Gamecock

A gamecock is a type of rooster with physical and behavioral traits suitable for cockfighting. Male and female chickens of such a breed are referred to as game fowl. However, game birds are wild birds, such as turkeys and quail, that are hunted for food and sport, not a type of fighting bird. The first use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a “game”, a sport, hobby, or entertainment, was in 1646 after the term “cock of the game” was used by George Wilson, in the earliest known book on the sport of cockfighting in The Commendation of Cocks and Cock Fighting in 1607. Cockfighting may be 5,000 or more years old. Game fowl appear more like their wild ancestor the Red Jungle Fowl, a shy wild chicken from forests in South Central and Southeastern Asia, than do other domestic chickens. This is because game fowl have been bred to promote the fittest individuals rather than to promote mutations which increase egg production, feed conversion for meat or fancy chickens bred for exhibition. The territorial instinct among sexually mature males is the driving force behind their desire to dominate and eliminate other males that would compete for breeding rights in their territory.