Chicken Shamo: Characteristics, Temperament and Breed Information

The Shamo chicken is a hard-feathered breed of Asian wild animal native to Japan. Although the breed originated in Japan, its ancestors came from Thailand (known as Siam) between the 17th and 19th centuries.

The Shamo chicken was developed primarily for use as a fighting bird. And the breed was introduced to many countries mainly for this reason. There are many types of Japanese chicken, but the Shamo is currently the most famous.

When creating the Shamo breed, breeders paid attention to the strength and endurance of these original breeds. Shamos have been selectively bred for a hundred years and are now very different from the original stock.

In fact, Chicken Shamo is a type of Chicken Asil. Which was delivered to Thailand and Taiwan, and from there to Japan. Shamo’s true place of origin is Sindh, Pakistan. And the secondary place of origin is India.

In different regions of Japan, Chicken Shamo can be found in different colors and sizes. In different regions, chickens of different sizes are preferred for boxing. varieties; o-Shamo, Chu-Shamo and Ko Shamo.

O-Shamo hens are larger birds with 5.62 kg roosters and 3.4 kg hens. Chu Shamos are medium-sized birds with 3.63 kg roosters and 2.72 kg hens. And Ko-Shamo chickens are smaller birds with roosters weighing 1.81 kg and hens weighing 1.36 kg.

Hoping to avert the extinction of the Shamo chicken, in 1941 the Japanese government placed the bird under a low level of protection. The breed is available in the United States. It was first imported into the United States in 1874.

But most of the chickens in America are found in the southern states. The Chu-Shamo and O-Shamo designations are recognized in the UK. Australian poultry standards contain only one form of shamo, which has a minimum weight of 3 kg.

The Shamo chicken breed was first recognized and included in the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Excellence in 1981. Today, this breed is kept as an ornamental bird in some countries.

It is also cultivated as a game bird in some countries. The Shamo chicken is now listed as “Watch” on the US Livestock Breed Conservation Priority List.

Physical Characteristics of Chicken Shamo

Despite being a popular game chicken, the Shamo chicken is also known as the second highest breed after the Malayan chicken. In appearance, shamo are tall, tall chickens with an upright, almost upright body posture.

They have muscular hips, a broad and muscular body. They have hard, tight feathers that often do not completely cover their body. They have strong broad shoulders. They are larger and less compact than Asil chickens and lack the exaggerated curves of the Malayan chicken.

The tails of the Shamo chicken are small and generally follow the line of the back, descending towards the ground. They have a smaller bright red pea scallop. Their earlobes are small and bright red in color.

Their earrings are also bright red and either very small or completely missing. They have a yellow beak and legs. And their eyes are pearly. The plumage color varies depending on the color variety.

For instance; The white variety has standard white plumage, the wheat variety has standard wheat plumage, the black variety has standard black plumage, the dark variety has standard dark plumage, the black-breasted red variety has red-breasted plumage standard black, the Spangled variety has standard glossy plumage, Buff Columbian variety has standard tawny Columbian plumage, and the reddish-brown variety has standard red-brown plumage.

The American Poultry Association recognizes only four color varieties: black, black, red breast, dark red. On average, standard Shamo roosters weigh 5 kg, and hens about 3.18 kg. And dwarf roosters weigh about 1.25 kg, and chickens – about 1 kg. Photo from Wikipedia.

Behaviour/Temperament

Chicken Shamo resembles Chicken Asil. They are generally easy to handle and the hens are quite calm. But roosters can be territorial and aggressive towards each other. Even chickens can be aggressive towards other chickens. And fights between chickens are also a problem.

Roosters should be separated from other roosters so that they do not fight to death. Although Chicken Shamo loves people. And they are easy to tame with proper care from a young age. Chickens are good laying hens than many other Asian hunting breeds. They lay medium-sized light brown eggs.

Hens brood and are excellent mothers. Chicken breeds provide a good amount of meat. But their meat is considered tough, and not everyone likes it. They are excellent foragers and good for free range, but may not do well in confined spaces. See the full Breed Profile of the Shamo Chicken below.

Breed namechamo
another nameeverything
Purpose of the breedOrnament / Combat
Broad temperamentI can’t stand it, aggressive, likes people, not chickens
Breed sizebig
sullen instinctfrequent
combPeas
climatic toleranceHeat
egg colorlight brown
Egg sizemedium
Egg performanceShort
feathered feetNot
scarcitygeneral
VarietiesBlack, Black Breasted Red, Dark and Red are the four Shamo chicken varieties recognized by the American Poultry Association.
Native countryJapan
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