Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Fri Oct 01, pm1001 9: 00 pm
The All-4 Deans Fowl
The year before the death of Hanky Deans. Col. Madigin secured some Deans stags for battle. After fighting the stags he shipped them away to walks. Before the next fighting season rolled around Deans had passed on.
As the cocks came in from walks. Col. Madigin always went through the birds, culling for physical and breeding defects. Those he did not intend to fight were destroyed.
A large shipment of cocks came in and the Colonel went through them. He ordered his trainer, Sweater McGinnis, to kill many in this lot. After the cocks were sorted, Madigin left the cockhouse but soon returned very much excited and told McGinnis to go through the cocks again as he believed something may have been overlooked.
The All-4 Deans cocks were found and placed with the fowl to be fought, Madigin instructing McGinnis to take special care of them and saying “these will hit for you when the going is tough.”
Thus destiny was influenced by the southwestern spirit of mananna . . . McGinnis never hurried to do anything and so saved a line of fowl that have brought great pleasure to many fanciers.
E. W. Law secured one of these cocks and bred him with much success and later sent him to a Virginia fancier.
Many years have passed and the blood of the Deans fowl as passed on by these cocks, will still hit for you when the going gets tough. No one will ever know just how much of the Deans blood was used by Madigin in making the fine families of Madigin fowl that are so popular today.
Longhorn
Taken from G&S page 22 September 1956
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Fri Oct 01, pm1001 8: 53 pm
THE MAKING OF THE CLARET
In a recent article in one of the magazines, the theory was presented that the White Dominique was infused into the Clarets.
The best way to check white fowl is to mate one with a strain that produces black females. If Dominique is in the blood, it will show quickly. In fact I have had fowl shipped me; the shipper stating he had Clarets which did not have the proper appearance for other than white color, it being not the regular color for a Claret, which is different from any other white. I have tested them in single matings and never found one of them to be a true Claret.
The first chicks to appear showed Dominique characteristics when crossed on a Shuffler hen. It is amusing to note how many think they have Clarets, conscientiously believing they have the real stuff, for they don’t know that they don’t know. Any one who knows the fowl can test, in a few moments’ sparring whether it is real or not. Clarets fight differently. They fly into a cock with no beak hold, their heels pointed as an expert swordsman points a rapier. They don’t want to bite their opponent, just want to measure the distance and kill him.
A Claret cannot be produced synthetically. Many honestly believe they have created the Madigin fowl by crossing darked-colored red fowl in some manner to get wine red chickens but they do not produce the true fighting qualities of the Claret at all. Clippers originally were 50 per cent Claret. Even Clippers, from true Clarets, will produce an occasional white.
In my opinion, there are few Clarets now extant and less than half a dozen breeders who own a pure Claret, unless they have recently procured them from one of the few breeders of the true stock.
An expert has almost the feel of the true fowl. As one prominent breeder used to say: “They go together like an accordion.” They down have hard bodies; have lot of feathers, are frail chickens except in leg and wing power; but have more kick than anything their weight; are intelligent, realizing their killing prowess is in that kick and that their beaks are primarily to feed themselves. They watch and feint to get their opponent out of position, then fly into him to tear him all to pieces without getting a scratch themselves, if possible.
There are extenuating circumstances often even caused by their handlers if they do not understand their handling. Their intelligence goes to the brood yard. They are aristocrats of the chicken specie. Rarely ever will you have one that will fight females. They chatter, talk and are perfect feathered gentlemen. If you have loose hens running around the coops, the outside hens will stay around the yard with a Claret cock in it. Some of the old fashioned strains are the bourgeois of the feathered tribe.
For four generations the family of the writer of this article has owed and admired spirited horses, dogs, and fowl. As far as one hundred years back, one ancestor kept game fowl at his slave cabins on his plantation. We were a family of attorneys and politicians and law makers, but the obsession for spirited chickens seemed to be perpetuated traditionally.
From the deepest research, experience and association with this strain of aristocrats of all game fowl, in this writer’s opinion, which of course may have little value, the Clarets, while thought to have been produced accidentally, were amply prepared to produce the greatest of all modern fowl.
It is a matter of common knowledge that a pair of fowl were casually thrown into a barn, the female stole her nest, raised nine stags and three pullets, they coming very regular, all deep claret-wine color, hence the name.
It was not entirely accidental that they were endowed with superior fighting ability, for on both sides, particularly on the female side, a pedigree of superior fowl existed. Her blood came from the best on both sides of the globe, carefully and intelligently produced by men who were past masters. The mother was a Herman B. Duryea Whitehackle whose sire won 19 battles, 14 of them in hands of Michael Kearney and 5 in England and Ireland for the Earl of Cromwell.
The sire of the Clarets, according to this writer’s research, was produced from a gray cock that fought at about 4.02. This particular cock belonged to a comparatively unknown boy at that time (in cocking circles) who I understand brought the cock to Mr. Deans to fight for him. Deans fought the cocks in good company several times. He won in such a creditable manner that Mr. Deans procured the cock for his own and then bred him to one of his good red hens, heavy in Mahoney blood. Mahoney lived with Mr. Deans for some time and died at his home. This produced the red cock that became the “daddy of the Clarets.”
Any of you have bred a light gray cock on fowl with white undercolor such as Whitehackle may have had the same experience as I; that a gray crossed on that sort of fowl might produce white birds, the gray being so near the white in color.
The father of the sire of the Clarets was a gray cock, the daddy of the Clarets being the only red out of a clutch containing six stags, the remaining five being gray. The white did not present itself immediately. The wine color was first, then gray, then some whites. The gray, I understandwere among the first grays that Mr. Madigin ever owned. The grays fought like Clarets, which of course they were. Then came the whites which went back to the combination of Whitehackle blood and the blood of the Deans gray cock, which cock contained blood of Gilman Grey-Mansell pyle with other combinations.
Mr. Madigin liked the white color which was a beautiful ( what I call) , magnolia or pinkish white. The stags invariably showed a buffbrassback, which never occurs in any other color of white fowl. In fact, some of the chicks when hatched come almost pink.
In later years, I have heard that Mr. Madigin crosses some other white blood into his Clarets as the pure ones were getting small and inbred. If he did so it was entirely his own business as he was obligated to no one to perpetuate any fowl or color. He wanted a winner and liked those that looked well.
So far as runners were concerned, the Claret is one of the most sensitive and high-strung fowl. Coming from a long line of sensitive ancestry, particularly on the mother’s side they have definite characteristics. Just as a peacock, when he losses his feathers, will hide from his own females because he is so completely distressed, so will a game cock. The higher-strung the more sensitive and rightly so. It is sex and pride that makes him fight and he is at a disadvantage. Some of the gamest of bull dogs will carry their tails between their legs a good part of the time. A fight for them is serious for it means victory or death; a situation of which they are constantly aware. One who does not recognize the high spirit of the Claret fowl should never own one.
There is a story in circulation that Mr. Madigin bred a yard of fowl intentionally “dunghilled.” He trusted most of his friends with whom he was associated in horse breeding and let them have some of his good fowl as they were not competitors in cockfighting. On the other hand, he felt that some of his chicken friends were not as loyal as they could have been in keeping his fowl as his property and origination. It is told that he distributed some of his synthetic fowl to certain individuals to cure them of the practice of bothering him for cocks, breeding them back and selling them later as “pure Clarets.”
To scatter his best fowl promiscuously to those who would breed them back would have destroyed his opportunity to win as he would have been in competion with his own ability as a breeder. Although the general opinion, is that the hen produced the greater percentage of fighting prowess, it depends on the stamina of bother parents. As unusually strong cock on a weak female with predominantly produce more of the male progeny’s qualifications.
My theory is that the white fowl were first produced naturally from the blood of the gray cock owned by Mr. Deans and that the mother of the Clarets with the white under color of the Duryea Whitehackle.
To this day, in breeding straight white Clarets, (which cannot be continued long as the feathers get too brittle and they get somewhat weakened; it is better to breed back to the dark colors) one will get an occasional gray feather and the first Clarets were bred 40 years ago. In my opinion, no outside blood was put in the Clarets except from two cocks from Mr. Marsh, strong in Lowman Whitehackle blood until 1935. The original white Clarets were a natural production.
Announcement: History of the famous Mclean Hatch-as told by Harry Parr
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Fri Oct 01, pm1001 8: 49 pm
History of the famous Mclean Hatch-as told by Harry Parr in 1977
Interest in the breeding of game fowl strains has always run high even though the knowledge thereof seldom has any practical application. I have been asked many times to set forth the breeding of the McLean Hatch and their offshoot, the Blue Face family. This I have done briefly in letters and countless times orally. It is amazing how twisted these accounts become. So, since this subject appears still to hold the interest of many, I have decided to write down the facts for one and all.
Although Ted McLean has been out of the “chicken business” since December of 1954 at which time he gave me all his fowl, he is still very much with us. I mention this only because I have seen too many “histories” come out when it is too late for the facts to be verified by the principles involved. Further, the following is being written with my notes and breeding records before me and this paper will be limited to first hand information. Finally, lest anyone think there is an ulterior motive involved, my chickens are my hobby. I keep only enough for my purposes and have never, nor do I ever contemplate selling them.
In the early thirties, Mr. E.S. Hatch and Mr. E.T. Mclean were on the floor of the stock exchange. That Mr. Hatch gave Ted Mclean fowl is the testimony enough of their friendship, as it is well known that Mr. Hatch did not let many go. At the time, Mr. Hatch’s fowl consisted of four basic bloodlines. These were the Kearney fowl made up of the two strains Mike Kearny brought from Ireland, namely (1) the “beasy” Breasted Light Reds (Whitehackles) and (2) the Brown Breasted Reds, plus (3) the Herman Duryea fowl (commonly called Boston Roundheads) which he added when he worked for Mr. Duryea. With these bloodlines Mr. Hatch incorporated (4) the green leg Thomson (Jim Thomson) fowl. I might say here that from then till now, the strain made up of these four bloodlines is what Ted and I call the “straight stuff”
In those days virtually all the fighting in the North East was done in inch and a quarter, heavy, slow heels, which is not surprising considering the cockers prime requisite, was gameness. It followed the toughness and power was high priorities and the Hatch fowl had all these in abundance. While they surely did not compile a great winning record, they were admired by name for these attributes. Fortunately, Ted Mclean kept this set of priorities or the “straight stuff’ would have long since gone by the boards. For in addition to these attributes, the Mclean Hatch are poor cutters, low headed dumb fighters, that usually take two or three shots before unleashing one of their patented hay makers. Obviously as the heels got faster their ability to win lessened, so they are useless now if fought pure. Their value then, is only as an ingredient to produce battle cocks.
Ted Mclean bought “Gamecock Farm” in Maryland and built one of the best all around chicken plants I have ever seen. He gave me a trio of his Hatch fowl in 1948 and shortly thereafter I bought a farm within a short distance from his. I suppose I was at Gamecock Farm a couple of times a week and everyday during fighting season, because we fought a heavy schedule and chickens were almost always in the cock house for conditioning. At least one experimental cross was tried each year and many produced superior battle cocks, but as soon as one quit, all chickens containing that blood, came under the axe. I saw an awful lot of chickens killed and when he retired from the game in 1954 and only the “straight stuff” remained. All of these fowl were given to me.
INVITACION CORDIAL A PARTICIPAR EN EL PRIMER TORNEO POR FRENTES, PUNTOS Y TIEMPO,
DE LA CIUDAD DE BOGOTA EL DIA 17 DE OCTUBRE DE 2010, MAX 50 FRENTES
YA SE INICIARON INSCRIPCIONES, MAS INFO EN ALAYONJOHN@MSN.COM
Melsimms is an American Breeder,his crosses bloodlines are from pure Black Hatch to Rubbles hatch or Black Hatch to Brown Red..All came from Black Hatches..these bloodlines are Multiple Shuffler and accurate cutters.SILVER BULLET are from BLACK HATCHES bloodlines..
Gilkerson Whitehackles
by the Newyorker (1907)
I note in a recent issue of an esteemed journal an interesting and I might add, an amusing history of the Gilkerson Whitehackles, to me amusing because of the many unaccuracies this fertile brained historian so proudly offers to the cock loving public, erstwhile flinging a few choice bouquets at that other grand strain of Whitehackles which stand out in the history of game cocks and which show their breeding in the pit and not paper, etc. Now whenever a man offers up such fulsome praise it creates or invites criticism and desire to ask questions and ascertain where this knowledge is derived. Perhaps these fowl are better than any Gilkerson ever dared to own but I am like the man from Missouri - you must show me. Now, consider the comparison. Gilkerson proved his by public performances against the best fowl in the country. Has the other man done so? Where did these much lauded Whitehackle ever defeat a standard strain in a public pit? He is located near Casey. Ever defeat him or Jim Wild, of his own state? Not far from Billy Howard or Kearney or Hoy, of New York state. Ever defeat them? Gilkerson played no favorites in his mains. How about the other man? I do not wish to reflect in any manner upon the qualities of these fowl am simply trying to enlighten myself and incidentally many others. Perchance the owner desires a public demonstration. If so I will guarantee to pit another strain of Whitehackles against them which will test them good and plenty. Now there is another strain of Whitehackles that my honored historical contemporary can take off his hat to and that do "stand out prominent in the history of cocking" and like Gilkerson's they play no favorites. Kearney's Whitehackles and Maurice O'Conell's "Niggers." Kearney always conditions and fights O'Conell's cocks and the limit is taken off when you stack up against O'Conell with Kearnet to feed and when you whip one of these cocks you have got to kill them and be positive they are actually dead because they have a nasty way of coming back to life and landing another desperate smash. Such a smash as only a dead game cock is capable of making. Hats are off to Kearney and his Whitehackles. Hats off to Maurice O'Conell and his "Niggers." By the way, I did hear that one of the Whitehackles my historical friend kindly mentions fought in a main at Nyack recently. Perhaps later he will learn how he performed, in so much as history seems to be in oder to permit me to digress for a time. Sometime in the early '60's a young Irish lad living in Tipperary conceived the idea of invading America with a bunch of Irish bred cocks. His country had the best breed of Whitehackles in all Ireland while the adjoining county had the best Brown reds and many were the mains fought between these counties with honors about even. When this lad started with his lot of game cocks he had one-half Brown Reds and one-half Whitehackles. He landed in New York in May, only to learn that cocking was over for the season. He managed to find walks for the cocks and returned to to Ireland, coming back the following winter with another bunch of cocks. Shortly after his arrival there was a big main and during an intermission the audience was amazed to hear a young man with as rich brougue as ever crossed the pond, cry out, "I will fight any man in the house a main for 500 pounds." Pat Carroll, of Philadelphia, who was present, said, "I would like to get at that `greenhron' if he would only put up," and he forwith tackled the `greenhorn', making the preliminaries all the time skeptical, until finally he suggested putting up a forfeit. "All right," said the `greenhorn'. "Suppose we put up $1000 each as a forfeit," and producing the money. This was a stagger for Carroll but he managed to come up and the main was on. Carroll, who was the breeder of the then famous "Black Hawks", won the toss and named for the small end a 3.10. The greenhorn (who the readers have probably guessed, was Michael Kearney) had nothing so light and was in despair, when he met a man who told him where he might find such a small cock, He succeeded in geeting him and strange to say, won the light weight. Michael obtained permission to feed his cocks at this hotel where they were to fight the main and which was in Hoboken, N.Y. On moving he discovered a lot of cocks left in the coops which had big heads and swollen eyes. "Swelled head." He had never seen anything like it before but concluded to take no chances and moved every cock to barrels in the yard, disinfected the coops and started feeding. After a time some strangers appeared and asked Michael how he was getting on. Suspecting they were emissaries from Carroll, he replied, "Poorly. I don't know what is the matter, look here," showing the cocks in the yard. "I never saw anything like that in the old country," said the forthy Mike. "Oh" replied the strangers, that is the same way they act in this country. Carroll's are just the same." "Is that so?" said Mike. Then I doubt they could scarcely get away fast enough to report to Carroll with the result that on the night of the main the betting was 100 to 60 on Carroll. If I remember correctly fifteen fell in and it stood seven to seven with the last match to decide the main and such hedging of bets was rarely ever seen before. For the last battle Carroll produced a magnificent Black Hackle while Kearney produced a Brown Red, bred in Ireland and that he brought along with him. It was a grand battle, both cocks in pink of condition and both aggressive and determined. It was anybody's fight for an hour or more when it was seen that the Black Hackle was getting smaller and he finally turned away giving the victory ot the gamy, persevering Kearney Brown Reds, direct from the old sod and incidentally a small fortune to the equally game `greehorn' who dared to come thousands of miles to test the supremacy of the Irish bred cocks and the Irish system of feeding and handling against the redoubtable Pat Carroll and his seldom defeated Black Hackles. I again take off my derby to Michael Kearney as a breeder. I think he is the most wonderful breeder of the country. He still has the Whitehackles same as he brought over nearly fifty years ago and can show them in plenty at 6:00 to 7:00 in condition and has fought them every year since and from Aiken, S.C., where he defeated Jimmie Dougrey, from Boston, where two years ago fought a draw with Casey to the extreme western part of the state. He had fought thousands of these two strains in all kinds of pits and conditions and who ever saw one quit that he or Maurice O'Connell bred. He has won two big mains already this season. Can any breeder equal this? It is proper to doff your head gear to Michael. What say you, historian? on't you now consider yourself presumptive to say at the least, to class that other strain with Kearney Whitehackles?. I will also add that when Lord Cromwell was here some years ago he visited Mr. Kearney who presented his lordship with several Whitehackle cocks and hens to take back to Ireland. Lord Cromwell bred these and last year challenged all England and defeated England with these same cocks. How about you, historian? I know of at least one case where at least $500 would have been paid Mr. Kearney for a trio and the man was shown the fowl and then shown out the back door of the yard as the "easiest way to get to the cars." The man was not even allowed in to buy a drink in Michael's hotel after he made the offer. I have known of $1000 being offered by a syndicate gentlemen connected with a country club to Mr. O'Connell for a stock of his Whitehackles and refused.
