Asil Chicken(Aseel Chicken) is a known breed originating from India and known for its gameness. Asil is heavier than they appear because of their tight-fitting feathers. They have compact bodies and are very muscular, with a pea comb. This breed requires a lot of room and range.
The males are very territorial and will be aggressive to other male chickens and they need to be separated by 3 months of age. The Asil chicken is found on the Indian sub-continent and is probably the world’s oldest gamefowl breed. The meaning of the names Asil, Aseel or Asli is “purebred” or “from pure descent.”


Asil Chicken Fighting Video

The Asil chicken recognized varieties are :

Peela (Golden red)

Yakub (Black and red)

Nuri (White), Kagar (Black)

Chitta (Black and white spotted)

Java (Black)

Sabja (White and golden or black with yellow or silver)

Teekar (brown)

Reza (light red).

Asil is one of the important indigenous chicken breeds of India and is well known for its pugnacity, majestic gait, agility, high stamina, and dogged fighting qualities. The home track of Asil chickens is the state of Andhra Pradesh; however, the birds are present in parts of other states like Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
The Asil hens are poor layers but have excellent broodiness traits and are quite formidable in the protection of their young ones under free-range conditions. Eight variants of Asil breed were reported in India of which, Asil(Yellow) and Asil (Black) are commonly available. These birds are characterized by their hardiness and ability to thrive under adverse climatic conditions.

The productivity is low in Asil chickens, but the birds are known for their meat quality with desirable taste and flavor. The native chicken meat is known for intense flavor, firm texture, low fat, and rich nutrients.

In India, this breed has been known for thousands of years. The great poultry author, Lewis Wright, stated, “…the birds whose battles are alluded to in the Institutes of Menu [a legal document], 1000 BC, if not Aseel as now known, were at least the
Lonely Planet South India & Kerala (Tr

came from Lucknow, India, and were imported by Dr. H.P. Clarke of Indianapolis, IN. Dr. Clarke first exhibited the breed at the 1887 Indiana State Fair. Dr. D.S. Newill of PA also imported Aseel chickens from India in 1931. The breed was known in England by 1846 and may have arrived earlier.
There are no specific colors for the Asil although there are white, partridge mottled, wheaten, fawn, black white mottled, dark red, red wheaten, grey, spangled, duck wing, pile, and silver necked blue varieties.

Asil Chicken Characteristics

CHARACTERISTICS – the crow of the Aseel is unlike that of any other breed, being short as if cut off at the end. The plumage has little or no under the fluff. The weight of an adult male in proper condition should not exceed 3 Kilograms (7 Lbs). The hen with exemptions for sex-typical physical points should resemble the male in all points. The Aseel, when tickled or touched lightly near the vent at once, begins to preen and oil its feathers. This characteristic behavior applies in a lesser degree to birds who are only a remote cross with Asil blood.

The purebred Aseel hens go with their chicks from 6 months to 1 year. This unlike the ordinary hens doing this for 6 weeks. Aseel hens lay around 2 clutches of eggs in a year.
The Asil will fight to the end. It was bred to fight using its strength and its own spurs. Other gamefowls were sometimes equipped with artificial (metal) spurs to inflict the most damage but the spurs on the Asil were often wrapped in tape so the fight became one of endurance, sometimes lasting more than a day.

“The birds whose battles are alluded to in the Institutes of Menu [a legal document], 1000 BC, if not Aseel as now known, were at least their ancestors.”
Lewis Wright

They also have short, strong, well-curved beaks, a broad skull, fierce, pale eyes, and indomitable spirit.

Aseel chickens are so pugnacious that hens will often fight each other for hours; even the day-old chicks have been noted to spar each other and chicks of other breeds – sometimes to the point of wounding other chicks. Though aggressive to other chickens, Aseels are quite personable to their handlers.
Aseels are vigorous and tenacious survivors and are suitable for use on the range.
The hens are poor and seasonal layers of brown-shelled eggs, but make excellent broodies and mothers, being quite formidable in the protection of their young. There are reports of Asil hens fighting off snakes in the protection of their eggs or chicks.
Both males and females have short and hard feathers, which are held tightly to their bodies. They have a meaty carcass and are slow-growing. The males have a very distinctive, short, chopped-off crow.
The breed is reported to be quite intelligent for chickens and can further be recognized for some distinct physical characteristics, such as yellow-colored legs, a hawk-like beak shape

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