6- Week Postiza Keep
Submitted by Jim Fulton
As everyone should know by now , you cannot make a rooster a better fighter, but in the competition for the naked heel , postiza , and quarto, stamina and endurance play a big role, and this keep is designed for that goal. This keep takes 6 weeks total, and includes a 1 week rest for the last week before the fight. As an example I will give the dates to work, according to an upcoming fight in May. The things you will need for this keep are : 2 pairs of muffs, some thin medical tape (the cloth kind), a spray bottle( with water and about 2 tsp. of alcohol) for misting their feathers, some Vaseline, as good a grain mix as you can afford, and fresh water everyday.
You will be working your birds every 3rd day, with a "hard" workout every 6th day, and you will be working with 2 birds at a time. This WILL build stamina in your roosters, AND yourself. I will give a detailed description of the terms Run, Flirts, and Trim out, after the dates and routines. Before each " hard " workout you will need to put on their muffs, mist their feathers (misting keeps their feathers from breaking as easy), and tearing off a piece off the medical tape about 1/4 in. wide and about 5 in. long, you will need to tape their bills. Open their beak and put your finger crossways to hold it open. Next lay one end of the tape on the inside tip of the lower bill, and wrap a small end of it under the bill to hold it then make 3 full wraps , and then close the top part of the bill on the tape and finish wrapping the whole bill. The reasons for doing this are to keep them from pulling out feathers when they spar , and it discourages them from getting a bill hold. They will be able to breath fine and about half way through, they will work it off anyway.
4/7 Sat. ~ 5 min. run ~ 40 flirts
4/10 Tue. ~ 40 flirts
4/13 Fri. ~ 10 min. run ~ 50 flirts
4/16 Mon. ~ 60 flirts
4/19 Thu. ~ 12-15 min. run ~ 60 flirts
4/22 Sun. ~ 70 flirts
4/25 Wed. ~ 15 min. run ~ 80 flirts
4/28 Sat. ~ 100 flirts " Trim out "
5/1 Tue. ~ 15 min. run ~ 100 flirts
5/4 Fri. ~ 100 flirts
5/7 Mon. ~ 20 min. run ~ 100 flirts
5/10 Thu. ~ 100 flirts
5/13 Sun. ~ 5-10 min. run ~ 100 flirts
Rest For One Week
5/19 Sat. ~ Fight Day !
After each workout Rub downward on his breast and then each leg, about 15 times. Put some Vaseline on their legs and a little on their heads and beaks. look for any "bad" spots
Run :
A run starts with allowing the 2 roosters to spar for about a min., then pick up one of the birds and " lead " the other with him. With a rooster in your hands and bending over low enough to keep the one on the ground eye level with the one in your hands, and lead him to the right, and then pass over him and move to the left, and back again for a min. then release or toss the bird a few feet away, let them "buckle" and then pick up the other bird and do the same with him for a min. Let them spar again for a min. then do it all over again. As the routines get longer (second "hard" workout) a move that you will need to work in is, passing the bird in your hands behind the one on the ground and make him turn round and round keeping his eyes on the other bird. Go round and round to the right , to make your bird spin to the right , and then go left. Do this for about 15 sec. each direction then run some more. By the time your up to a 15 min. run , you will be letting them actually spar for 2 to 3 min. between runs.
Flirts :
Flirts are similar to most except as you hold the bird with both hands, facing away from you, place your thumbs on his back, by his tail, and holding him 2-3 foot off the floor, push your thumbs down and "flick" him out of your hands. This will cause him to kick his legs forward and flap aggressively to regain his balance . Pick him up quickly and do it again. The second kind of flirt is opposite. Holding his breast in one hand , and placing your other hand under his tail or vent, move your hand up quickly from his vent(flick) and releasing his breast at the same time, causing him the sensation of falling forward, and making him "work" to regain balance. Do a equal amount of both ( example. 40 Flirts - 20 forward flirts + 20 reverse flirts)
Trim Out :
If you have seen Cuban or Spanish birds fight before , you might have noticed that it looks like their legs and backs are shaved. This is to aid in cooling, and the feathers are actually cut off with scissors, from the legs, abdomen and vent, lower part of the breast, and the back area up to the hackles. The hackles are sometimes trimmed also
Feeding :
Feed all they can eat at a time. On work days , don't feed at all until after the work . Twice a week put some boiled egg into their regular feed. The last feeding on Friday before the fight, mix the feed with some honey and cut in half with "Grape Nuts" or Granola. On fight day, take a banana with you and after the fight, clean him up real good , and take him were he can eat and just let him have some banana( if he's not beat up too bad).