Gilman Whitehackle (Blackhackle)
Gilman Whitehackle (Blackhackle)
by
W.H. Tipton of Kentucky bought the last pair of chickens (a stag and a hen ) from a Mr. Hoffman of N.J., who was selling out due to doctor's statement that he only had few months to live . These were raised out of two pair of black hackles direct from Ireland .He crossed these over some black hackles originally from Jarvis Eilis of Penna. and called the progeny Irish Black Hackles . A few few years later he got a treo of black hackles from L.P. Holloway of Glass. Tenn. and crossed these with his fowl . Twice in the past 20 years he has used cocks containg Jhon Stone Irish blood and put one-eighth of their blood in his fowl . They come mostly black an occasional brass wing or very dark red . ( Tipton Irish Strain )
Kearney Whitehackles
Kearney Whitehackles
by M.D. Chesbro (1920)
To the genuine lover of the game fowl, the history of strains that have become famous is always interesting, and as I have never seen an accurate and detailed history of the strain or family so widely known as "Mike Kearney's Whitehackles," I will give as fully as may be, the principalfacts concerning them, and the man who by his skill as a feeder and handler made them famous.
It is not my intention to unduly glorify this strain, nor to contrast them with other families of games, but simply to state facts. And I may say, that in addition to my personal knowledge of the fowl many of the facts which I will record here were stated to me by Mr. Kittridge, Mr. Kearney, Mr. Coolidge and Mr. Wingate and in each instance where the statement to me was by word of mouth I immediately made a written memoranda (some of which are more than twenty years old) and are now before me, and from the basis of what I will write. I will tell this story in order of time as that may make it more clear.
The extensive plan occupying the central portion of the county of Kildare in Ireland and known as the Curragh of Kildare, has long been known as the sporting center of the Green Isle. Here racing, cocking, and all field sports were wont to flourish. Each village had its favorite trainers, jockeys, wrestlers, and foot racers, and favorite strain of game fowl. Sport in some form was the main business of the inhabitants and here was born Michael Kearney. While most of his relatives were devoted to horses, he bacame known throughout Kildare as a most successful breeder, feeder, and handler of cocks.
His favorite strain were "beasy" breasted light reds with yellow legs and white underhackles, broad shoulders, compactly made cocks with heavy plumage. In the mains which were constantly taking place, the most formidable opponents of his light reds were a strain bred in a nearby village which were dark brown reds in color, dark underhackles, and dark hazel eyes. These two strains were similar in fighting qualities and equally good, except that the brown reds heavier in bone and muscle. The sporting freedom which the people had so long enjoyed began to be more interfered with by the authorities, until just prior to the year 1870, cocking was entirely prohinited. Kearney refused to give up his beloved sport and emigrated to America bringing with him twelve of his favorite Whitehackle cocks.
These cocks were very tame and on sunny days, were one by one allowed their liberty on the deck of the vessel, which arrived in New York in Augsut. As there was no cocking at that season, it was not until the following winter that he fought and won a main using his imported cocks. The sport was extremely popular in New York and vicinity and soon the new comer was in the midst of it. He was very successful with his mains and made many friends and it was not long before he opened a road house and pit at Blissville; a suberb of Long Island City, having in the meantime taken out his papers as a citizen of the United States. Here for many years his cocks held sway, and mains were constantly being fought, sometimes two or three mains a week during the cocking season. Each year, for several years, Kearney sent a man, (usually his uncle Bob Quinn) over to Ireland to bring to New York cocks and hens of both the light red Whitehackles and the dark brown breeds. The two strains were each bred separately and pure without any crosses, and were fought by Kearney in immense numbers.
The Whitehackles were a medium weight fowl, the breast black streaked more or less with dark ginger the outer hackle a light red shading to light golden on the shoulders, the back a dark crimson, the wing long, wide, and hanging low, the tail wide and carried up, the shanks short and yellow, (never white) the body noticeably wide and short, neck medium length and the head short and broad with red eyes, and a thin single comb and white under feather.
The hens were always wheaten color. As fighters the cocks were high headed, fast enough and game beyond the test of steel. Around the pit was gathered a coterie of cockers whose constant cry was "gameness first." and the test that these little Whitehackles were put to by that crowd not only in mains and hacks but also for days after, were sufficient to prove to any one that if there was such athing on Earth as a strain that never produced a quitter, that was it. The brown reds were amuch larger, and heavier breed, low on the leg with tremendously broad powerful bodies, and very big thighs, but were not as fast and high strung as the Whitehackles, but were harder hitters and deep game. It was for one of these game cocks that Kearney named his race horse, "Hard Brown Red." After several years of breeding the two strains seperately, he concluded to cross them, and it was from this nick which came heroric little 4.6 cock who then blind and bleeding, but with his head in the air, won the terrific battle at Albany of one hour and fourty minutes of steady fighting against his noble whitetailed opponent. These were the Kearney fowl up to 1886.
Horace Brown, who lived at Peekskill, N.Y., was an old time cock fighter, a friend of Bill Clacker and the other worthies of the period from 1860. He was a great stickler for extreme gameness, along about 1881-'83 used to come into the law office and read with great interest the articles written by Joseph Wingate who at that time was having a controversy in the pages of Dixie Game Fowl and upholding the claims of 1 1/4 heels as the only game cock heel, and the old controversy never has been settled. In the begining of the year 1883, Wingate took some of his cocks and went down to New Orleans where a cocking tournament was held in the first week of Febuary, and challenged all comers to fight him in 1 1/4 heels. Brown was so delighted with the gameness of the man and his cocks, that when Wingate returned to his home in New Hampshire Brown sent to Wingate and bought a trio of his fowl. The cock was a dark ginger in color with dark legs and had a straight single somb; one hen was a partrige color, the other a pyle. They were from Wingate's Irish (imported) McDermotts' strain. Brown bred them together in the spring of 1884. Living in Peekskills at that time was Benjamin Kittridge, a wealthy young gentelman who had graduated from Harvard College the preceeding year. He was an ardent amateur sportsman, a crack pigeon shot and a successful yachtsman. He and his college classmates, Mr. Herman Duryea, then of Red Bank, N.J., and Mr. Raymond Belomnt, of New York, during their college days had become interested in cocking at Frank Coolidge's place at Watertown, near Boston. As Brown was the cocking authority of his town Mr. Kittridge employed him to raise and fight cocks for him and they started with the pullets Brown had raised from the Wingate trio, and also fought successfully the main of stags. Mr. Kittridge sent to Wingate for a cock to breed over the pullets and purchased it - a ginger breasted white legged cock sired by Wingate's McDermott cock out of a white legged Gull hen bred by J.B. Squires. When put on the scales he balanced the seven pound weight and a silver dollar, so he was always called "Silver Dollar."
At the same time Mr. Kittridge and Mr. Belmont purchased some fowl of Coolidge, a cock and three hens. This cock was a broad backed low set cock with a black breast, light red hackles, daw eye, and yellow legs. He had long broad wings, and long heavily sickled tail carried up a widely spread. He had a smooth round head and was dubbed very closely indicating once a pea comb. One hen was a very light buff, with creamy to almost a white breast, light green legs, and high single comb; the other two hens were wheaten with single combs, yellow legs and spurs. It was stated that these hens were "sired by a Claiborne cock out of hens from Marblehead." How the cock bred was not stated at the time, but the following statement by Frank Norton, of Boston, may throw some light on this cocks' breeding. "in 1864 John Harwood was head stevedore at East Boston docks for the Cunard Steamship Company. I lived next door to Harwood. One of the steamers brought over from England a trio of game fowl. The address and shipping bill of the fowl had been lost. The company kept them about three months and gave them to Harwood, he paying the shipping charges. Harwood gave the fowl to his friend Ned Gill, who bred and fought them. I knew Ned Gill and often saw these fowl fight, and frequently saw the brood yards. They were called Gill Roundheads or Boston Roundheads. They were light reds with black breasts more or less streaked with ginger. The hens were light wheaten color. All had yellow legs. After Ned Gill died John McCoy, of Marble head, Mass., got some of the Gill fowl and crossed them with John Stone fowl. McCoy was a very successful cocker in his days in the neighborhood of Boston. The imported trio had small round heads, pea sombs, and heavy feathers. They looked like old time English full feathered fowl with a slight touch of Aseel in their makeup."
Morgan Whitehackles
Morgan Whitehackles
by: E.T. Piper
{ Fulldrop }
Col. William l Morgan of East Oragne,N.J., bred and perfected this strain of gamefowl. And it takes its name from him. As the Morgan fowl are practically pure Gilkerson North Brittons, it is necessary to go somewhat into the history of that strain. About 1858, George Gilkerson, an English farmer living in Cortland County, N. Y, imported some fowl from Cumberland, England. From a man named lawman a relative of Billy Lawman of New York State. In this country there where known as North Brittons and later known as Gilkerson Whitehackles. North Brittons contained Duckwingred, Brownred and Pyle. On and before his death Gilkerson`s death many of his fowl came to Col.Morgan. Among these fowl was a little imported Scottish hen. Which Gilkerson prized most highly. Col. Morgan bred this hen with the old Gilkerson fowl and her blood is in all his fowl. Morgan did not know the history of this hen but expressed the opinion that she was nothing more or less than a lawman hen. That had been bred across the boarder in Scotland. All her stags looked and acted just like the Gilkerson fowl. The Morgan Whitehackles became famous than the Gilkerson fowl had ever been. He whipped Kearney, the Eslins, Mahoney and many of a less note in many mains in the Pennsylvania coal mining district. No man has ever approached this record in short heels, and the backbone of all these mains was pure Morgan Whitehackles. Col. Morgan never made but two permanent outcrosses in the straight strain. Morgan got a Ginger hen from Perry Baldwin. And put her on the yard of Sonny Stone of Newark. He had stone bred her. Her granddaughters and great granddaughters under Morgan cocks. the resulting progeny had the bloody heel and fighting quality of the pure Morgan's and still retained some of the excessive courage of the ginger [ newbold fowl]. Morgan finally took a fifteen-sixteenth Morgan and a sixteenth {ginger] newbold hen from stone and bred her on his own yard. That is the blood in all Morgan fowl. About the beginning of the century John Hoy of Albany obtained possession of the fowl of Billy Lawman. Morgan and Hoy exchanged brood fowl freely an as the fowl were identical in general make-up and charactishtics. The offspring bred on as the pure strain. Morgan bred the Lawman cock when reduced to one quarter in his favorite pens. At the time of his death there was a small percentage of this blood in most of his fowl. In the early nineties Morgan have a small pen of his fowl to a Col. in Virginia. The Col. inbreed the fowl and on his death. They fell into the hands of a professor at Georgetown university. Who knew nothing about breeding or cock fighting. He kept the family pure breeding his favorite cock to the whole flock on hens. When he died the fowl were still inbred in N.J. Neither the family Morgan bred or the family that had been inbred had changed appearance or quality in twenty-five years. Although kept absolutely apart, bred together the young cannot be told from the parents on either side. Except that they are larger and stronger that the offshoot family.
