Shamo Chicken

     The Shamo is an old breed of Chickens from Japan, that was originally imported from Thailand in the 17^th century. It’s the second tallest chicken breed after the Malay. In Japan, the Shamos ware developed to be fighting birds of unmatched courage and ferocity. Probably some Asil’s‎ bloodlines were added at a point of time, which gave the bird its strong and gamey appearance.

     The Shamo is also bred for its showy traits, unique upright posture, and for providing a good carcass quality too. It has four different varieties; the ‘O-Shamo’, the ‘Chu-Shamo’, the ‘Nankin-Shamo’, and the ‘Ko Shamo’. The ‘O-Shamo’ and the ‘Chu-Shamo’ are designations of the large fowl for different weight categories. The ‘Nankin-Shamo’ is a bantam chicken, while the ‘Ko Shamo’ is an ornamental bantam, which is temperamental and shows the spirit of a fighter. 

     Shamo hens lay more eggs than the other Asiatic game chickens (around 80 light-brown eggs per year, depending on the strain). They tend to go broody, and make excellent mothers too. Shamos have pea combs, tiny to non-existent wattles, red earlobes and bright-yellow legs. The most common color-varieties for this bird are; black, black-breasted red, dark, spangled, wheaten and white.