Lineage
The historical accounts of my birds were obtained through interviews with the direct importer, the importer's relatives, acquaintances that were fortunate to receive direct offspring of the original birds, and by watching a rare 30-minute video of the birds that included 1-2 month recordings, 3-month recordings, 7-8 month recordings, and 1- 1 1/2 year recordings.
These are never before seen photos by the public. They were given to my in-law from the original importer and passed on to me.
The 3 chicks at 2 months old.
The chicks with their surrogate mother, an Oriental game hen.
The original female at 7-8 months of age.
The first of the two original roosters in full adult plumage.
This is the second original rooster and the father of my two "Laos Strain" breeders.
These photos are the parents of my imported Thai red jungle fowl hen in which I acquired in 2007. The Photos were shot in Thailand.
This is the father of my Thai red jungle fowl hen. He was caught in the wild when he was a chick. He is owned my a well-known breeder in Thailand.
Notice the pheasant-like structure, perfect four lesser sickle feathers, and the base of his neck in which he is beginning to go into an eclipse molt. People from all over Thailand seek offspring from this male.
To the right is the mother of my Thai red jungle fowl hen. She shows domesticated traits, but is still an overall good specimen.
In 1999, a gentlemen with the initials N.D.V. imported eggs from Laos into the United States. These eggs were found within a 1 to 2 mile radius of a nearby village. Of the eggs brought back, 3 hatched and was compiled of 2 males and one female. The birds were raised by a surrogate Oriental game hen until they were of approximately three to four months. The trio grew steadily and remained healthy; however, once the birds were 7-8 months, the female died all of a sudden from an incurable sickness before she could be bred. The two males reached full maturity and were bred with the best females that the importer was able to find. He searched all across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and even made a trip to California to acquire birds that met his stringent qualifications. Several females were selected and the offspring from the two males were dispersed sparingly to relatives and close-knit friends.
In the winter of 2001-2002, one of the males succumbed to a disease. The battle of winter in Minnesota, accompanied by being raised in the basement, was too much for the bird to handle. The lone survivor was used in a strict breeding program, but due to a lack of high quality hens, an extremely low amount of birds were successfully produced that met the importers criteria. Fortunately, the importer was able to find a female that was derived from eggs imported in the early nineties to breed with the lone surviving male. Here, three males were produced from the breeding, 2 of which he shipped to a good friend and relative in California and one in which the importer kept to himself. Shortly after breeding, the original male was stolen and never heard from again. The importer's son from the original male fell victim to a sickness and died. The last quality males of the line remained with the gentlemen in California in which the importer had sent the two birds to and often kept in contact with.
As a testament of my fortune, the relative of the importer was an in-law of mine. He shared with my father that he had two good red jungle fowl roosters and knowing that I had a passion for the birds, asked if I would like to one day visit to see the birds. I jumped at the opportunity and got my first glimpse of the two males in the winter of 2006. Prior to the experience, I had seen literally hundreds of so-called red jungle fowls, but this time it was different.
Upon seeing the two birds for the first time, I remembered being in awe and only being able to muster out the word, "Wow." They were so brightly colored and strutted around so effortlessly. The owner said, "wait", and motioned as to say the best was yet to come. Slowly he whispered, "listen for the crow." My father and I stood there in silence. Shortly, my now Breeder #2 crowed. I had never heard a rooster crow the same way, but I knew the properties of the crow, such as the timbre, pitch, rhythm, and last ending note, were distinguishable from vast amounts of jungle fowls I had previously heard. My father assured me that was how the birds crowed in Laos. Within 10 minutes, my Breeder #1 crowed and my dad was even more flabbergasted. At that point, I knew the two were special and constantly visited to see the magnificent creatures. I repeatedly asked and sometimes begged him to sell them to me, but he often smiled and said they were invaluable and would never be sold. With that, I would tell him that if he ever had to sell them, to contact me first and he vowed to do so.
When the spring of 2007 rolled around, I received a call from my in-law. He shared that many people have offered to purchase the birds for a respectable amount, but he refused to sell them. Now to my delight and his misfortune, he was moving and his new location would not accommodate the birds. He shared that he dreaded this day would come and that he preferred me to be the new owner of the birds because he would be able to visit anytime and would be guaranteed to get offspring if ever he would have the space to raise some again. I gave him my word that I would pay the highest price and provide the birds with the best of my ability. Still, I waited 3 weeks for him to deliberate and allow me the honor of picking up the birds. I matched the price of the highest two bidders and acquired the two males.
Eversince my acquisition, I have had weekly visitors that come over to admire the birds and countless unexpected visitors from all around California to as far as North Carolina. Many are relatives of relatives, most are complete strangers to me, but they all have one thing in common, they stop by to get a glimpse of the birds and to hear them crow.
About My Thai Red Jungle Fowl Hen
I acquired my Thai red jungle fowl hen just months after my attainment of my two genuine Laos strain breeders in 2007.
My Thai red jungle fowl hen's father is a red jungle fowl caught directly from the jungles of Thailand as a chick. He is said to be very close to being pure. The hen's mother is a red jungle fowl high-cross specimen. They are both owned by a respected breeder in Thailand in which people from all over Thailand seek birds from.She was originally brought into the U.S. with a direct brother in the early 2000s. Her brother died at around 1 year old. Left with just the hen, I was fortunate to meet her original owner and introduced him to my birds. After seeing my birds, he felt my birds were of high enough quality specimens in the U.S. and accepted my offer to take the female off of his hands to further my breeding program. To date, many have said her offspring truly resemble and sound like the birds of Southeast Asia.
-References available upon requests-