The Kearney and Duryea fowl
The Kearney and Duryea fowl
By: E. T Piper
There can be but little doubt in the minds of the students in the cocking fraternity that the gamest fowl in this country, not only today but as far back as any of us now living can remember, come and came from the vicinity of new York City. Lest some of the readers get gamest confused with best. Let us hasten to assure you we used the former. there isn't a doubt in the mind of this writer but what today or any day a main of cocks could be selected from most any part of the country and in long heels make the gamest fowl up there look very sick indeed. Ever in the short fast heels of today. We believe a main could be selected from among the better long heel fowl that could take the gamest fowl in or around new York. It`s a recognized fact among the more intelligent members of the clan that the gamer a family is the poorer fighters and cutters they seem to be. We wont go into the whys and wherefore of that statement just now. With hardly an exception the gamest families we can recall when their pedigree is traced back leads right to new York City. The few we can think of that were not descended from new York City were from not very far away and did a big shore of their fighting against the New York crowd. Examples? yes, we can give you a few ./ the gamest fowl it has been this writers privilege to see in the past 25 years were the so-called hardy mahoganies, The Hatch fowl the Albanies the Jim Thompson owl and very few others that is which filled the bill as deep game fowl in our book. Let `s see where some of them came from. The Hardys got their fowl from Jim Ford of Medina, New York. Ford got them through his brother who was a New York judge, he, in turn got them from John Madden of Kentucky, and Madden got them direct from Mike Kearney of long island, NY. the Albanys were half Hardy through a cock called the sneak and on the other side of Albany family there was some hatch blood, hatch too came from and lived all his life in or very near New York City. Jim Thompson lived at White Plains, N.Y. about 20 miles from New York City. His fowl were said to have been the result of a cross between an Adam Schreiber, Albany, N.Y. hen that Thompson had a man name Squealer Murray steal for him, and some old game stock down near New York City. they were a very deep game family, and of course the Hatch fowl were entirely New York stuff. There are plenty of winning fowl in both the north and south that seldom show bas actor, yet, we have not included then in our list of the gamest families. Those who are familiar with deep game fowl will understand why and when deep game fowl and New York are mentioned, Mike Kearney sticks out like a sore thumb. Kearney is said to have arrived in this country from Ireland in about 1870. He brought fowl with him and in a comparatively short time, was in the midst of cocking activities in and around New York. Either at or soon after his arrival, the type of heels preferred in that section were what later came to be know as slow heels. they where a regulation heel with a blade but one and one-quarter inch long in length. The blade was thick with the point more or less blunt. The rules used were known as New York rules, ten tens required to count out a cock and peck would break the count at any time. Under such conditions, deep game cocks were an absolute necessity and fighting ability and cutting ability were a secondary consideration. Just the opposite, incidentally, from today with our modern rules and faster heel. the mike Kearney whitehackles, brown reds and others were used to a certain extent as a standard to go by in measuring gameness, mike Kearney has been dead for many years, yet even today most of our gamest fowl can be traced back to his fowl. during the years E. W. Rogers published the warrior, 1927-1935, its pages were constantly filled with stories...
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sun Sep 19, pm919 7: 05 pm
Warhorses
By: Peter Sherron
Please notice that there is no mention of any black fowl in this history of the Warhorse breed nor any mention of a "Fardown blood (which is black)" either.
IN 1855 John Sherron, of Marblehead, Mass., defeated Col. Tom Bacon in a main at Columbia, S.C. He showed two different strains of cocks in the main both were imported from Ireland and were reputable originally stolen by the warden of a vast estate to exchange them for a coon and opossum that came from America. Here they had been carefully bred and guarded for over a century by a line of Irish Earls. One strain, which he called "Gilders" or "Claibornes", came a bright red color with black or mottled breasts, orange hackle, yellow beak and moccasin legs. The other strain called "Irish Brown Reds: were brown reds or mahogany reds. All straight combed, with black faces and combs, eyes, dark red or hazel brown (not black) with lead or dark legs.
After the main Col. Bacon purchased a Gilder cock and an Irish Brown Red cock from Stone and later received a shipment form Stone of them wheaten- colored Gilder hens and three Whippoorwill Irish Brown Red hens. Major Burnett Rhett, of Chareleston, S.C. purchased the finest cock Stone showed in the main, a 6-lb. mottled breasted brown red, one-half Gilder, one-half Irish Brown Red.
Later Barney Dunbar, a wealthy game fowl fancier (but not a breeder), of Augusta, Ga., went personally to see Stone and got a trio of each family. Dunbar gave the Gilders to Tom Wilson, at Beach Island to breed and these later became famous under the name of "Gaitor Legs". Dr. Morgan got some of them from Wilson and these were later known as Morgans. Major Rhett also got some hens from Tom (Fowl) Wilson and bred his great Stone cock over them, producing the famous Rhett fowl. These Rhett fowl were three- quarter Gilder, one quarter Irish Brown Red.
Dunbar let Tom Seily keep the trio of "Irish Brown Reds" a year, then carried them to old man Baldwin's place on Horse Creek where they were bred until Dunbar quit the game and gave them to John Foster. Later Foster quit pitting cocks due to overweight and gave them to an Irishman Peter Sherron on the condition that he be a partner in all mains fought with these cocks. They had by devious methods finally found their true home for Sherron dearly loved them saying he knew of these fowl in Ireland, and that they were both invincible and unobtainable in the old country.
Sherron, who was very impulsive, named a great cock "Warhorse" after a sensational battle and then again the next year after this same cock, here tofore called "Store Keeper", won the deciding fight in a $3,000.00 main in one of the greatest battles known to cock fighting. After that the family was called "Warhorses".
After Sherron's death, Jack Allen bought the fowl and he and his brother in law, Henry Hicks, fought them together until Allen got angry one day because of a sick Warhorse being given away after the main and swore he'd kill or sell every game chicken he owned. On the way home he met Harrison Butler and Jim Clark and told them his intentions. Butler bought all the fowl and the next day he gave a trio of Warhorses to Jim Clark, of Dawson, Ga., a trio to Col. John Fair and a trio to his nephew, Dr. Pierce Butler.
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sun Sep 19, pm919 7: 04 pm
Marsh Butchers
Peter Marsh (1800's) - The first gamefowl breeder/cockfighter in the family. He bred and fought Whitehackles, Smokeballs, and Roundheads. He took part in small money mains and local tournaments. He became associated with George Green who was to become the father-in-law of Peter's son Phil.
Phil Marsh (1869-1945) - Phil was probably the best known of the Marsh family as he became nationally known through his efforts in breeding and fighting gamefowl. It was Phil who made the Speeder bloodline and along with his son Bill created the Butcher fowl. He operated a meat market in Fort Plain,N.Y., and the Butchers were named after his profession. Phil was considered to be a better breeder than conditioner and his son Bill was just the opposite. He prided himself on excellent physical condition and at the age of 70 could still kick higher than his head. Phil was an avid coon and fox hunter with the hounds and took pride in his hound breeding also. He passed away after sustaining injuries brought on after being kicked in the kidney by a cow in his slaughterhouse.
Bill Marsh (1894-1977) - Son of Phil. Fed and conditioned his first main alone at the age of 13. Considered to be a better conditioner than breeder. When he and Phil fought at the Orlando Tournaments he went down to Florida one month ahead of the tournament with the fowl. He did most, if not all, of the conditioning from age 15 on. Bill fought cocks along the eastern United States from New York to Virginia. He worked most of his life as a cattle dealer and was a bootlegger during Prohibition. Like his father he was an avid bird, coon, and fox hunter as well as an avid carp fisherman. In the 1950's Bill would occasionally fight under the name "Goodman".
Alfred Marsh (1897-1971) - Alf was not as well known as his brother Bill. He basically dabbled in small mains and tournaments and took care of the fowl when Bill was unable to. Although he was not involved with the fowl to the extent that Bill was he was by no mean a pushover and won many mains on his own. Alf worked all his life in the family cattle business.
Phil Marsh II (1918-1995) - Son of Bill and named for his Grandfather. Serves as a Captain in the Military Police in WWII and served in North Africa and Europe. Participated in the Anzio campaign and the Battle of the Bulge. He also served as an aide to General Mark Clark while in Italy. He worked as a truck driver most of his life. After his retirement Phil was active in the sport fighting most of his fowl in New York and Pennsylvania.
Mark Marsh (1962-present) - Son of Phil II and employed in the law enforcement field for over 17 years. Learned from Bill and Phil and is fortunate to have access to many of their personal notes, breeding records as well as the family keep. Started caring for fowl at 4 years of age. Former amateur boxer and a well known softball player in central New York. Like his ancestors he is an avid hunter and carp fisherman and appreciates his heritage in the sport.
Butchers: The Butchers are the result of a cross between Marsh Speeders and Groves Whitehackles in 1915 and by 1920 were set as a strain. Through selective breeding the Butchers come black-red with a straight comb, white and yellow legs, and have red, orange and lemon color hackles. Additionally their breasts may have red flecks. About 5 % of our Butchers will come spangled. The hens will come wheaton and partridge in color and about 1/3 will have spurs. The Butchers are known primarily as head and neck cutters as that is what is needed in short heel fighting, but they can and do cut very well to the body. In addition they are known as good side steppers.
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sun Sep 19, pm919 7: 03 pm
Sid Taylors
by P.P. Johnston
This is straight out of the Gamecock (1946)
The original strain of chickens from which the Sid Taylors of today were made goes back many years before the Civil War of 1861. These chickens were bred by Jim Shy of Lexington, Ky. Mr. Shy's names has been spelled in several ways- Shigh and Shei, Shy seems to be correct, as it is spelled Shy in the Turf Guide and in accounts of races, in which his horses ran, in old copies of "The Spirit of the Times." He is remembered today by some of the oldtimers round Lexington, who speak of him as a sporting man of the highest honor. Shy lived near the racetrack at Lexington and bred his chickens on the farm of Jim Price, who lived near Pinegrove, Ky. Their farm joins the land owned by Mr. Gay on which he lives and breeds his chickens. Price was interested in all kinds of sporting events and he backed Shy's cocks heavily. Shy fought his cocks in Lexington and other places very sucessfully. The cocks came red, brown-red,pyle and bluereds, many of them having white feathers in their tails and wings. Mr. Gay had an uncle who lived near Pinegrove who remembered walking cocks for Price and Shy in the fifties.
Soon after the war of the sixties, Sid Taylor got the chickens from Shy. Mr Taylor was closely associated with Shy until his death in 1892. When his eyesight began to fail he gave Mr. Taylor his gaffs and all his chickens.
First Cross
The first cross that Mr. Taylor made on the Shy chickens was in the early seventies. In 1869 George Cadwallader, who had been a jockey and was at that time a race horse trainer, sold a horse named Pompey Payne to W.R. Babcock, and Easter turf man, for $15,000, and as a further consideration he was to get six black imported Irish hens that Mr. Babcock was to procure from a man named Hudderson, of Rhode Island. Cadwallader then gave his chickens to Mr. Taylor.
I have seen a letter written a few years ago to Mr. Gay by George Cadwallader verifying these statements.
On these six Irish hens, Mr. Taylor put a blue cock that came from Shy. Noone knows the proportion of this blood Mr. Taylor put into his chickens, but with them hw suceeded in winning the respect of Tom O'Neal, the great Dom breeder and cocker of Louisville, Ky. Tom O'Neal was associated with Waddle, who controlled most of the gambling houses in Louisville at the time. Mr. Taylor furnished a great many cocks to O'Neal and Wadle. Mr. W. Pragnoff, of Louisville, Ky and Wadle imported from Vinegar Hill, Ireland, some game chickens. These chickens were called Waddle Irish. They had black eyes and dark or mulberry colored faces. The hens are black, the cocks very dark red, and dark brown red. Mr Pragnoff has talked of the importance of these chickens with Mr. Gay many times.
During the time that Mr. Taylor was furnishing cocks to Tom O'Neal and Wadle, he crossed the Wadle Irish into his chickens. This was about 1880. He also made a cross with the O'Neal Doms and established a yard of Doms. Since that time Mr. Taylor had one yard that showed the Dom color and Mr. Gay has done the same since. The Dom blood has never been bred into the other families and they never show Dom markings. The other families were bred into the Dom family from time to time and the Dom color has been kept up but they do not always breed to color. Mr. Taylors cocks were Doms, Blues, Brown Blacks, Reds and Gray Reds, with a few Brown Reds. Some of them showed white feathers in the tail and wings.
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sun Sep 19, pm919 6: 59 pm
Miner Blues
By Lloyd B. Miner
(Reprint from Histories of Game strains)
Several months ago you asked me to write the history of my Miner Blues. I appreciated being favored with this request and promised you that I would write same, however, when yours of July 5th came asking if I had the history written, I had failed to have a single line.
I consider myself very poor at writing anything and writing the history of my own fowl makes it all the more difficult for me, but i shall keep my promise and do the best I can. I will try and not say too much for my fowl and if I do, just remember ho much each real lover of the game cock thinks of his own strain.
I have two strains of Blues, one a strictly straight comb strain, the other of all Roundhead blood. I shall give you the history of the straight comb strain first because they were the first fowl that I really bred. I owned my first game cock about 25 years ago. At that time the village of Cornell had some men who kept a few half-mile running horses, a few scrub game cock and boasted of one real 100-yard dash men. Every summer many covered wagon loads of Gypsies passed through Cornell; they made money trading horses, racing horses and fighting cocks. Professional foot racers traveled with them. We had saloons then and the little village was pretty sporty, would gamble on anything. I took in the horse races, foot races and cock fights. Several of us young fellows liked the game cocks very much, so we all bought cheap cocks and started in the game, fighting against each other, There were seven or eight of us started in the game at that time. A few years later I secured twenty subscribers to Derby Game Bird for a premium of Gregory gaffs. All of these boys finally quit the game except George Hasel and myself. George quit about three years ago and moved to South Bend, Ind., from there to Chicago and not long ago I received a letter from him in Denver, Colo., in which he said that he wanted a trio of the old straight comb Blues as soon as he got located where he could keep chickens. Am getting off my track so will go back to the time we were fighting chickens among ourselves. At that time I was working in my fathers store and a mon by the name of Ed Foley ran a hotel next door. He had a large back yard and one day I noticed a beautiful blue-red game cock running in this yard with some dunghill hens. I asked Foley what breed he was and what he would take for him and he replied that he was one of Nick Vipond's Blues and did not belong to him, that he was only walking him for Nick, but for me to go to Streator (which is 15 miles from Cornell) and see old Nick and he would perhaps sell me a cock, I got my best friend, George Hasel, and we went to Streator and looked up Nick. It was not hard to find him as he ran a saloon in the main part of the city. He took us to his home and showed us may fine cocks in pens. We each bought one and could hardly wait until we hot home to tackle some of the boys for a scrap. Next day both cocks were fought and both won. After that day both of us bothered old Nick quite often. We must have been an awful pest to him and I often wonder how he had the patience to fool with us. However, he seemed to take a liking to us and would let us watch him condition cocks up stairs over his saloon in the winter and at his home in his barn during the warmer months. He taught us how to hold a cock and how to work him and to this day I have never seen a man who could put a cock through his work and not break a feather as he could. He had a world of patience with a biting cock and his condition was good, but now I think that he pulled his cocks too low for them to be at their best. Nick traveled and fought his cocks and also fought mains against Col. Minton, George A. Fuller, the Red Hornet man, (at that time of Springfield, Ill.) and many others. Like most others Nick had other fowl besides his blues, some good and some bad, some of them belonging to other parties that he would condition and fight for them. Years have proven that his Blues were the best that he had and were the only ones that he kept when he got old. The straight comb Miner Blues that I breed today are direct descendants of the best and last brood yards of Nick Vipond's Blues.