Rest :
Rest is just as important as the workout ( for you and your roosters). Avoid the temptation to work or play with them on the rest week . If you have a hen with them ?, remove it a few days before the fight.( To make them a little more anxious ).
Well this is the keep I use, and It has served me well. You cannot go wrong if you follow it , and you will notice a marked improvement in you birds on fight day
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The Working Man's Keep
by
Southern Cross
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My purpose in writing this keep is to give the working person a fighting chance. If you have a better keep or one that works for you and your fowl, by all means use it. There are lots of good keeps available, but the trick is to find one that suits you and your fowl. There are good chicken men in this sport with plenty of tough chickens who have all the time in the world to look after their every need. They can even afford to hire extra help and have facilities that the average cocker can only dream of. They have hundreds of cocks and stags to choose from any time of the year. What chance do you have with 15 cocks and 35 stags? Not much, I agree. However, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy your sport. Find a level of competition where you can feel comfortable and where, above all, you can afford to compete. This demeans neither you nor your fowl. Time and circumstances do change and maybe someday you will find yourself at Sunset with the trophy. When I was a beginner, I used to fight the small derbies through the year then take my aces to a big time pit and fight the last day 4 cock clean-up. Lots of fun.
Before we go any further, to be successful, you must have good fowl. This isn't as difficult as some would have you believe. There are lots of good men who advertise and sell their surplus through the Internet and the journals. Don't try to save money here. Most often cheap prices mean cheap chickens. Expect to pay a good price for your fowl-it's cheaper in the long run. The type or breed of fowl you fight doesn't matter. Just make sure they suit you, that's the most important thing.
The most a conditioner can do for a show of fowl is to deliver them to the pit at the peak of health with good muscle tone, improved respiration, without surplus fat and with some measure of sharpness. Conditioning, contrary to popular belief, cannot make a rooster cut nor make it hit harder. If these qualities were not bred into it, no conditioning method can provide it.
Sharpness is a term that is tough to define. Sharpness is the end product of a reduction in feed, forced rest and sexual and nervous tension. A rooster that is sharp is a bundle of energy and is at his peak with heightened senses and robust vigor. Physical characteristics that indicate sharpness include rapid yet smooth movements, alertness and often rapid blinking of the eyes. A sharp rooster is hard to hold in your hands. Sharpness is difficult to describe, but you will recognize it when you feel a rooster that has reached it. Notice that I have carefully avoided the term "on point". On point is the ultimate in sharpness and few breeders are able to reach and maintain this condition in a full show of roosters. For our purpose, we will be very lucky to bring a show of "sharp" roosters to the pit.
One point of the selection process that I cannot stress enough is health. It goes without saying that to be successful, you must only condition healthy fowl. They must be robust and vigorous, free from internal and external parasites before you even think about putting them in the keep. "Pre-keep" should be a term used to describe the condition of every stag and every cock on your lot, not just the ones you intend to take to the pit. Choose only those roosters that "climb the wire" at feeding time and are near their fighting weight to put into your keep.
Feed
If I were writing a keep for the pros, I would specify whole hard red wheat from within a 100 mile radius of Alberta, but I'm not. I'm writing a keep for the average cocker and the feed he has readily available. Which is: whole corn, chopped corn (sometimes called scratch), 22% laying pellets, and Racing Pigeon Feed. Your feed mixture for most of the keep will include equal parts of these four grains, 1 chopped boiled egg (minus the shell) per four cocks, and buttermilk to moisten the feed.
Work
The only handwork your cocks will receive is the "flirt". The flirt most closely approximates a cock's natural action while fighting. Place the rooster on a lightly padded bench, put both hands on the cock's back, thumbs low on the back. Lightly toss the bird forward while pressing down on the thumbs, thus causing the bird to flap his wings to regain his balance. After a few attempts, both you and the rooster will get the hang of it. All other work will be natural work in fly pens.
