big like my Dark Cornish. This was an unexpected delivery. He gave me 12 chicks from three different age groups starting with just hatched up to 6 weeks. As I've never raised true game fowl and that's what they look like I have some questions.

Are there any different requirements from regular chickens?

Will the roosters seek out and attack my other roosters?

Do they forage well? We are 100% free range once they jump the baby fence.

Are they a hardy breed or do they require extra warmth over the winter?

Any other information you can pass on concerning any game fowl from Tiawan would be extremely appreciated. Had I of known he was going to show up on my doorstep with these birds I would have done my research in advance, but since I didn't I'm looking for all kinds of information. This guy is one of my regular egg customers and he and his family purchase many chickens from me throughout the year. He plans to purchase some of these back from me come spring with the hope that I breed them and have a constant supply for him. It will all depend on how well they can integrate into our other flocks.

 

[Blaineiac]

Aseel/Asil's are awesome birds. They will need seperated though. The hens will probably integrate for free range, they'll just gooff by themselves. They will lay and set 3-4 times a year. Most are wonderful moms.

Without a hen to keep them in line, the stags need to be penned. Watch them, have pens ready, and when they get "serious" pen them up. I've heard that you can pen the trouble maker, and buy yourself a few days or even weeks on the others.

They are the friendliest fowl I've ever had the privlidge to own. They just don't work or play well with others.

In the breeds section there is an Oriental Gamefowl thread. Lots of good people there willing to answer questions. Post some pics there and someone can ID them for you.

Good Luck. Blaine

ETA: They'll do fine in winter as long as they have a dry/draft free place to go. I got mine from Michigan and they were kept in barrel pens

 

[flocksalot]

Aseel/Asil's are awesome birds. They will need seperated though. The hens will probably integrate for free range, they'll just gooff by themselves. They will lay and set 3-4 times a year. Most are wonderful moms.

Without a hen to keep them in line, the stags need to be penned. Watch them, have pens ready, and when they get "serious" pen them up. I've heard that you can pen the trouble maker, and buy yourself a few days or even weeks on the others.

They are the friendliest fowl I've ever had the privlidge to own. They just don't work or play well with others.

In the breeds section there is an Oriental Gamefowl thread. Lots of good people there willing to answer questions. Post some pics there and someone can ID them for you.

Good Luck. Blaine

ETA: They'll do fine in winter as long as they have a dry/draft free place to go. I got mine from Michigan and they were kept in barrel pens

Thanks Blaine!

I will check out the OG thread and see if I can get them identified.

I suspect most if not all of the 3 and six week olds are males, so I will be building cages as I go I guess. I can usually tell sex at 3 weeks with our other 20 breeds, and they do look like boys to me. The just hatched babies I will have to wait and see on. We have 12 roosters that currently have their own flocks with a few others that are useless or about to get culled and eaten. I don't have any agressive roosters currently even in my Dark and Red Laced Cornish, so I'm not real sure what to expect. Usually if we have a randy roo that is getting too agressive with the girls we leave him overnight with our old original roo. Rudy takes em down a few pegs and teaches them how to treat the girls. He's over 10 years now and still top dog around here. I'm thinking we will need to keep these little buggers away from him though. I would hate for big daddy to loose his top rooster status. He has been an awesome rooster for a very long time.

As chicks these guys are pretty tame compared to our other chicks. They remind me of turkey poults in a way just not nearly as loving though. They all seem to be quite happy in their new environments and are doing just fine.

I did look up pics on the internet last night and they do look like the Aseel/Asils that I could find. They are very dark, but the oldest 4 are getting some very pretty blues and greens on their wings it looks like. I just saw them briefly this morning while feeding and will take a better look this afternoon as I'm building a new juvenile pen for them. They had all gotten chilled yesterday and were upset also with the move, so I didn't do a thorough inspection of them. Now that they are settled in I can check them out better and make sure they are doing well.

Thanks again for the information!

 

[Guy4God]

Where did you get them in Michigan?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

To one degree or the other, All game breeds with a pea comb carry Asil blood lines. IT will take asil stags longer to get their courage than Mediterian type chickens but once they do the little roosters will need to be confined seperately in a pen where they can't GET at each other. As my father-inlaw said,"When them asils grow up they will look like they were raised in a stove pipe."

 

[Guy4God]

Looking in MI...