Do Roosters Naturally Fight?
From all-creatures.org Animal Rights Articles Moo-ving people toward compassionate living Visit the all-creatures.org Home Page. Write us with your comments: flh@all-creatures.org Do Roosters Naturally Fight? By Barry Kent MacKay Illustration by Barry Kent MacKay Pheasants (a family that includes chickens and peafowl) and other gallinaceous (groundnesting) birds such as quail, grouse, turkeys, and guinea fowl are generally noted for elaborate breeding displays, which may include physical encounters between competing males. The term “fighting” does not capture the true essence of these encounters, implying, as it does, a pugnacious motivation to a function that really has, at most, the purpose of allowing dominance and subsequent access to females. But redefining “fighting” as “ritual showdowns” does not quite capture the essence of these displays, either, although the term is probably more accurate than “fighting.” The wild Red Jungle Fowl, which is a species of pheasant native to sout
