Modern Game Chicken

The Modern Game chicken is a lanky fellow with legs that go for days!

The Modern Game chicken has been described as looking like a ballerina, a velociraptor, or even a greyhound. I think it looks kind of like a lanky teenager in a pair of skinny jeans. However you describe them, Modern Game chickens are easily recognizable with their slender bodies, tight feathers, and extremely long legs. 

Purposely bred as exhibition birds in response to an 1849 law banning cockfighting in Great Britain, these fowl are descendants of the Old English Game and Malay chickens. Owners say that they are fun chickens to have around with a curious and talkative nature and an overall friendly demeanor. 

Incredible Modern Game Chicken Facts

• The Modern Game chicken was created in response to a ban on cockfighting in Great Britain. 
• This chicken once fetched the equivalent of thousands of dollars per bird. 
• This breed was the result of crosses between Old English Game and Malay chickens.
• Modern Game chickens cannot tolerate the cold.
• In the United States, male Modern Game chickens must be dubbed in order to enter competitions.
• These chickens are fast and agile predators.

Where to Find Modern Game Chickens

Modern game chickens originated in Great Britain in direct response to the Cruelty to Animals Act enacted in 1849. This law banned the practice of cockfighting in Great Britain. Wealthy owners of game birds were left with a whole lot of chickens that had been cultivated specifically for fighting. With the so-called sport deemed illegal, the owners turned to a new pastime – exhibition.

Breeders began crossing Old English Game chickens with Malay chickens. The Malay chickens were much taller and leaner, reaching heights of up to 30 inches. The resulting show birds, now known as Modern Game chickens, were lean, tall and graceful looking. They quickly grew in popularity in Great Britain. According to the Modern Game Club of the United Kingdom, top birds were selling for today’s equivalent of thousands of dollars by the turn of the 20^th century. 

Modern Game chickens were exported to other countries in Europe, the United States, Australia and other parts of the world in the late 19^th century. However, by the end of World War II, Modern Game chickens had already begun to decline. Although they can still be found in many countries, their numbers are estimated at fewer than 5,000 worldwide and they are listed as threatened by the Livestock Conservancy.     

Modern Game Chicken Scientific Name

Modern Game chicken may be a bit of a misnomer. This chicken was never used as a fighting bird like its predecessor, the Old English Game chicken. Nonetheless, it has all the appearance of an agile and athletic bird. 

This bird’s scientific name is Gallus gallus or Gallus gallus domesticus, just like other domesticated chickens around the world. The red junglefowl of South and Southeast Asia, G. gallus, was named by Linnaeus in 1758. Today dozens of different breeds comprise the Gallus gallus domesticus species.

Modern Game Chicken Appearance

The Modern Game chicken is a lanky bird that carries itself in a very upright posture. It has a slender body that is described as the shape of a flat iron when seen from above. Its most distinguishing features are its long neck and long, thin legs. 

The large variety of this bird reaches a height of around 22 inches, which is tall for a chicken. Still, it is considerably smaller than the 30-inch height of the Malay chicken from which it was bred. Roosters attain weights of about 6 pounds, while hens get to be around 4.5 pounds. The bantam variety is much smaller, weighing in at 22 ounces or less and only a fraction of the height.

The Modern Game chicken is of the hard feather type, which essentially means that its feathers are tight and not at all fluffy. The feathers lie close to the body and appear smooth and sleek. The chicken has a short, mostly straight tail that matches its streamlined appearance.  

Modern Game chickens have small, red or mulberry-colored combs and wattles. The combs are straight with five points. Male show birds in the United States have their combs, wattles and ear lobes removed in a process called dubbing. Dubbing is a controversial practice but is currently required for showing this breed in the United States. 

Variations in Color

Modern Game chickens can be divided into two basic variants, those with yellow legs and reddish eyes and those with black legs and dark eyes.

