# what will make a great cross?



## piglett

i just ordered some game fowl eggs off of ebay
i plan to mate the hens with my buff orpington roosters
i figured on changing out the rooster every month so i could get the largest amount of DNA as i could.

this may sound like an odd cross to some
my goals are 
1. very broody offspring
2. hens that are rather "nasty" when brooding eggs
3. birds that will forage like nothing on the planet
4. a cross that will be better for the table than a normal game bird

i am looking to breed fowl that can live on almost nothing because they will forage for almost everything they need themselves
this means very little help from me other than fresh water in the winter months, the rest of the year they can drink out of the small pond out back.

any input you care to give?
do you like the sound of some of this?
do you NOT like the sounds of some of tis?
well lest talk about it


thanks
piglett


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## Apyl

Sounds like good goals to me. I've never dealt with game birds so unsure what they are like. I think if you could create a bird that will fit those goals, you'll be doing awesome. I'm sure there a market for it as well in the long run.


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## garcimat021

This is bad and good depends bad because you are destroying the genes of both birds by puting a gamefowl with a farm bird and also all the males will be aggressive and I have seen a gamefowl farm mix once and the hens weren't the best layers they can't free roam the best but it is all up to you and what breed of gamefowl are you useing


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## piglett

garcimat021 said:


> This is bad and good depends bad because you are destroying the genes of both birds by puting a gamefowl with a farm bird and also all the males will be aggressive and I have seen a gamefowl farm mix once and the hens weren't the best layers they can't free roam the best but it is all up to you and what breed of gamefowl are you useing


 i want to add the game fowl genes in so the hens want to brood chicks more often. why can't the birds free range? they should have some size to them. while in the Philippines on a visit to see my inlaws i saw that the local game hens were broody almost year round. no they might not be the best layers however they will hatch out offspring like mad which is what i am after. i don't want eggs, i want lots of hens hatching out their own chicks.


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## garcimat021

The hens hatch all year because most likely live in a warm area and that's most hens not all but some and free ranging they can survive but being a bit bigger not the best for but it's possible and you will have problem with all roosters they will fight and some hens will fight same as a rooster and about good hens to hatch just use pure gamefowl when they go. Broody just pop any eggs under her see will take care of them


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## piglett

garcimat021 said:


> The hens hatch all year because most likely live in a warm area and that's most hens not all but some and free ranging they can survive but being a bit bigger not the best for but it's possible and you will have problem with all roosters they will fight and some hens will fight same as a rooster and about good hens to hatch just use pure gamefowl when they go. Broody just pop any eggs under her see will take care of them


 well on just the 1st year all i will have is pure game hens
i will see how they do living in the same coop as my buff orpingtons
i would figure they would be at the botton of the packing order .....but maybe not. i'll see how it all goes, i will not really know 100% unless i try.


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## garcimat021

No sir they will not be on bottom they will be on top and will kill the farm birds i had some broilers and Rhode Island reds with 3 game hens and they wouldn't stop till all were dead and the hens were only 1 year or so and other hens were 3 years old


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## garcimat021

Luckily I saved the birds but they were missing a lot of feathers and had lost a lot of blood


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## piglett

if the game hens turn out that nasty then they may end up being housed in a different coop
i'll keep an eye on them. i know there are many different lines of game birds
not sure which are semi calm & which are not


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## garcimat021

Game birds only get along with other games except the roosters but even some hens have to be single mated due to being so aggressive to other hens and really all games will fight no matter what and do u know the breed of the game


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## LittleWings

There is a difference between Game Fowl from the US and the birds from the Philippines. American Game have been bred for fighting for many years and aggression is a desired trait. Depending on what line your eggs came from makes a difference in how aggressive they will be. In the Philippines that is just the kind of chickens they have there. They are not necessarily bred for fighting like most of the lines here were.


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## garcimat021

He is talking about Phil gamefowl which are same as here and most breeds they have come from usa


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## garcimat021

And my gamefowl are not for fight use they are to breed just like any other chicken


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## piglett

garcimat021 said:


> Game birds only get along with other games except the roosters but even some hens have to be single mated due to being so aggressive to other hens and really all games will fight no matter what and do u know the breed of the game


 i will have to look it up on my ebay account 
thank you for your input, guessing that you raise game birds???


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## garcimat021

Me and my dad raise game birds but i know about farm chickens because my sister and grandmother love them and have them


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## piglett

this is what i am starting with
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171209179739#ht_69wt_984
which types if any of game birds are the most mild?
which tend to be really nasty?

thanks
patrick


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## garcimat021

Those are not good game birds and all game birds will be nice to humans unless they have bad blood which makes them man fighters but that hardly happens and no matter what they will fight each other


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## garcimat021

Sweater,hatch,kelso these are basic gamefowl most people know this are basic birds that are good to have


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## garcimat021

Then there's oriental birds which are different Americans they are taller slicker and look more agile s






such as this Brazilian pumpkin cock they are different then american the American hit to body and these hit to head and they are many types of gamefowl if u want if u have a facebook I can talk to u about all ur gamefowl questions


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## piglett

garcimat021 said:


> Sweater,hatch,kelso these are basic gamefowl most people know this are basic birds that are good to have


i think i recall seeing some on ebay called "hatch" 
but i didn't know what in the heck they were talking about
i'm more up on anerican & english orpingtons 
we have a few different types up here in new hampshire
not on FB at the moment
i have a tough enough time keeping up with all the posts on the chicken forum & from time to time the BYC site.

if what i hatch out end up being too "wild & crazy"
i may try breeding them with one of my big calm english orpingtons
very layed back birds even more than a normal buff orpington farm breed.

thanks


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## piglett

LittleWings said:


> There is a difference between Game Fowl from the US and the birds from the Philippines. American Game have been bred for fighting for many years and aggression is a desired trait. Depending on what line your eggs came from makes a difference in how aggressive they will be. In the Philippines that is just the kind of chickens they have there. They are not necessarily bred for fighting like most of the lines here were.


umm...... LittleWings
every night at 8:00pm people in the Philippines are glued to their TV to watch the "fights"
they love it as much as Americans love baseball
i myself don't go in for any of that..... but they have their own ways
who am i to tell them they are wrong?
it's their country so they get to make their own rules
even in the city you hear plenty of roosters crowing as the sun comes up
so there are plenty of nasty roosters over there (i would say most are nasty) & this is how they want them.


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## piglett

here are my New England Whites at about 8 weeks old


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## troyer

Crossing the American games and Buff Orpingtons is a good idea. You will get some that look more like the games and some that will look more like the Orpingtons. I have done some similar crosses and was very pleased with the results. I selected for free ranging traits and ate the rest. The crosses typically produced eggs a little bit better than either parent and the roosters were generally trouble makers. The roosters were not truly game but were constantly harassing the others and creating a general confusion in the whole bunch. There were one or two that got along well with each other so you just keep those and breed from them. I would select the ones that free range freely.


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## piglett

troyer said:


> Crossing the American games and Buff Orpingtons is a good idea. You will get some that look more like the games and some that will look more like the Orpingtons. I have done some similar crosses and was very pleased with the results. I selected for free ranging traits and ate the rest. The crosses typically produced eggs a little bit better than either parent and the roosters were generally trouble makers. The roosters were not truly game but were constantly harassing the others and creating a general confusion in the whole bunch. There were one or two that got along well with each other so you just keep those and breed from them. I would select the ones that free range freely.


here are my 2 games
looks like pullet on the left cock on the right to me










we are planning on making a second run this year
the currect one is about 40' x 60' 
between the orpingtons & a dozen mucsovy ducks it got cleaned out fast last year
the ducks now have their own digs
& i cut way back on the orps so my feed bill would be much smaller for winter.


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## troyer

Yes you are right, pullet is on the left and cockerel on the right. They look like BBReds.


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## piglett

troyer said:


> Yes you are right, pullet is on the left and cockerel on the right. They look like BBReds.


 i will have to check my ebay to check the listing which says what they are. if they are tooo nasty then they will go in the pot
unless i stuff them in their own pen & collect egg & hatch out a few more come Aug when the hen lays. might have to so i can get their #'s up


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## garcimat021

piglett said:


> here are my 2 games
> looks like pullet on the left cock on the right to me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> we are planning on making a second run this year
> the currect one is about 40' x 60'
> between the orpingtons & a dozen mucsovy ducks it got cleaned out fast last year
> the ducks now have their own digs
> & i cut way back on the orps so my feed bill would be much smaller for winter.


How old are these chicks


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## piglett

garcimat021 said:


> How old are these chicks


they are about 8 weeks old


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## hildar

garcimat021 said:


> And my gamefowl are not for fight use they are to breed just like any other chicken


This is what I am getting into, and someone asked me if I would be breeding them for fighting. My reply was heck no, but if someone buys the babies, whatever they do with them is their own business. I just like them. My little man is the sweetest rooster I have seen, and he had been fought before, but he gets along great with my big rooster, and my big rooster even lays next to him close to the fence, like he is protecting him. I know my older rooster knows the little one is hurt, but they get along great and no aggression at all. This is why I am getting me some babies. I just love them, and he is so good with my tiny GLW hen.


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## piglett

hildar said:


> This is what I am getting into, and someone asked me if I would be breeding them for fighting. My reply was heck no, but if someone buys the babies, whatever they do with them is their own business. I just like them. My little man is the sweetest rooster I have seen, and he had been fought before, but he gets along great with my big rooster, and my big rooster even lays next to him close to the fence, like he is protecting him. I know my older rooster knows the little one is hurt, but they get along great and no aggression at all. This is why I am getting me some babies. I just love them, and he is so good with my tiny GLW hen.


i think we need pictures


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## hildar

piglett said:


> i think we need pictures


Tomorrow I will have my daughter get some pics of him. He lays down most of the time due to his leg being hurt. But today I would start to walk over and ask him if he was OK and he would pick his head up and crow every time. He uses one wing like it's a crutch to get around. I can't wait to get past that 3 weeks, so he will start putting some pressure back on it again. 2 more weeks to go. But he is a little fighter, and is making it through all of this.

I think it's funny watching our little brownie girl walk past him she picks her way around him so she wont step on his tail. it's just so sweet. You do realize if they breed the babies will be Mexican brownies right???


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