Just what blood these Blues are no one really knows. Many have asked Nick what blood they were and I have asked him where he got them, but he never would say, his reply being to all "they are my old Blues." However, Nick was born in Wales, He moved from Pennsylvania to Steator over 50 years ago, was a coal miner and later went into the saloon business. He brought with him from Pennsylvania some very dark blue fowl, dark eyes and dark legs. Some say that they were imported from Ireland and that Nick bought them from a man in the east who needed money badly, however, I don not know that this is true, and doubt if there is any one who does know, but I do know that the first fowl that I saw at his place were dark-blue. Later he had a very beautiful, white leg, red eyed, light-red cock over some blue hens and in a short time he had many white leg and yellow leg Blues of different shades of lighter blues, also many light-red with white or yellow legs. I asked him one day what the white leg red cock was and he said that he was just the same as the Blues and added that some of them came red. I bought a 4.14 white leg red cock of him that had won bottom weight in one of his mains and six dark blue hens. My friend Hasel bought a 5.04 dark blue, slip leg cock and two dark-blue hens. I had the pleasure of being in on the last three mains that Nick fought, my friend George Hasel was also in on one, these being fought against local parties. In two of the mains he won every fight but one and lost but one main, by the odd. After the last main, which he won, he told Hasel and I that he was going to give each of us a good cock that had won in the main and tell us how to breed them. We already had eight dark-blue hens, the dark-blue slip leg cock and the white leg 4.14 cock, then he gave Hasel the white leg red 6.02 cock. This cock was old, but did not show it, and had won quickly in the main. A year or two before Hasel had asked Nick to price this cock, but he would never do it. When Nick gave Hasel the cock he told him that sense he had always wanted him so badly that he would make him a present of the cock and told him to breed him over the pullets from the slip-leg blue. He then gave me a fine young 5.08 dark-blue cock that had won a sensational battle in the main and told me to breed him to the pullets from the 4.14 Red. I never got a picture of the slip-leg nor the old white leg red Hasel got, but I had a photographer take a picture of the 4.14 Red and I took a snap shot of the 5.08 Blue. The one I took is not clear, but I am sending both for you to print. Hasel and I bred these four cocks and eight hens just as we were told to do and exchanged stags and pullets each year and mated more yards. We could do this nicely with four yards to draw from. At about the same time that we got the last tow cocks from Nick a friend of mine named Harry Rucker (who lived in Cornell) bought a 3-time winner brown-red, white leg cock from Nick and bred him on some Dom hens he had and two years later Hasel bought this Vipond cock from Rucker and later bred him over daughters of the slip-leg.
About ten years ago, Nick quit business and moved to Chicago, later moving to either Marion, Ohio or Indiana, I have forgotten which and finally came back to Streator where he died about three years age. When he moved to Chicago he sold all of his fowl except two large dark-blue hens and one large white leg hen. These he would not sell. He called on me just a short time before he left and brought these three hens and asked if I would keep them for him, said that his daughter was sick and that he and his wife must go and live with her and that they had no place to keep chickens. I kept the hens and bred them single mated. I have a letter that Nick wrote me sent from Chicago, about eleven years ago asking me to have his hens caught up as he would be after them soon. He never bred any more fowl, but came and took one of the blue hens for a friend and gave me the other, the white leg hen having died.
My straight comb Miner Blues I breed today are direct descendants of the four cocks and the eight hens that Hasel and I got from Nick, the cock that Rucker got and the three hens that Nick left with me. I have many yards and believe that I can breed them indefinitely without a cross. I have mated them as I know that they must be mated and at the same time I have line-bred them to the most sensational fighting cocks that have been produced from time to time. For instance, Hasel, by mating a dark-blue stag that I gave him over one of his white leg red hens, produced a white leg blue-red stag that proved, in the brood yard, to be one of the best producers of all. He fought this stag against Sam Brazier in Chicago in 1919. Brazier had a wonderful stag and cut Hasel's stag blind in one eye and broke one wing in the first pitting but Hasel could hardly hold his stag during the rest period and when turned loose for the second pitting he went across like a flash, and with one eye and one wing gone he shuffled Brazier's stag to death. Hasel bred this stag that year and as a cock for two years. We called him old Blinker. He gave me one of his first stags from this cock, also one of his daughters and in 1922 traded me the old Blinker for a brood cock of mine that had won several times. I bred old Blinker until he died in the fall of 1924. He was a great producer and was line-bred from the start. Many of ny yard carry more or less of his blood on each side. I have bred many cocks that have won several battles but never have I found one that produced more winners that old Blinker did. Old White Leg, a four time winner that I raised is a grandson of the 4.14 and the old white leg Vipond cock. This strain of cocks have not been bred to color but have been to fight, however, in the last few years I have mated Red to Reds and Blues to Blues whenever I could do so and not sacrifice fighting qualities nor the proper mating. At the present time they average in color about 50% blue reds with white or yellow legs, 40% light reds with black or brown mottled breasts and white or yellow legs and about 10% come dark-blues with dark legs. I get more dark-blues in hens than in cocks. Are medium, low station and the cocks run in weight from 4.06 to 6.08 and the hens from 3 to 5 pounds. They are exceptionally game, extra good cutters and know how to fight. Just to give and example of the gameness of these Blues I am going to quote what a friend in Omaha Nebraska wrote me about one of these Blue cocks that fought in a main there in 1925. "Fourth fight we matched your straight comb Miner blue against a Harry Williams Warhorse cross from Covington, Ky. Warhorse coupled your Blue in first pitting and the fight dragged out to 68 pittings, 48 minutes of terrible give and take on both sides. In my opinion your blue was the best cock and his gameness was remarkable. He crossed the pit several times on his wings and shuffled whenever he could get a beak hold, only to be counted out in the 68th pitting, his opponent dying soon afterwards. Blue had two counts on Warhorse but could not see or stand on his feet, yet he always broke all counts except the 68th.."
I call these Blues Miner Blues because most of them come blue and they have been bred by my method long enough to make them the type they are today. I have the same opinion as Mr. Ewing A. Walker has in calling his Mugs Walker Mugs. My friend Hasel advertised and sold some of these Blues that he bred and called his Hasel Blues. As he had bred them many years he felt that he had the right to call them Hasel Blurs. I have never spent much time in thinking up a name for my fowl as I feel sure that if cocks can fight they will make a name for themselves and if not a blood curdling name will not help them.
While I have always kept these Blues pure that I got from Nick Vipond, I have also made some crosses. Most of us experiment some and I have always thought it best to make a cross when I had time to try them out than wait until I had to have a cross and trust to luck for a nick. I have made several crosses and fought them all to find out what I had and found that some were good and others were bad. Those that were good I bred back to my Blues and then fought the quarter bloods, then bred back again and fought the eighth bloods. I do not need a cross on my old Blues at this time, but if I ever do I now have on hand some good hens with one-half, one-quarter and one-eighth new blood that are sisters to cocks that have proven good and of which I breed a few each year. In 1917 D. H. Pierce loaned me a young Wisconsin Shuffler cock to breed. He was a dark eyed brown-red and an extra good one. I tried to buy him from Pr. Pierce but he would not sell him, so I returned him in good shape in the fall of 1918. I mated this Pierce cock to one of the old dark-blue hens that Nick left with me when he moved to Chicago and from this mating I got dark-blues and dark-brown reds. Fought the stags and refought them and only one lost his first battle. I then bred one of my Blue cocks over one of the half blood hens and the quarter-bloods win a good majority of their battles. I have two dark-blue hens today that are daughters of the Pierce cock. They are over nine years old and are strong and healthy brood hens yet.
In 1923, Henry Flock sent me a blue-red, white leg, red eyed, straight comb cock from El Paso, Texas and wanted me to breed him. Said if I did not want him to just send him to his daughter at home and that she would care for him until he returned. Flock had won twice with him and had pronounced him a wonder. He said that Jas. G. Oakley had bred him out of a Smith Blue cock that he got off Smith Bros., that won in the Opelousas Tournament. I bred this cock single mated on one of my old Blue hens and he nicked well with my blood. I bred back to my Blues and the quarter bloods won a larger percent than did the half bloods. I am saving some of the quarter-blood hens. My friend Hasel made a cress several years ago with Gleezen Whitehackel on Blues, also a cross of a Shawlneck hen from Elmer B. Denham and both were good. I traded some of my Pierce cross and of the Oakley cock cross to Hasel for some of his Whitehackles and Shawlneck crosses and breed a few each year carrying this blood. This concludes the history of my straight comb blues.
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sun Sep 19, pm919 6: 58 pm
Alabama Roundheads
by H.H Cowan & T.K. Bruner (1924)
This story begins 45 years ago when I was born into the chicken game and which I have played in its every phase. I have bought, fed, fought, heeled and handled cocks of many different strains and crosses, and probably have done as much experimenting as any man of my years. It is my opinion that there is no one best strain of fowl and no one best feeder, but there are many of both in class "A" and when you make a main nowadays for real money you are sure to meet them. It seems the days of monopoly in the cocking game have passed, which I attribute to renewed interest in the sport and the increased flow of money and brains into the game.
I do not claim to have originated the best strain of the pit games in the world in my Alabama Roundheads, but the fact that they have won the majority of their fights and kept pace with the ever-increasing speed of the game for the past twenty years, under all rules and any length of ****, is very gratifying.
For the past several years I have done most of my fighting at Memphis, Tenn., where my fowl were known as Alabama cocks, thus theur name Alabama Roundheads. My fowl have passed the experimental stage, having their characteristics inbred into them, and I feel with my system of breeding I can hold them at their present standard for years to come.
Many years ago when Mr. Allen and Mr. Shelton were defeating all opposition with their great strain of Roundheads, I attended just about all the mains and tournaments in which they were entered, forming an acquaintance and finally friendship with Mr. Shelton, as he was a man whom to know was to like, being one of those old time Southern gentlemen-sportsmen who at one time so characterized the gentility of the Old South. In his passing the fraternity lost one of its great uplifters and the South one of its best citizens. Through this association I became familiar with the history and breeding of the Allen Roundheads and secured my first of these from Mr. Shelton, personally, when at their best, and of his best. I fought them pure for a number of years. From my knowledge of the Allen Roundheads they were originated from a Saunders Roundhead cock bred over Col. Grist Grady hens and then bred closely to the Sauders side. I was breeding and fighting these Roundheads continuously each season and it gradually became apparent to me that they were being bred a bit too close to cope with the strong, rough cocks they were having to meet. It is my opinion, from both experience and observation, that the old time Allen Roundheads with their smart side-stepping tactics and phenomenal sparring qualities and rapid straight hip blows while in the air, could best most cocks they met in the early stages of the battle.
I think this excellent quality was their chief asset and enabled them to make one of the best, if not the best, pit records of any Southern strains. But in the latter stages of battle, when it came down to a give-and-take, I have never thought they excelled, and I was convinced that if they were to keep pace with the game and maintain their record they must be bred to fight as efficiently when the battle came down to a "tug of war" as in the beginning of a fight. I made several unsuccessful experiments with this end in view, but I kept on trying and about fifteen years ago I became acquainted with the great characteristics of the old time Mahoney Gull fowl, with their desperate gameness, strong constitutions and deadly heel. These being the qualities I wished to add to the already great fighting qualities of the Allen Roundheads, I decided to make an infusion of this blood. I secured a royally bred Gull cock of the old school, through friendship with a source whence no one has ever been able to buy a feather to my knowledge, and bred him over my Roundhead hens.
The Gulls being a yellow and white leg strain of black breasted reds with few exceptions of medium station, the type and color was only slightly changed from this cross; but the plumage was longer and much improved. The plumage of the Gull fowl is of a marked characteristic, consisting of a very broad feather extremely lomg and with a quill of whale-bone toughness. Such plumage enables a cock to be fought several times during a season in good feathers.
The first cross were strong, tough and desperately game. I bred back to the Roundhead side, fighting and testing them. Each year's breeding showed an improvement over the preceding one, and kept this up until they again were back to the Roundhead type, showing all the old time fighting qualities of the Allen Roundheads, yet this was backed by strength and endurance, making them more efficient cocks at any stage of battle.
It is my experience that any cocks must have the ability and inhibition to go all the way, as well as great scoring or starting, in order to hold their own in cock fighting of the present day. I fought them with fair success a few years and studied them closely, and finally reached the conclusion that their ability to strike rapidly and efficiently from any angle when in close quarters could be improved upon. Knowing this quality to be one of the outstanding characteristics of the Grist Gradys their foundation stock, I made a fresh infusion of this old reliable blood.
I secured a cock that proved to be of the right sort and his produce were deep game and he imparted the quality I had aimed at to a marked degree, without the loss of any other essential quality. Thye proved to be a real combination fighting cocks, efficient at any stage of battle, which their record shows. By inbreeding anfd line breeding to the outstanding individuals for the past 12 years these qualities have been stamped into them, until they come uniform in type and action. The Alabam Roundheads are practically of the same color and type as the Allen Roundheads. cocks are black breasted reds with white or yellow legs, but a pumpkin or a deep cherry red or a spangle occurs occasionally, as well as both straight and pea-combs. The hens come from light buff to wheaten, occasionally a green or dark legged fowl will appear among the offspring. All these slight variations come honestly from their foundation blood; the green or dark legs from the Redquill in the Gradys, and the straight combs from both the Gulls and Gradys. However, the largest proportion of them come with white and yellow legs, pea-combs and in color black breasted reds.
For the past eight years I have done most of my fighting at Memphis, Tenn., in combination with Bruner and Herron. Bruner doing all the honors in the cock house and pit. I consider him a fine judge of a cock and among the best feeders in the South. He knows what to expect of a cock, and if they had not been right in every respect he would have found it out several years ago and passed them up. He tests nearly every loser and they have to be right for ihm or he has no use for them. He has been breeding the Alabama Roundheads ten years and has greatly assisted me in bringing these fowl to their present state of excellence by his help and advice in selecting brood fowl from the performance of the cocks in the pit. Mr. Bruner has conditioned and fought more of these cocks possibly than any other man, knows them through and through, as he has practically lived in the cock house with them for the past several years.
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sun Sep 19, pm919 6: 57 pm
RBHatch Fowl
By Rick Beall 2007
In 1974, I got my first Hatch fowl from the late Harold Brown of Red Fox Farms. Now just to tell you a little history on these fowl that came from Harold Brown, they were 1st class fowl since 1938 and they were best in the World. Mr. Brown obtained McLean Hatch blood directly from Ted McLean for the foundation of his “Pure Red Fox Hatch.†Harold added a slight Lieper influence to the McLean blood to perfect his “Pure Red Fox Hatch.†He told me this when I acquired these fowl directly from him. cocks come 90% pea comb, either dark or lemon hackle and average 5-6 pounds. Hens are either the buff (McLean influence) or darker (Lieper influence.)
I have managed to keep this line going for 33 years now and they are high breaking, hard fighting fowl. For pure hatch fowl, they cut as good as any fowl I have had. We have had much success in crossing these Hatch fowl over with our Black McRae, Lacy Roundhead, and Coon(which were originated back in the 80’s by Curtis Blackwell and Jim Kent), and Mule Train Grey (courtesy of James Everitt, KS). We have now for the first time crossed the Hatches over to our Rampuri Asil (courtesy of Buckey and Gloria Harless) and are extremely pleased so far.
All I can say is ‘Hats off to Mr. Harold Brown’ because these fowl just seem to get better and better. He is a legend and was a great breeder. I wish to give special thanks to Mr. James Everitt for gifting me with the Mule Train Greys and also Buckey & Gloria Harless for the gift of the remainder of the last of their Rampuri Asil line. I couldn’t have accomplished this without them.