Many breeds of domestic chickens are easy to distinguish by their colors. That is not the case with these highly variable chickens. The Poultry Club of Great Britain recognizes thirteen different color combinations. At least fourteen variations of Modern Game bantams and nine large fowl variations are listed with the American Poultry Association. Some of the acceptable color combinations include birchen, black, black-breasted red, blue, lemon blue, ginger-red, golden duckwing, silver duckwing, wheaten, white, and more.

Modern Game Chicken Behavior

These leggy chickens are quick and agile birds. They are adept predators. Their tall and slender form makes them appear even faster as they chase their prey. These birds are active and noisy, and they much prefer to range free as opposed to being confined. Fortunately for gardeners, they do not scratch the ground as much as other types of chickens, so they are a good breed to have around flower beds. 

As show birds, these chickens are known to be trainable. Unlike fluffy birds that might win prizes based primarily on their feathers, owners of these lean and muscular chickens know that winning a show likely comes down to how well their birds can pose. 

The Modern Game chicken has been described as friendly and curious. They bond well with their human family, but may behave aggressively toward strangers. 

Diet

Modern Game chickens are highly adept foragers. They can fulfill most of their dietary needs through foraging if given adequate space. They eat insects, worms and other invertebrates in large quantities. 

If breeders need to supplement the Modern Game chicken’s diet, they can do so with a good commercial feed. In cold weather, especially, the birds may benefit from additional calories to help them stay warm. Peanuts, corn and oily seeds are good winter treats. Like other chickens, Modern Game chickens should not eat rhubarb, avocado pits or skins, chocolate or beans, as these can be harmful. 

Modern Game Chicken Reproduction

Modern Game chickens begin laying at about 24 weeks. They only lay an average of 50 to 80 eggs per year. The eggs are very small. Hens can go broody, but with their slender build and sparse feathers, they can’t brood too many chicks at once. They are reportedly good mothers and do well at raising their chicks once they hatch.

Because these chickens come in such a variety of color combinations, owners may want to breed the birds selectively to either maintain or promote certain traits. This can be done by using enclosures and careful breeding practices, but it requires study and skill.    

Predators and Threats

Modern Game chickens are not especially large, but they are noisy and fast. These qualities can help them to avoid predators such as owls and hawks. They do not tolerate confinement well, which makes them more susceptible to attack as they are likely to be free range birds. 

Foxes, opossums, raccoons, and snakes can easily prey on these chickens, especially in the coop. The bantam size birds are particularly at risk. For this reason, owners must provide safe coops for the birds to use at night with no holes or gaps that might allow predators to enter.

Besides predators, cold is the biggest threat to the these slender chickens. They have very little body fat, and their feathers do not provide much protection from the cold. Temperatures below freezing could be deadly for these birds. They really should not be kept at all in extremely cold climates, as they do much better in warm weather. If they are kept in an area where it is periodically cold, efforts should be made to keep them warm using heaters inside coops and heated water sources.  

Lifespan of the Modern Game Chicken

Modern Game chickens live around three to seven years on average. They may succumb to predators, suffer injuries or accidents, die from exposure to the cold, or simply get old. However, they are not likely to end up on anyone’s dinner plate. These birds were not bred for meat at all. In fact, some people say you would get less than a nugget’s worth of meat from these chickens, even if you scraped their bones clean. Regarding the tiny bantams, that might not be far from the truth.

Similar Animals

• Phoenix Chicken – The Phoenix chicken is an ornamental chicken that originated in Germany about the same time as the Modern Game Chicken. It is descended from Japanese fowl and has a tail that can be five feet long.
• Silkie Chicken – The silkie chicken is a crested chicken of Chinese origin. It is much smaller in stature than the standard Modern Game chicken, but has way more fluff. 
• Onagadori Chicken – The Onagadori is a Japanese long-tailed chicken that grows incredibly long tail feathers, up to 27 feet in length. This heritage breed also faced extinction not too long ago but is making a rebound.