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I was just making a general point about behaviour and how much the keeping conditions alter it.I don't think I said that (and if I did, apologies for sloppy language) and Nicol doesn't either; it's *up to* 30; 30 as about top limit, not 30 as target.
In terms of differences between backyard flocks and jungle fowl, I imagine there are quite a lot. But I can speak from experience about the former, while I've not been impressed with what little I've read about the latter. And this is a forum about the former, not the latter, so I imagine generalizations based on backyard chickens is more relevant to most of us than those based on jungle fowl. So some of it is just moot really.
In terms of hen : roo ratios, I'm sure you're right. But a flock is not like a nuclear human family. Even in the photo (and I'm not at all sure what it is supposed to be exemplifying) there are at least 2 mature and 1 immature roos; my flock has 4 mature and 2 immature roos. Flock size probably correlates with number of roos, but a flock is not defined by a roo.
Am I missing something?
Somewhere underneath all that domestication the jungle fowl still lives.
That's what I'm interested in, how much jungle fowl is left in the modern domestic chicken. If we know that we are in a better postion to understand what ideal conditions are and that should give better guidance to keeping domestic chickens.