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sun Sep 19, pm919 6: 56 pm
Clarets
By: C. C. Crenshaw
From Johnson's History of Game Strains
I notice in Grit and Steel that many are advertising "pure Madigin Clarets" from many parts of the nation. There is a question in my mind now and has been for some time as to just where and when they got this blood. I am talking about the good old time blood now, as Mr. Madigin has said (I quote from the Oct., 1937 Grit and Steel)," I have many letters of inquiry concerning those who advertise Clarets. I have never sold a Claret. I have only given away a few cocks; no hens. I raise them all at Ft. Erie and there alone and the only way anyone has to get them is to seal them, of course, all who walk them for me have one half blood and if they inbreed them, can get them, but they are useless when inbred. I only to give you an insight into the methods of those who profess to have pure Clarets." Author's note: Concerning above, it is now an established fact that Madigin did give away hens to several different men. As for what Mr. Madigin has to say about those walking cocks for him having only one half the Claret blood and not being able to get more except by inbreeding: If a man bred form a Claret stag or cock walked for Madigin and then bred the stags and pullets form him together that would be inbreeding but would not increase the percent of Claret blood. Madigin always asked me not to return blinkers or broke billed cocks, etc. I always killed these as I did not want to breed them and did not think I had a right to fight them. But anyone walking cocks for Madigin who wanted to breed them could breed said battered cock year after year back over his daughters until soon they would be seven/eighth or fifteen/sixteenth his blood (and likewise that percent of Claret blood). However this would be line breeding rather than inbreeding. A man could breed from a different stag or cock (from Madigin for purpose of walking) each year over the pullets out of the stag or cock bred the preceding year. Regardless of the definition you give inbreeding, you will realize that such a man can not possibly be inbreeding any closer that Madigin himself. R.L. Sanders bred from Madigin's Clarets until his are thirty/one thirty/second Claret blood. I can not understand a man having the great amount of intelligence required to become the success Mr. Madigin was making such a statement in writing as above.
Origin of the Claret
In the year 1907, J.H. Madigan received from his friend Andrew P. O'Connor of Maryland, two pullets - one a black red with pea comb, the other a wheaton with single comb. He lost the pea comb pullet. He put the single combe pullet at the race track where he was walking a stag for Henry Deans-a pure black-red with white legs. Early the following spring the O'Connor hen stole her nest in the bush and brought out a large clutch of chicks of which nine were stags- all black reds with white and yellow legs and very deep wind color; hence the name claret. They walked and fought them, and they proved to be very successful. Upon breeding further, one in every eight or ten came white and they are still doing so. One year he had many whites and a few spangles. Madigan tried to keep the same blood, as near as possible. All crosses have been a failure, with exceptions. The daddy of the Clarets is a Manzel Grey Pyle cock. The hen stole the nest from a Whitehackle hen. Madigan did sell roosters and hens, once he slacked off from fighting.
The Manel Grey Pyle cock came from Canada. Hanky Dean got them from a man up there he called them Canadian Grey for a long time.
Clarets an article from 1950
The following unsolicited letter from William Marsh is a very valuable contribution to game fowl literature. If true, and we have every reason to believe it is, it will clear up alot of mystery connected with the Madigan Clarets and greys.
There has been endless controversy about the breeding of Madigans fowl for the reason he would tell practically nothing about them. He did say several times they were started with a Hanky Dean cock and what A.P. O'Connor called one of his Duyea Hens. O'Connor, however lied about the hen he sent to Madigan. Actually she was bred by Mr. Hillsman of Virginia and was by a cock given to Mr. Hillsman bye a man named Hanna. All that is known about the cocks breeding is that he was a Hanna Whitehackle, and, as there was no such strain of fowl, it is likely the cock was from one of the better known Whitehackle families of that time, back around 1915. Hillman bred his Hanna cock to one of the A.P. O'Connors Duyea pullets and gave O'Connor some of the stock. He in turn sent one of the pullets to Madigan, telling him she was a Duyea, then, as usual, after the pullet was accidentally bred to one of the Dean cocks, O'Connor took all the credit for the resulting "Clarets"
Clarets were originated by Mr. John H. Madigan. In color they are about 90 % deep reds and about 10% come pure white. They have been dominate fowl for many years. They are high stationed, long legged fowl. There are two separate lines, the pearl legged type and the yellow legged type. Both come 100 % straight combed. Both are excellent for the long ***** or ****.
MADIGIN FOWL
Claret Color Marks
Pure Blood Rare in These Days. A Dark-Red cock Isn’t Necessarily a Claret. True Strain Is Characterized by High-Strung Dispositions.
By Parsons of “Wild Acres.â€
Grit & Steel, September 1956
In a recent article in one of the magazines, the theory was presented that the White Dominique was infused into the Clarets.
The best way to check white fowl is to mate one with a strain that produces black females. If Dominique is in the blood, it will show quickly. In fact I have had fowl shipped me; the shipper stating he had Clarets which did not have the proper appearance for other than white color, it being not the regular color for a Claret, which is different from any other white. I have tested them in single matings and never found one of them to be a true Claret.
The first chicks to appear showed Dominique characteristics when crossed on a Shuffler hen. It is amusing to note how many think they have Clarets, conscientiously believing they have the real stuff, for they don’t know that they don’t know. Any one who knows the fowl can test, in a few moments’ sparring whether it is real or not. Clarets fight differently. They fly into a cock with no beak hold, their heels pointed as an expert swordsman points a rapier. They don’t want to bite their opponent, just want to measure the distance and kill him.
A Claret cannot be produced synthetically. Many honestly believe they have created the Madigin fowl by crossing darked-colored red fowl in some manner to get wine red chickens but they do not produce the true fighting qualities of the Claret at all. Clippers originally were 50 per cent Claret. Even Clippers, from true Clarets, will produce an occasional white.
In my opinion, there are few Clarets now extant and less than half a dozen breeders who own a pure Claret, unless they have recently procured them from one of the few breeders of the true stock.
An expert has almost the feel of the true fowl. As one prominent breeder used to say: “They go together like an accordion.†They down have hard bodies; have lot of feathers, are frail chickens except in leg and wing power; but have more kick than anything their weight; are intelligent, realizing their killing prowess is in that kick and that their beaks are primarily to feed themselves. They watch and feint to get their opponent out of position, then fly into him to tear him all to pieces without getting a scratch themselves, if possible.
There are extenuating circumstances often even caused by their handlers if they do not understand their handling. Their intelligence goes to the brood yard. They are aristocrats of the chicken specie. Rarely ever will you have one that will fight females. They chatter, talk and are perfect feathered gentlemen. If you have loose hens running around the coops, the outside hens will stay around the yard with a Claret cock in it. Some of the old fashioned strains are the bourgeois of the feathered tribe.
For four generations the family of the writer of this article has owed and admired spirited horses, dogs, and fowl. As far as one hundred years back, one ancestor kept game fowl at his slave cabins on his plantation. We were a family of attorneys and politicians and law makers, but the obsession for spirited chickens seemed to be perpetuated traditionally.
From the deepest research, experience and association with this strain of aristocrats of all game fowl, in this writer’s opinion, which of course may have little value, the Clarets, while thought to have been produced accidentally, were amply prepared to produce the greatest of all modern fowl.
It is a matter of common knowledge that a pair of fowl were casually thrown into a barn, the female stole her nest, raised nine stags and three pullets, they coming very regular, all deep claret-wine color, hence the name.
It was not entirely accidental that they were endowed with superior fighting ability, for on both sides, particularly on the female side, a pedigree of superior fowl existed. Her blood came from the best on both sides of the globe, carefully and intelligently produced by men who were past masters. The mother was a Herman B. Duryea Whitehackle whose sire won 19 battles, 14 of them in hands of Michael Kearney and 5 in England and Ireland for the Earl of Cromwell.
The sire of the Clarets, according to this writer’s research, was produced from a gray cock that fought at about 4.02. This particular cock belonged to a comparatively unknown boy at that time (in cocking circles) who I understand brought the cock to Mr. Deans to fight for him. Deans fought the cocks in good company several times. He won in such a creditable manner that Mr. Deans procured the cock for his own and then bred him to one of his good red hens, heavy in Mahoney blood. Mahoney lived with Mr. Deans for some time and died at his home. This produced the red cock that became the “daddy of the Clarets.â€
Any of you have bred a light gray cock on fowl with white undercolor such as Whitehackle may have had the same experience as I; that a gray crossed on that sort of fowl might produce white birds, the gray being so near the white in color.
The father of the sire of the Clarets was a gray cock, the daddy of the Clarets being the only red out of a clutch containing six stags, the remaining five being gray. The white did not present itself immediately. The wine color was first, then gray, then some whites. The gray, I understandwere among the first grays that Mr. Madigin ever owned. The grays fought like Clarets, which of course they were. Then came the whites which went back to the combination of Whitehackle blood and the blood of the Deans gray cock, which cock contained blood of Gilman Grey-Mansell pyle with other combinations.
Mr. Madigin liked the white color which was a beautiful ( what I call) , magnolia or pinkish white. The stags invariably showed a buffbrassback, which never occurs in any other color of white fowl. In fact, some of the chicks when hatched come almost pink.
In later years, I have heard that Mr. Madigin crosses some other white blood into his Clarets as the pure ones were getting small and inbred. If he did so it was entirely his own business as he was obligated to no one to perpetuate any fowl or color. He wanted a winner and liked those that looked well.
So far as runners were concerned, the Claret is one of the most sensitive and high-strung fowl. Coming from a long line of sensitive ancestry, particularly on the mother’s side they have definite characteristics. Just as a peacock, when he losses his feathers, will hide from his own females because he is so completely distressed, so will a game cock. The higher-strung the more sensitive and rightly so. It is sex and pride that makes him fight and he is at a disadvantage. Some of the gamest of bull dogs will carry their tails between their legs a good part of the time. A fight for them is serious for it means victory or death; a situation of which they are constantly aware. One who does not recognize the high spirit of the Claret fowl should never own one.
There is a story in circulation that Mr. Madigin bred a yard of fowl intentionally “dunghilled.†He trusted most of his friends with whom he was associated in horse breeding and let them have some of his good fowl as they were not competitors in cockfighting. On the other hand, he felt that some of his chicken friends were not as loyal as they could have been in keeping his fowl as his property and origination. It is told that he distributed some of his synthetic fowl to certain individuals to cure them of the practice of bothering him for cocks, breeding them back and selling them later as “pure Clarets.â€
To scatter his best fowl promiscuously to those who would breed them back would have destroyed his opportunity to win as he would have been in competion with his own ability as a breeder. Although the general opinion, is that the hen produced the greater percentage of fighting prowess, it depends on the stamina of bother parents. As unusually strong cock on a weak female with predominantly produce more of the male progeny’s qualifications.
My theory is that the white fowl were first produced naturally from the blood of the gray cock owned by Mr. Deans and that the mother of the Clarets with the white under color of the Duryea Whitehackle.
To this day, in breeding straight white Clarets, (which cannot be continued long as the feathers get too brittle and they get somewhat weakened; it is better to breed back to the dark colors) one will get an occasional gray feather and the first Clarets were bred 40 years ago. In my opinion, no outside blood was put in the Clarets except from two cocks from Mr. Marsh, strong in Lowman Whitehackle blood until 1935. The original white Clarets were a natural production.
Masaoki TSUDZUKI
Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Genetics,Graduate School of Biosphere
Science,Hiroshima University,Higashi-Hiroshima,Hiroshima 739-8528,Japan
There are approximately 50 breeds of native chickens in Japan (Table 1).
Japanese native chickens are classified into 2 groups.The first group is those for
hobbyists.The second group is for egg and/or meat production.The former
group will be called “Japanese fancy fowl ” and the latter “Japanese utility fowl ” in
this article.Japanese fancy fowl are further classified into 2 subgroups.The first
subgroup includes chickens introduced to Japan more than 2,000 years ago.
The second subgroup includes chickens introduced to Japan later.The former is
called “Jidori (Japanese Old Type)”.Among the latter,the Shoukoku (Japanese
Elegancy)breed was introduced to Japan during the Heian Era (794 – 1192)).
The Oh-Shamo (Japanese Large Game),Chabo (Japanese Bantam),and
Ukokkei (Japanese Silkie)breeds were introduced during the early Edo Era
(1603 – 1867)).Other Japanese fancy breeds were established by the end of the
Edo Era via mating these foreign derived chickens with Jidori and followed by
selective propagation.
The Japanese Government has designated many Japanese fancy fowl as
“Natural Monuments of Japan ”.They are Jidori (Japanese Old Type),Shoukoku
(Japanese Elegancy),Shamo (Japanese Game),Chabo (Japanese Bantam),
Ukokkei (Japanese Silkie),Uzurao (Japanese Small Rumplessness),
Tosa-Onagadori (Japanese Long Tail),Ohiki (Japanese Tail Dragger),Toutenkou
(Japanese Red Crower),Koeyoshi (Japanese Good Crower),Toumaru
(Japanese Black Crower),Kuro-Kashiwa (Japanese Black),Satsuma-Dori
(Kagoshima Game),Hinai-Dori (Japanese Dainty),Minohiki (Japanese Saddle
Hackle Dragger),Jitokko (Japanese Creeper),and Kawachi-Yakko (Japanese
Brave).Among them,the Tosa-Onagadori was designated as “Special Natural
Monument of Japan ”.
The Jidori classification includes three or more breeds.The three major Jidori
breeds are the Tosa-Kojidori (Japanese Old Type-Tosa),Gifu-Jidori (Japanese
Old Type-Gifu),and Mie-Jidori (Japanese Old Type-Mie).The Shamo
classification actually involves seven breeds:Oh-Shamo (Japanese Large
Game),Ko-Shamo (Japanese Small Game),Yamato-Gunkei (Yamato Game),
Yakido (Mie Game),Kinpa (Japanese Henny Feathered Game),Nankin-Shamo
(Japanese Slender Game),and Echigo-Nankin-Shamo (Niigata Slender Game).
The majority of the Japanese utility breeds were established during the Meiji Era
(1868 – 1912)).Although these breeds were originally used for egg production
and/or meat production,from the Meiji Era to the early Shouwa Era (1926 – 1989)),
the number of utility chickens is actually very small in present Japan.People
mostly rear them to enjoy their beautiful figure.
The following is the brief description of the features of the main Japanese native
chicken breeds.
Japanese fancy fowl
Tosa-Kojidori [Japanese Old Type-Tosa (Fig.1),Natural Monument designated
in 1941 ]
This breed is one of the oldest breeds in Japan and is the smallest breed among
the Japanese native chickens.The ancestor of this breed is thought introduced
to Japan more than 2,000 years ago.The body shape and plumage color of this
breed are similar to the Red Jungle Fowl (RJF).However,the brown neck and
saddle hackles of the male are heavier in color than those in the RJF.
The prefecture of origin :Kochi Prefecture
Standard body weight (BW)in adults :675 g in male,600 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red,white
Comb :single
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Gifu-Jidori [Japanese Old Type-Gifu (Fig.2),Natural Monument designated in
1941 ]
This is also one of the oldest breeds in Japan.The ancestor of this breed is
thought introduced into Japan more than 2,000 years ago.The body size of this
breed is larger than that of the Tosa-Kojidori.The body shape shows the RJF
type.The plumage color is similar to the RJF,that is,the brown neck and saddle
hackles in the males are more yellow than those in the Tosa-Kojidori.
