The American Game is an American

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of game fowl, chickens bred specifically for

cockfighting Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term ...

. It has many color varieties, and may also be kept for ornament.

History

The American Game was bred for

. The full-size ("large fowl") American Game is not recognized by the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in respons ...

, which in 2009 recognized the American Game Bantam in ten colors. The American Game is not among the fifty-three chicken breeds reported by the

National Animal Germplasm Program The National Animal Germplasm Program, or NAGP, is a program of the United States Department of Agriculture that captures and cryogenically preserves germplasm from plants and animals it considers important to agriculture for the purpose of pres ...

of the USDA Agricultural Research Service to the

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a tool developed and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a part of its programme for management of animal genetic resources for ...

database of the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

, nor is it recognized by the

Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture The (), usually known as the or simply EE, is a European organisation of breeders of poultry, pigeons, rabbits, guinea-pigs and cage-birds. It was founded in Brussels on 18 June 1938 as the ; the founding members were from Belgium, France, L ...

or by the

Poultry Club of Great Britain The Poultry Club of Great Britain is a registered charity founded in 1877. Its stated purpose is to "safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys". The club main ...

. In 2020 its

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

was listed by the

Livestock Conservancy The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting Rare breed (agriculture), ra ...

as "study"; in 2021 it was no longer listed. Some stock has been exported to the United Kingdom; in 2002 there were fewer than a hundred birds there.

American Game Bantam

The bantam version of the breed does not derive from the original large fowl. It was created in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

in the 1940s by a breeder named Frank Gary. He

cross-bred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

the wild

Red Jungle Fowl The red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), also known as the Indian red junglefowl (and formerly the bankiva or bankiva-fowl), is a species of tropical, predominantly terrestrial bird in the fowl and pheasant family, Phasianidae, found across much ...

with fighting bantams of the type known at the time as "pit game". The American Game Bantam was listed in the yearbook of the American Bantam Association from 1950, and was admitted to the Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association in 2009.

Characteristics

The standard-sized American Game is bred in a wide range of plumage colors; cock birds have long sickle feathers. The bantam has a small five-pointed single

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

and small smooth

wattle Wattle or wattles may refer to: Plants *''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australian English **''Acacia'' ***Black wattle, common name for several species of acacia ***Golden wattle, ''A ...

s and earlobes. Ten color varieties are recognized by the APA: birchen; black; black-breasted red; blue; blue red; brown red; golden duckwing; red pyle; silver duckwing; and white. Two others, "brassy back" and wheaten, are also raised.

Use

The American Game was bred for

. It is a good table bird, and may be kept for ornament. Hens lay brown eggs of medium to large size. As with other fighting breeds, for

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

the comb, earlobes and wattles are cut off ("dubbed").

References

{{Chicken breeds of the United States , state=expanded Chicken breeds originating in the United States Chicken breeds Cockfighting