The prefecture of origin :Gifu Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :1,800 g in male,1,350 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red (e+/e+or ey/ey)
Comb :single
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Mie-Jidori [Japanese Old Type-Mie (Fig.3),Natural Monument designated in
1941 ]
This is also one of the oldest breeds in Japan.The ancestor of this breed is
thought introduced into Japan more than 2,000 years ago.The body shape
shows the RJF type like the Tosa-Kojidori and Gifu-Jidori,but its plumage color is
different.
The prefecture of origin :Mie Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :1,800 g in male,1,350 g in female
Plumage color varieties :buff columbian
Comb :single
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Shoukoku [Japanese Elegancy (Fig.4),Natural Monument designated in 1941 ]
The ancestor of this breed was introduced to Japan during the Heian Era (794 –
1192)from China.The Shoukoku is a graceful breed with long (more than 1 m)
tail feathers and long saddle hackles.The body shape shows the RJF type,but
the arrangement and amount of tail feathers are different from the RJF type.
During the Heian Era,this breed was used for cock fighting.Today it is used only
for enjoying its beautiful color and figure.
Main habitat :Kyoto Prefecture,Mie Prefecture,Shiga Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :2,000 g in male,1,600 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted white (silver duckwing),black-breasted
white with brown wing coverts,white
Comb :single
Earlobe color Ǻred
Shank color Ǻyellow
Oh-Shamo [Japanese Large Game (Fig.5),Natural Monument designated in
1941 ]
The ancestor of this breed was introduced into Japan during the early Edo Era
(1603 – 1867))from Thailand.There is also another view that the ancestor of this
breed was introduced to Japan during the Heian Era (794 – 1192)).The
Oh-Shamo is a large chicken with a Malay-type body shape;that is,the body (the
line from the shank,breast to throat)is erect.The feathers are tightly attached to
the body and the tail feathers are short.There are no feathers around the keel
and thus red skin is easily visible in this region.The Oh-Shamo was originally a
breed for cock fighting.This breed has a large amount of good quality meat.The
Oh-Shamo is often used as a sire to improve meat-type chickens in Japan.
Main habitat :Tokyo,Ibaraki Prefecture,Chiba Prefecture,Aomori prefecture,
Akita Prefecture,Kochi Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :5,620 g in male,4,875 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red,black,white,mottled,blue,silver
duckwing,buff columbian
Comb :pea
Earlobe color Ǻred
Shank color Ǻyellow
Chabo [Japanese Bantam (Fig.6),Natural Monument designated in 1941 ]
This is a small breed,next to the Tosa-Kojidori in size.The body shape does not
correspond to any of the RJF,Malay,or Cochin types.The tail feathers do not
curve and are erect.The ancestor of this breed was introduced to Japan in the
short shank is not controlled by the Cp gene.The genetic details for the short
shank are unknown at present.
Main habitat :Tokyo,Chiba Prefecture,Kanagawa Prefecture,Saitama
Prefecture,Gunma Prefecture,Shizuoka Prefecture,Osaka
Prefecture,Kumamoto Prefecture
This breed has short shanks.It is thought that the e arly Edo Era(1603 - 1867).
Standard BW in adults :730 g in male,610 g in female
Plumage color varieties :white columbian,white,black,buff,buff columbian,
black-breasted red,silver duckwing,silver gray,barred,
blue,pile,and many others
Comb :single
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Ukokkei [Japanese Silkie (Fig.7),Natural Monument designated in 1941 ]
This breed is a strange breed having numerous mutant characteristics.The
Ukokkei has no normal feathers on its ’ body..The feathers of this breed do not
have a flat web.The feathers have abnormal barbules and no barbicels,resulting
in a silky appearance.The skin is blackish and the earlobes are blue.The
surface of the bones and viscera are blackish.It has a comb and crest on the
head.Some birds show a bone rising at the top of the skull.In addition to the
crest,some birds have a muff and beard.The Ukokkei has feathered shanks and
five digits per leg.The ancestor of this breed was introduced to Japan in the early
Edo Era (1603 – 1867))from China or India.
Main habitat :Tokyo,Mie Prefecture,Osaka Prefecture,Hiroshima Prefecture,
Yamaguchi Prefecture,Kagawa Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :1,125 g in male,900 g in female
Plumage color varieties :white,black
Comb :both walnut and crest
Earlobe color DZblue
Shank color DZlead-gray
Uzurao [Japanese Small Rumplessness (Fig.,Natural Monument designated
in 1937 ]
This is a small breed similar to the Tosa-Kojidori,except for its tail morphology
and earlobe color.This breed has white earlobes and lacks tail feathers.This
breed is thought established in the late stages of the Edo Era (1603 – 1867)).
The prefecture of origin :Kochi Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :675 g in male,600 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red,white,mottled,and many others
Comb :single
Earlobe color Ǻwhite
Shank color Ǻyellow
Tosa-Onagadori [Japanese Long Tail (Fig.9),Natural Monument designated in
1923,Special Natural Monument designated in 1952 ]
This is a peculiar breed.The basic body shape of this breed is the RJF type.
However,the males have very long tail feathers more than 10 m in the longest
case.Some tail feathers and all of the saddle hackles in the males show no
molting throughout their lives.The tail feathers successively extend at the pace
of 70 to 100 cm per year,with the saddle hackles about 30 cm per year.This
breed is thought established in the late Edo Era (1603 – 1867)).
The prefecture of origin :Kochi Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :1,800 g in male,1,350 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted white (Silver duckwing),black-breasted
red,white,buff columbian
Comb :single
Earlobe color Ǻwhite
Shank color Ǻgrayish green
Ohiki [Japanese Tail Dragger (Fig.10),Natural Monument designated in 1937 ]
This breed has a small body size somewhat larger than the Chabo.In spite of the
small body size,the males have considerably long (70 – 80 cm))tail feathers.The
saddle hackles are also long.These feathers molt,unlike the case of the
Tosa-Onagadori.This breed is thought established in the late stages of the Edo
Era (1603 – 1867)).
The prefecture of origin :Kochi Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :937 g in male,750 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red,black-breasted white,white
Comb :single
Earlobe color Ǻwhite
Shank color Ǻgrayish green
Toutenkou [Japanese Red Crower (Fig.11),Natural Monument designated in 1936 ]
This breed is characterized by long (around 15 seconds)crowing in a
high-pitched tone.The body shape of this breed resembles that of the Shoukoku
breed.The tail feathers and saddle hackles are also rich and long like the
Shoukoku.However,the plumage,earlobes,and shank colors are different.The
Toutenkou is thought established in the late Edo Era (1603 – 1867)).
The prefecture of origin :Kochi Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :2,250 g in male,1,800 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red
Comb :single
Earlobe color DZwhite
Shank color DZgrayish green
Koeyoshi [Japanese Good Crower (Fig.12),Natural Monument designated in
1937 ]
This breed is similar to the Oh-Shamo in body shape with richer body feathers
and longer tail feathers.This breed is characterized by long (around 15 seconds)
crowing as with the Toutenkou.However,this breed crows in a low key.This
breed is thought established in the late stages of the Edo Era (1603 – 1867)).
Judging from the external appearance,this breed seems to have been affected
by genes from the Oh-Shamo.
Main habitat :Akita Prefecture,Aomori Prefecture,Iwate Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :4,500 g in male,3,750 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted white with brown wing coverts
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Toumaru [Japanese Black Crower (Fig.13),Natural Monument designated in
1939 ]
The Toumaru is a black fowl with an RJF-type body shape and rich tail feathers.
The saddle hackles are not long.The comb,face,and wattle are blackish red in
the females.Cock crows around 15 seconds in average and thus classified as a
long duration crow as the Toutenkou and Koeyoshi.The Toumaru males crow in an intermediate-pitched tone between the Toutenkou and Koeyoshi.The
Toutenkou,Koeyoshi,and Toumaru are “the three major Japanese long crowing
breeds ”.The Toumaru is thought established in the early Meiji Era (1868 – 1912)).
The prefecture of origin :Niigata Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :3,750 g in male,2,800 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black,white
Comb :single
Earlobe color DZred or blackish red in male,blackish red in female
Shank color DZblack
Kuro-Kashiwa [Japanese Black (Fig.14),Natural Monument designated in
1940 ]
This breed looks similar to the Toumaru at first glance because the Kuro-Kashiwa
is also a black chicken with rich tail feathers.Both sexes have a blackish red
comb,face and wattles.However,the body size of the Kuro-Kashiwa is smaller
than the Toumaru.The body shape is similar to that of the Shoukoku,but the
saddle hackles are not long.This breed is thought established in the late Edo
Era (1603 – 1867)).Although the appearance of the Kuro-Kashiwa is similar to
that of Toumaru,the Kuro-Kashiwa has no direct genetic relation to the Toumaru.
Main habitat :Shimane Prefecture,Yamaguchi Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :2,800 g in male,1,800 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black
Comb :single
Earlobe color DZblackish red
Shank color DZblack
Satsuma-Dori [Kagoshima Game (Fig.15),Natural Monument designated in
1943 ]
This breed has a somewhat erect body shape like the Oh-Shamo.However,it
has more abundant feathers than the Oh-Shamo.The tail feathers in the males
are rich and fan out when the male is excited.This chicken was originally bred for
cock fighting.A small sword was attached to the leg around the spur.Cock
fighting of this kind is prohibited in present Japan.People now rear this breed to
enjoy its beautiful figure.The Satsuma-Dori is thought established in the late Edo
Era (1603 – 1867)).One of its ancestors seems to be the Oh-Shamo,since the head morphology and erect body shape of this breed are similar to the
Oh-Shamo.
The prefecture of origin :Kagoshima Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :3,375 g in male,2,625 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red,black-breasted white,black,white
Comb :pea
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Hinai-dori [Japanese Dainty (Fig.16),Natural Monument designated in 1942 ]
This breed has an intermediate body shape between the RJF and Cochin types.
The Hinai-Dori was originally bred for meat and egg production.People now rear
this breed to enjoy its beautiful figure.This breed is believed established in the
late stages of the Edo Era (1603 – 1867))and derived from crossing the
Oh-Shamo with some other Japanese breed.
The prefecture of origin :Akita Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :3,000 g in male,2,300 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red
Comb :pea
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Minohiki [Japanese Saddle Hackle Dragger (Fig.17),Natural Monument
designated in 1940 ]
This breed has an erect body shape somewhat similar to the Oh-Shamo.
However,the tail feathers and saddle hackles in the males are rich and long as in
the Shoukoku.This breed is thought established in the late stages of the Edo Era
(1603 – 1867))from crossing the Oh-Shamo with the Shoukoku.
Main habitat :Aichi Prefecture,Shizuoka Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :2,500 g in male,1,800 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red,black-breasted white,black
breasted white with brown wing coverts,buff columbian,
white
Comb :pea or walnut
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Jitokko [Japanese Creeper (Fig.1,Natural Monument designated in 1943 ]
This breed has an intermediate body shape between the RJE and Cochin types
and is characterized by short legs controlled by the Cp gene.Some birds have a
beard,muff and crest.This breed is thought established in the late stages of the
Edo Era (1603 – 1867)).
The prefecture of origin :Kagoshima Prefecture,Miyazaki Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :3,000 g in male,2,500 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted red,black,white,buff columbian
Comb :pea or single (with or without crest)
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Kawachi-Yakko [Japanese Brave (Fig.19),Natural Monument designated in
1943 ]
This breed has a strange body shape among the Japanese fancy chickens.The
body is somewhat erect with somewhat short tail feathers.Although this breed
does not belong to the Shamo classification,these characteristics appear to be
similar to those of the Shamo-classification chickens.Originally,this breed is
thought established in the late stages of the Edo Era (1603 – 1867)).The present
stocks of this breed were restored in the early stages of the Shouwa Era (1926 –
1989).
The prefecture of origin :Mie Prefecture
Standard BW in adults :930 g in male,750 g in female
Plumage color varieties :black-breasted white with brown wing coverts
Comb :large sized pea
Earlobe color DZred
Shank color DZyellow
Knowning as Rolling Matings, this system has been in use for many years and is one of the easiest as far as record keeping is concerned.
Basically, it involves breeding cocks to pullets and stags to hens.
For example, let's say you start with a trio, 2 hens and 1 cock bird (not related).
First year: breed the non-related cock to the 2 hens. Once the chicks are grown save the 2 best stags (you should always save twice as many as you need) and the best pullets.
Second year: breed the original hens to their sons and the pullets to their father. Once the chicks are grown save the best stags and best pullets.
Third year: Now is when the matings really begin to 'roll.' Your pullets from last year are now hens; so, they join the original two. Your stags are now cocks and join the original cock. Take your stag(s) that were hatched in year 2 and breed them to the hens; take your cocks and breed them to the pullets hatched in year 2.
And so on and so forth...................
Each year you should cull your hens and cocks to the best birds just like you do the pullets and stags. There are variations of this method, but you can figure those out yourselves. This system is easy and it works extremely well.
Line breeding is a method of selective breeding that has been used for many centuries to domesticate many animal species. Our mousery is currently adapting a methods used by pigeon fanciers and pigeon breeding facilities to create and maintain consistancy in fancy and racing birds. The aim is to increase consistancy and quality in existing and new mouse varieties to provide the general community with companion animals that are predictable in nature, sound in health, and an attractive addition to to exotic animal fancy.
1) First Cousin Program - The objective of this program is to blend two pairs of excellent mice equally. This method is more useful for pedigreed animals or animals or exceptional quality.
2) Half-Brother-Sister Program - the object of 2 is to blend three birds with emphasis on one. This is paticularly sucessful in first extablishing consistancy in a new line.
3) The object of 3 is to impress the line with the feature of a single mouse (here the buck).
Sucess in line breeding is achieved by selecting the best animals as well as outcrossing appropriately with mice from extrernal lines that also show consistancy in type or enhance desireable aspects of the original line.
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sat Sep 11, pm911 6: 42 pm
THIS IS THE BREEDER TO POSE FOR THE CHICKS ARE GOOD WHEN INCUBADORA.ES are removed from NOVITAL BRAND, MADE IN PLASTIC STRENGTH AND TOTALLY REMOVABLE AND WASHABLE, HAS A FLAT SCREEN FALLING TO THE SOIL CONDITIONING IN A PLATE IN ADVANCE with sawdust.
GRILL ON THE FLOOR OF A DRINKER AND INCORPORATES A ACCESO.LOGICAMENTE EASY FEEDER HAS A SCREEN DOOR IS WHERE THE INTERIOR AND BREATHING HIGH DOME IS tranparent to observe the VA IT INSIDE AND BUILT THE LAMP CAN BE PUT at different heights.
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sat Sep 11, am911 9: 44 am
Sam said that Leonard said he got these Japs from a Japanese gardener who moved to Utah as a Mormon convert in the 30's and brought these fowl with him. ... This family is between shamos and tuzos in size-the cocks came an average of 6.5 pounds.
Clarence got a Jap cock and a pair of Asils from this gentleman. Clarence could not acquire a Jap hen because this man would not part with any.
Clarence went to Las Vegas and left the birds with a friend while he spent some time there. Clarence, then gave the birds to Bobby to breed. Bobby bred the Black Jap cock to Black Hens. The cocks of this mating mating had a record of 44 wins and 0 losses.
This corraborated the storey from Boles where they got the Jap stag in 1944( that was the sire and grandsire of the great 'Sweet Springs' (Arkansas) cocks mating - when Clarence was stationed at Hill Air base in Utah.- the same source as Forsythe Jap family
There was one occasion back in the thirties when he met nine of the top cocks from the Los Angeles area and won nine straight.
The year before he met thirteen of the top cocks in the Fresno area, and won twelve out of thirteen.
On another occasion, the Miner brothers collected all of their aces from Calif. and Utah, and ended up losing eleven out of twelve to him.
In a 17-cock main against the best Los Angeles combination, he offered to match all seventeen of their cocks at even weight, or to give two ounces and did so, winning the main fourteen to three.
In this main he lost two Roundhead cocks that had been sent to him by a friend in Texas and which had won sensational hacks, but happened to fall in against two half Vizzard-Asils bred by a man in Los Angeles.
He lost a Dom cross of Payt Jordan's but won with a Payton Jordan Brownred and a Payt Jordan Dom-Asil cross.
He won twelve straight with Grey cocks, including one fight in which one of his Grey cocks met the third Vizzard-Asil cross on the other side and whipped him.
These Grey cocks were 3/16 Asil and were bred jointly by Pete McKinley of Nebraska and by my father, out of stock that had originally been sent by my father to Pete McKinley in 1923.
The original matings were 1/4 Asil on each side, mixed with Georgia-Shawl and the old New York Mahoney fowl.
Later more Mahoney fowl was bred in, and they were set as a family with 3/16 Asil 1/8 Shawl and the rest Gull and Mahoney Commodore.
On another occasion my father fought three mains in one day winning a 7-cock main with four straight fights, and winning a main over Santa Barbara parties (3-cock main) three to nothing, and winning another main six to one.
In the last main he won five out of six fights with Greys, and had another win with a half Asil.
For approximately twenty or twenty one years he fought from two to four mains each season, winning each and every one of them.
In his entire career he lost three mains. He generally fought from 200 to 230 fights a year, and according to the actual record in his books won 80% to 85% of his fights.
His main losses came in the last 4 years of his life when Joe Sneed had taken over selection and feeding for him.
In the middle west, Pete McKinley used the Vizzard Grey fowl in fighting in Colo., Wyo., Mont., Neb., Kans., and Iowa.
I think Pete McKinley must have fought between 30 to 40 mains in a 25 year period, losing three and winning the rest.
In 1955 Pete started with 19 cocks, plus two I sent him, and won first money all alone in a derby in Wyo., and the Topeka derby in Kans., and then he and I won six out eight with the Vizzard Grey cocks in our entry at Hot springs.
Pete gave away three of his best cocks as brood cocks, and then with the remnant of his birds, won a derby at Lincoln, Neb., five out of six, and won another derby at Iowa five out of six.
In each of these derbies, he fought a hack, which he won, and also loaned a winning cock to another entry in the Iowa derby.
In the second Topeka derby, that year he won two and lost two, and was out of the money.
I am frank to say that I have not done nearly as well with the same fowl, and a lot of their success was due to the fact that Pete McKinley had wonderful walks, and was a first class chicken man, and my father had a good setup, where he kept cocks, and shifted them from movable coops in alfalfa to big fly pens, and spent 365 days a year taking care of them.
He was a first class selector of fowl, culled ruthlessly, and was a superb conditioner.
It would have been interesting to have seen my father meet Bobby Boles, but they hardly ever met.
The only fight I can remember is a derby fight when Boles was still fighting pure Black fowls without any Asil in them.
We happened to win that fight with a Vizzard Grey cock which took a leg and wing off Boles in the first pitting.
Bobby Boles and my father remind me very much of each other, because each of them can sit and stand by the pit and watch every cock weighed, and have a mental picture of just who weighed what, and what kind of a cock he probably is.
They are the two best chicken men with whom I have been in close contact. Despite the many years that I worked very closely with my father I did not learn too much, and the only lessons I have learned from Boles have been by being consistently whipped by him.
At one time I could say that I had won more fights against him than anyone else in this part of Calif., but that was because I met him more often than anyone else, rather than winning a majority from him.
I did have one good year in 1953 when I met him seven times and whipped him seven times, as I have the big powerful Vizzard Grey cocks fresh off walks that Pete McKinley was sending me.
After that I never done very well with him. An illustration was one day he won 13 out of 15 stag fights. I met him 5 times and won 2, lost 3. The others I lost 10 straight to him.
The thing my father particularly stressed was gameness in his fowl, and it would have been a humiliation to him to have shown bad or cold fowl. On one occasion in a main we had to meet one of our own birds that our handler had secretly sold to some other parties.
A party from the east who was always harping about gameness got up and said, "Gentlemen, these are the first two real game cocks I have sen fight in Calif."
This was exaggerated, but the cocks did break each other all to pieces, and finally one won with a feeble kick, and both ended up dead.
Both were ace cocks who had won several fights each before they met in this main.
My father did not believe in testing cocks beyond billing them in the cockhouse the second and third day, and very occasionally he would let them strike in the cockhouse.
However, his cocks were in perfect flesh and perfect condition, when then went to the pit, and if any stag or cock showed any bad signs, he went to the chopping block.
I don't recall him showing any runners of his own breeding, but I know his selection had a lot ot do with that.
When we were fighitng Asa's sons from the Grey hens Dad used them and other fowl in 8 derbies in one season during the late thirties.
These were 6-cock derbies and in 7 of them he took 2 entries and ended up 7 times with all first and second money.
On one of these occassions when he took two entries Jack Sullivan was down from Reno. My dad won $400 on a Vizzard Grey son of Asa's and offered it to Dad for the cock.
Dad refused and Jack came to me to find out how much more he could offer to get the cock.
I told him to forget it because he was dealing with a pig-headed Irishman who would refuse $4,000 just as quickly after he had refused the $400 before spectators because dad would feel that he had put a price on himself and become a chicken peddler.
During his 20 good years my father not only used his Vizzard Greys, but also Payt Jordan Brownreds which were a line bred family of Wingate crossed on Asil-Shawl, Dr. Watkins Asil-Sullivan Dom crosses, and many crosses of his Vizzard Grey back on Asil-Shawl and Asil-Dom.
McKinley used nothing but pure Vizzard Greys except for a few Grey-R.H. crosses back in the 20s and a very few Grey-Dom crosses in the 30s.
In re Col. Hempel's remarks on Asils. My first hand observation of Asil crosses and blends is doubtless greater than any person now alive as I knew Dad Gleezen, Anthony Green, Fred Raymond, Jules Snider, Gus Kloes and others thru their contact with others and have seen thousands of Oriental grades fought.
In principle I must agree with the Colonel. He said that there were few game orientals and many more cold ones.
The game Oriental stayed in some English families and added toughness, etc. and din't detract from gameness.
The bad Oriental blood ruined many families. Now they don't try to inbreed many crosses and marginal Oriental crossed on game fowl can produce deadly battle cocks that are pretty close to "pit game" if out of good American hens.
I have lost Dad's old Asils which were the Macoy Asils or "Jungle Fowls" as named by Macoy.
He selected down to one cock and two hens of this family and discarded many others of the Macoys.
They can be linebred so far as gameness and structure is concerned.
The Vizzard Greys were started in 1923 and most people rate them as gamer than most fowl and they are getting smaller and finer with breeding.
The Grim Jungle-Shawls were out of an Asil I raised as a little boy and they did well for Fullerton in Florida and elsewhere.
The Payt Jordan Brownreds were Grim Jungle-Shawl and Wingate and were beautiful and deep game cocks for over 20 years of line breeding.
The Watsuch Reds are supposedly Grim-Jungle Shawls which have been good and game for many years.
Fullerton's Pineys carried Anthony Green Jap.
Fred Raymond's Asil crosses were from my father's Black hen family and that went into the Taylor Greys.
When I was a boy there were relatively few families of Orientals and they averaged out pretty well on gameness.
The Graves Asils were game.
The first Wheeler Asils were a Graves Aseel and Vizzard Asil cross and were game and the Green Japs, Nicholsen Japs and Glass Tuzo Japs were game.
This remark is based on what I saw of them when crossed on game American families.
I have seen many bad Oriental crosses resulting from crossing on cold American fowl.
Today there are many more families of Orientals available with increased travel, etc., but I hesitate to start them with them again, as so many I have seen are cold blooded.
Without reflection on anyone now breeding Orientals I cannot personally point to any family that I could guarantee to be game.
Of course there are many I don't see as Oriental grades are not concentrated on the Pacific coast as they once were.
Boles probably has game Asils and no one can get them.
He experiments a lot with various Orientals and I have seen him show quitters.
I have also seen him outgame many fowl in money fights.
I probably have had more first hand experience, or a least observtion, of Oriental grades than anyone now living. I am forty five - forty six next February - and my first recollection of anything wearing feathers, started with Aseel grades and pure Aseels or McCoy Jungle as they were then called, at the time the Graves Aseel (Atkinson blood), Rossiter Aseel and a couple of other families were in existence. There were bitter argument between oriental fanciers as to the relative merits and gameness of the Akinson or Graves Aseel, the McCoy Jungle, the Shamo (large) Jap, the Tuzo (small) Jap. My father have scant patience with theoretical arguments, and bought out about every Aseel or Jap man of his day, or at least procure some of the blood, graded it on various American families in halves, quarters, eights, and three eights and through the years he and I fought hundreds of pure and graded orientals in our back yard in 1 1/4 peg awls. He also corresponded with or was visited by most of the oriental fanciers of his day, such as Anthony Greene, etc. After a few years Dad said that all the birds of moderate size were Aseels, and the distinction between Aseels, Japs, and Jungle disappeared. We found that there were good and bad families of Oriental fowl, and aside from great power and toughness, more mediocre ones than otherwise. Anyone who says there are no game Aseels, however, just hastn't seen enough grades to know all the answers. We found that all of the McCoy Aseels were game in the sense of taking their death and claiming viciously while being punished. But McCoy receive three importations and they were not as uniform as Whitehackles and Warhorses -- All were Aseels after first importation of bantam "Jungle Fowl" but different types. Some threw grades that would break a cock to pieces with a couple of licks, and then loaf and fall to finish and be counted out in the old California rules under which opposing pitters counted on the other cock. By selection from about three individuals my father was able to carry a line of Aseels from which pure ones will hammer a dead cock as long a he is left lying. Even theses may occassionally throw poor finishers, but I have seen a lot of modern pit cocks that were not too hot on a down cock.
Incidentally Anthony Greene told Dad in my presence that his best grades came from a medium sized black hen that was almost identical with our "Blackie" aseel hen at whom they were looking at the time. He got her from a Jap skipper who came up on ship to Sacramento - so called them Japs. His best grades were a mixture of this hen with Shawl and Muholland Grey. By coincidence the Aseel Grades bred by us as a family, and now linebred for over thirty two years, was a blend of Aseel-Shawl-and Mahoney Commodore and Gull, which apparently would be very similar to the Muholland Greys.
At that time the Blackie Jungle or Aseel fowl had become well known in the Pacific Northwest in the hands of Jule Snider to whom Dad gave some. They were smaller and finer than most Aseels as they were 7/8 and 15/16 of the old Blackie hen. The pure ones could move as well as the average peg awl cocks of that day. Snider graded them on his Bacon Warhorse, but his best grades were Aseel and Mahoney graded on Warhorse. Meanwhile Nicholsen Grim, Fullerton and Leonard were raising the Jungle-Shawl that became famous in the Orland tournaments. They were out of medium sized Grey McCoy Aseels (The Hagenback and three-hundred Rupee cocks) that a local man procured from my father and sent to Grim to breed.
At that time Nicholsen was sending a lot of Jap-Clairbornes from the Northwest. They varied in gameness and ability. The early ones appeared dead game and were hard to whip. The later ones were not always so game but still hard to whip. This opinion is based only on fowl sent to this part of the state, and some were bred here by customers of Nicholsen.
Meanwhile Ed Williams of this vicinity (he died 30 odd years ago) was winning main after main against Whitehackle fowl used by San Francisco parties. They fought in 1 1/4 heels for stakes that were mighty big for those days and for our locality. he used a lot of Jap-Shawls, from medium sized red oriental fowl. He actually used more of my father's grades from the McCoy Aseel, but to the crowd they were Ed's Japs, as they looked a lot alike, expcept for color, as his were bright reds, ours mostly Greys. Fowl almost identical with these Ed Williams Japs (and I believe from the same source) have been used with tremendous success by a lad north of here for several years. He has whipped plenty of so-called major circuit fowl and has whipped me in a little main last season. All the ones I have seen have acted mighty game but I have met only his peak cocks at the peak of the season.
A lot of self-appointed experts claim that Aseel-grades cannot be inbred or linebred. I know of several families that carry 1/8 and 3/16 Aseel that have been carried along for better than 20 years and seem to hold up. Of course any cross presents a problem for inbreeding, and an oriental cross presents a more radical problem than the average cross. Actually the successfully inbred oriental blends go strongly to the American side and while tough and strong, do not seem to preserve the animal-like power of the winning oriental grades. Our Greys, tho 3/16 Aseel, can be crossed directly over straight Aseels, and throw finer and better plumaged birds than many Aseel crosses over reputedly straight American fowl that have not been deeply inbred.
Our experience was that the best average result was a 1/4 blood secured from breeding Aseel cock over the American hen. And then breed the half blood daughters to an American cock of some different American family. The best American fowl for grades seem to be families that hit straight and spar rather than the rolling shuffling type. Using Aseel over Gilkerson Whitehackle and going back on Shawl or vice-versa often gives good results. But successful grading is more a matter of individuals than families. For example one starting with good game aseel blood - slow but not biters, and say an inbred family of Shawl, Calirborne, Mahoney etc., will find that the majority of his crosses will be tough game cocks that are hard game in brush hacks but not necessarily big league fowl. And in each mating the level of ability will tend to be uniform. Then some certain hen or cock of either side, or a certain hen and cock in each side will nick. Such a nick will probably throw consistently high quality in cocks, and when you get such a blend you seldom improve on the half-bloods by cutting down to quarters. But a full brother to the father and full sister to the mother my produce only fair, or even mediocre cocks.
In my opinion the beginner who must keep his fowl in small quarters and who will take the edge off nervous fowl by awkward handling, etc., and who fights in average company, will do better with Aseel grades that with many other type of fowl. He probably would not stay with any family for any length of time anyhow. In fact very few men do. Start them with good fowl and they try to gild the rose by crossing, and end up nowhere. If a man gets some good Aseel, he should get several kinds of American fowl and try several crosses by fighting the stags and eating all pullets. When and if he gets a good nick he sould try to get more of the same American blood, discard the other American hens, and ascertain if he has found some American family that blends well with oriental. Over the years I have seen few disappointments in using Gilkerson and Morgan Whitehackleson Aseel and have seen few succeed too well Sids, Gordons, Mugs or Warhorse over Aseel. Starting with good families ou have a pretty good chance to get superior Hatch-Clarets or Claret-Roundheads for example but good Aseel-Shawls or Aseel-Whitehackles depend on trial and error with individual brood stock. And when one hits on a good mating, stick with it, and experiment just a little in hopes of hitting another one. Thus the Aseel man has about as good a chance to get average fair fowl, as the miscellaneous crosser who comprises about 90 percent of the fraternity.
Furthermore, Aseel grades will probably do better in a hot climate rather than a cold climate. We stayed with them because a shot of oriental means strong thrifty chicks, and fowl that don't wilt when it begins to warm up to a hundred plus in March and April. My father probably fought more oriental grades and blends and with greater success than any other man in the history of cocking, but his ideal fowl were Morgan Whitehackles. He loved them but the chicks just wilted away in our desert heat. He always maintained that if he had continued to live east of the Rockies that he would have used one of the old eastern families. Eventually he ended up with own family, built on eastern peg awl blood with enough oriental to withstand the heat and give some additional power, plus a dash of Shawl when he had to speed them up for long heel competition some thirty years ago. He had a sixth sense in selecting brood fowl so perhaps his case is the exception. The point I wish to make however, is that the man who will cross fowl from year to year anyhow, and fights for a few dollars in average company, can probably do as well and often better, with oriental grades than with big name fowl that he can't walk, condition, or pit like their owners do.
Hoping this may give a space filler in the future, but will be just as happy if it his the waste basket.
Cockfight
A cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters, held in a ring called a cockpit.
The combatants, known as gamecocks are specially bred birds, conditioned for increased stamina and strength. The comb and wattle are cut off in order to meet show standards of the American Gamefowl Society and the Old English Game Club and to prevent freezing in colder climates. Cocks possess congenital aggression toward all males of the same species. Cocks are given the best of care until near the age of two years old. They are conditioned, much like professional athletes prior to events or shows. Wagers are often made on the outcome of the match. While not all fights are to the death, they may result in the death of both birds. Cockfighting, was at one time considered to be an accepted, traditional sporting event in the United States. In many other areas around the world, cockfighting is still practiced as a mainstream event and is viewed as the national sport in some countries where it is Government controlled and a large amount of revenue for the state is raised.
Contents
1 Process
2 Regional variations
2.1 Latin America
2.1.1 Mexico
2.2 Asia
2.2.1 Southeast Asia
2.2.2 India
2.2.2.1 Tamil Nadu
2.2.3 Pakistan
2.2.4 Philippines
2.3 Pacific Islands
3 Legal issues
3.1 Europe
3.1.1 United Kingdom
3.1.2 France
3.2 United States
3.2.1 Cocke County, Tennessee arrests
3.3 United Nations commemoration
4 In popular culture
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Process
Owners set pairs of birds to fight in order to create a spectacle for the purpose of gambling. Historically, this was in a cockpit, a term which was also used in the 16th century to mean a place of entertainment or frenzied activity. William Shakespeare used the term in Henry V to specifically mean the area around the stage of a theater.[1] In 1759, the English artist William Hogarth produced a satirical print called The Cockpit showing the enthusiasm of the gamblers during a cockfight.[2]
Regional variations
In some regional variations, the birds are equipped with either metal spurs (called gaffs) or knives, tied to the leg in the area where the bird's natural spur has been partially removed. A cockspur is a bracelet (often made of leather) with a curved, sharp spike which is attached to the leg of the bird. The spikes typically range in length from "short spurs" of just over an inch to long spurs almost two and a half inches long. In the highest levels of seventeenth century English cockfighting, the spikes were made of silver. In the naked heel variation, the bird's natural spurs are left intact and sharpened: fighting is done without gaffs or taping, particularly in India (especially in Tamil Nadu) There it is mostly fought naked heel and either three rounds of twenty minutes with a gap of again twenty minutes or four rounds of fifteen minutes each and a gap of fifteen minutes between them.[3]
Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, France, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Italy, Philippines, Peru, Puerto Rico, Canary Islands and Guam have well-established arenas with seats or bleachers for spectators surrounding the ring, similar to a wrestling or boxing arena, and fights may be held all throughout the day. In many countries, the spectacle of cockfighting draws whole families, and in some countries, cockfighting is as popular as baseball and football are in the United States. Among the competitors who raise fighting cocks, there is great pride in the prowess of their birds and in winning a championship.
Latin America
Mexico
In Aguascalientes, a state capital, one of the city's principal concert halls is the cockfighting arena, the palenque. During the San Marcos Fair, well-known throughout Mexico, cockfights alternate with important concerts, where the singers or dancers perform from the cockpit. Many popular singers have performed there, e.g. Latin Grammy winners Alejandro Fernandez and Alejandra Guzman [4].
Asia
Southeast Asia
Cockfighting is common in The Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. In the Philippines they call it "Sabong".[5]
India
Cockfighting (Vetrukkaal seval porr in Tamil which means "naked heel cock fight") (Kodi Pandem in Telugu) (Kori katta in Tulu) is favourite sport of people living in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka, India. Three or four inch blades (Bal in Tulu) are attached to the cocks' legs. Knockout fights to the death are widely practised in Andhra Pradesh. In Tamil Nadu, the winner is decided after three or four rounds. People watch with intense interest surrounding the cocks. The sport has gradually become a gambling sport.
Tamil Nadu
Cockfighting in Tamil Nadu is mentioned in ancient literature like Manu Needhi Sastiram, Kattu Seval Sastiram, and other sangam-age literature, 2,000 years old. It is referred to as the favourite past-time for Maravars or the warriors of Tamil Country. It is acknowledged as one of the 64 "arts" widely spoken by the scholars and mastered by the ancestors/scholars of this part of the world. In earlier days they were fighting with the jungle fowl and its variants later, due to the naval expeditions to Java and Malay by the Pandian Rulers the local poultry of that land might have found its way to Tamil Nadu and a new strain/breed started its development in here which later spread to many places such as India. The newer breeds which are known now are The "Reja" (which is a short Variety),"Sonatol","Calcutta Asil","Madras ASil","Kalkatiya" (Also known as "Kadhar" synonymous to Black Asils), The Reds (Also known locally as "Yakuth"),The Yellow Variants (Also known as The "Peela" Asil), The Grey is known locally as "Java" and its variants reddish grey as "Dummer". Also they have a "henny" variety cock known locally as "Pettai Madhiri" the literal meaning is "it looks like a hen", though this variety is said to have come from "Singala Island", or Sri Lanka.
Pakistan
Cockfighting is popular in Pakistan.[citation needed] Betting is illegal, but police often turn a blind eye towards it. In Sindh (one of 4 major provinces), people are fond of keeping fighting cock breed, known as "Sindhi aseel" in Pakistan. These cocks are noted being tall, heavy and good at fighting. Cock-fighting is popular in rural areas, despite the fact that animal-fighting is banned under Islamic Law.
Philippines
Cockfighting in the Philippines is called "Sabong". It is one of the Philippines' national sports. There are illegal and legal cockfights. (Even the Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao has a cock called "Pac-Man".) Many would gamble on the fight. Cocks in the country are treated like humans. They would feed them, give vitamins, and give them a shower. If the cock has been injured, but still alive, they would usually use it for reproduction. For fighting they would use gloves in an illegal fight, but would use blades in the legal fights.
Famous bloodlines of fighting cocks in the Philippines include:
Sweater (blackwater-carol-chris nesmith, bruce barnette, dink fair)
Hulsey (lemon 84)
Hatch (Doc Robinson, blueface, mclean, colonel givens etc)
Kelso
Roundhead
Claret
Butcher
Regular Grey
Brown red
Irish Dome
Pacific Islands
Cockfighting events in Guam are held during village fiestas where a patron saint of that village is celebrated. With an influx of Filipino immigrants to the island before and after World War II, the sport has been accepted as a tradition. Imported roosters and hens from the U.S. fetch a heavy price and many residents believe that with the bans enforced in the U.S., people may breed chickens.
Legal issues
In many places, cockfights and other animal fights have been outlawed based on opposition to gambling or animal cruelty. It may also be illegal to possess, raise, train, advertise, or trade cocks or accoutrements that could be used for cockfighting. Also, participating in a cockfight in any manner may be illegal: advertising, transporting participants or spectators, placing wagers, hosting an event, etc. It is common for law enforcement to impound property associated with any cockfighting activity [6].
Europe
United Kingdom
Cockfighting was banned outright in England and Wales and in the British Overseas Territories with the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835. Sixty years later, in 1895, cockfighting was also banned in Scotland, where it had been relatively common in the eighteenth century.[7] . The Museum of Welsh Life contains a reconstructed cockpit[8] and a reference exists in 1774 to a cockpit at Stanecastle in Scotland.[9]
According to the RSPCA, cockfighting in England and Wales still takes place, but has declined in recent years.[10]
France
Holding cockfights is a crime in France, but there is an exemption under subparagraph 3 of article 521-1 of the French penal code for cockfights and bullfights in locales where an uninterrupted tradition exists for them. Thus, cockfighting is allowed in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, in Metropolitan France, where it takes place in a small number of towns including Raimbeaucourt, La Bistade[11] and other villages around Lille.[12] On Réunion Island, there are five officially authorized gallodromes (i.e. cockfighting arenas).
United States
Cockfighting has a very long tradition in American culture and history. Many of the founding fathers participated in the sport of cockfighting including Washington and Jefferson.[13] First the British and then the Irish brought in their favorite breeds of fighting roosters. These breeds make up most of the modern American breeds.[citation needed] With the influx of immigrants from Central America and Asia, they have each added new forms of cockfighting.
In the United States, cockfighting is illegal in Washington, D.C. and in all states but Louisiana. On 27 June 2007, the Louisiana legislature voted to ban cockfighting in the state. The ban will take effect in August 2008 [1]. It is legal in the United States Territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have made cockfighting a felony however, in most places, it is legal to possess roosters. It is illegal in 40 states and D.C. to be a spectator at cockfights. Animal welfare activists continue to lobby for a ban on the sport.
On 3 May 2007, President Bush signed into law the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, which criminalizes the transferral of cockfighting implements across state or national borders, and increases the penalty for violations of federal animal fighting laws to three years imprisonment.[14] In 2006, the United States Virgin Islands passed a bill which outlaws the use of artificial spurs. Thus far the bill has not been enforced.
Cockfighting has a higher level of social acceptance in Puerto Rico than in Louisiana. It also has a much larger pool of fighting cocks than the Virgin Islands or Guam. Metal spurs causes a high mortality of birds. With the interstate transport ban Puerto Rico is likely to be the last holdout. The United States Virgin Islands government is trying to move the sport towards Gamecock Boxing.[citation needed]
Cocke County, Tennessee arrests
On June 11, 2005 a number of law enforcement agents raided a cockfighting pit in Del Rio, Tennessee.[15]. Authorities claim this was one of the largest and oldest cockfighting operations in the United States. The agents arrested 144 people, killed over 300 roosters, and confiscated $40,000 in cash. One owner stated he lost 20 chickens valued at $150 each during the raid. The 144 people arrested were booked on charges of being spectators at a cockfight, a misdemeanor. In Tennessee, defendants found guilty of those charges face up to eleven months and twenty-nine days in jail, plus fines up to $2,500.[16]
United Nations commemoration
On March 10, 2008, members of the Hawaii state legislature introduced a concurrent resolution requesting the United Nations General Assembly "commemorate cockfighting as a global sport."[17]
In popular culture
Cockfighting has inspired artists in several fields to create works which depict the activity. Several organizations, including the University of South Carolina, Jacksonville State University and London football team Tottenham Hotspur F.C. have a gamecock as their mascot and the University of Delaware's mascot is the Fightin' Blue Hen. The Alex Haley novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the miniseries based on it feature cockfighting and films featuring the sport include the 1965 film The Cincinnati Kid, the 1974 film Cockfighter, directed by Monte Hellman (based on the novel of the same name by Charles Willeford).
Cockfighting has also featured in TV episodes of such programmes as Seinfeld ("The Little Jerry"), House ("Humpty Dumpty"), Drawn Together ("Mexican't Buy Me Love"),and "Roots (TV miniseries)".
Cockfighting has also featured in songs such as Kings of Leon's Four Kicks and Bob Dylan's song "Cry a while" from the album Love and Theft. The story song El Gallo del Cielo by Tom Russell is entirely about cockfighting, and the lyrics utilize detailed imagery of fighting pits, gamecocks, and gambling on the outcome of the fights.
The Expressionist painter Sir Robin Philipson, of Edinburgh, was well known for his series of works depicting cockfighting.
Wilford Brimley is a high profile supporter of cockfighting.[18]
Posted: gamefowloftheworld @ Sun Sep 05, pm905 3: 38 pm
KEARNY WHITEHACKLE
By Paul Edward V. Tan and Noel R. Dimatulac (2009)
The KEARNY WHITEHACKLE is believed to be the oldest fowl that is the ancestor of the present-day slashers.
Mr. MIKE KEARNY was the originator of the KEARNY WHITEHACKLE but it was Mr. FLOYD GURLEY who developed the strain for over 50 years.
He (GURLEY) bred the KEARNY WHITEHACKLE with a KEARNY BROWN-RED resulting to YELLOW-LEGGED and GREEN-LEGGED progenies.
Through meticulous breeding and research, Mr. FLOYD GURLEY, developed the YELLOW-LEGGED WHITEHACKLE and the GREEN-LEGGED WHITEHACKLE called "CHESAPEAK". Subsequently, the SPANGLED KEARNY WHITEHACKLE was further developed.
The KEARNY WHITEHACKLE is 100% straight-comb and full-bodied fowl. It is an excellent tactical fighter and a superb ring general that possesses deliberate and accurate cutting and powerful shuffles. Its gameness cannot be questioned.
It is a complete feathered gladiator that is suited for the long-knife slasher type of cockfighting and still winning in today's toughest competition.
The difference of the KEARNY WHITEHACKLE with other bloodlines is its unwavering consistency.
It can be fought STRAIGHT KEARNY WHITEHACKLE. Or when blended with the Sweater or Roundhead, adds power and Gameness with multiple shuffles. Best to cross with Cowan Roundhead at 3/4; - 1/4 respectively.
CARSON FARM acquired the KEARNY WHITEHACKLE in 2006 from Mr. CURT LANGSTON who acquired FLOYD GURLEY's personal stocks, before FLOYD retired from the noble sport of cockfighting.
The KEARNY WHITEHACKLE is now being developed to reinforce or give fresh blood in the Sweaters and Roundheads.
CARSON FARM continuously acquires the bloodlines that win in the toughest competition, and the acquisition of the KEARNY WHITEHACKLE is a wonderful addition.
The produced battle crosses of the KEARNY WHITEHACKLE are very promising. They are excellent fowls with explosive and powerful shuffles. Soon to be tested in the pit, which is the real test of the best of the best slashers.
,Natural Monument designated in 1943 ]