Pens
You will need a fly pen and a conditioning stall for each bird. The size of either is not critical. The average fly pen is about 4"x 8" with 6" or so in height. Use 6" or so of litter of your choice in each fly pen over a couple inches of sand. Your conditioning stalls can be about 2" square with a place to hang a cup and a way to darken them. In addition, try to have a couple of round pens, a couple of square pens and a couple of tie cords-all on grass for rotation on weekends when you are free.
Water
Give your chickens as much water as they will drink-always. None of this "five dips of water" business. A rooster will not drink more than he needs, and he's a better judge of his needs than you are. Period.
Let's say the fight is on a Saturday in two weeks. Start on Saturday morning. Select your cocks or stags. Spar when empty. Spar this way: bill them really well, set them down beak to beak, when they buckle, pick them up immediately. Set them down 4" apart, one buckle and pick them up again. Back up 6", pit them one buckle again. Saw spurs, worm, delouse. If you want to weigh them for your own information, fine. I can tell whether a cock is fat or thin by feeling of him. Also, give each bird a shot of a good broad spectrum antibiotic. Place in fly pens with water mixed with antibiotics. That evening, take bird out, rub, and put in keep stall. Mix feed and put in cups. One part pigeon feed, one part whole corn, one part scratch and one part 22% laying pellets with one chopped boiled egg per four cocks. Moisten with buttermilk. Sprinkle one pinch of vitamins over each cup of feed. The vitamins will be used every day through the Thursday before fight day. Now, about amounts of feed. The object of a good conditioning method is to put the maximum amount of feed through a cock without having him gain fat. So, it's up to you to adjust the amounts of feed. There are just too many variables to predict with any certainly how much an individual cock needs. Feed cocks and water.
Sunday: Rotate cocks from fly pens to round pens to square pens to string walks. Skip morning feed, but feed Sunday evening like Saturday evening.
Monday: Try to work with your cocks approximately the same time each morning and afternoon. Take cocks out of keep stalls, give 15 flirts, rub and place in fly pens with water. Feed in litter. That afternoon, 15 flirts, feed in keep stalls.
Tuesday: Same routine. 20 flirts
Wednesday: Same routine. 25 flirts
Friday: Same routine. 30 flirts
Saturday: No morning work. Feed in fly pens as usual. Rotate cocks every two hours from round pen to square pen to tie cords on grass. Make sure every cock has a hen in at least one of the pens. That afternoon, spar as described, put in keep stalls, feed and water.
Sunday: Same routine as Saturday, except omit sparring, 30 flirts instead.
Monday: Same regular routine. 40 flirts
Tuesday: Same regular routine. 30 flirts
Wednesday: Same regular routine 25 flirts in morning. In evening, spar, letting cocks buckle once from 4" apart, then once from 6 feet. No work, feed and water as usual.
Thursday: Same routine. 20 flirts
Friday: Cut feed down to 2/3 regular feed in morning. No hand work. Rub lightly, return to keep stalls, darken stalls. Rest. Evening, take cocks out and let scratch for one hour. Feed regular feed dry without buttermilk. Put in keep stalls.
Saturday: Fight day. Haul cocks to pit and set them out to drop out in folding drop pens. Keep your cockhouse dark. When you are taking a rooster out to heel, do it quickly, then turn off the lights again.
Final Notes
-It's a good idea to have a radio playing around the cockhouse during the keep so the cocks get adjusted to the noise. Also, invite some friends over to watch them spar. Let them make noise too. Besides it's more fun that way.
-Never smoke around your cocks or let anyone else.
-Conditioning is mainly a matter of common sense, a little logic and a little experience. No voodoo involved. With a few minor adjustments, this keep can be successful in nearly any weapon.
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by Phil Marsh
As you know game chickens have been a life-time hobby for me. I think I have had some of the world's best and at times a few of them were just opposite, as you probably know. I realize that my ideas on game fowl, their care and condition, are not always in accord with those of many of my friends and acquaintances. I can olny say I have tried most everything and the ones I now use have proved to be far and away the best for me and the fowl I use. I also realize there are a lot of less rugged fowl than my own for which my methods of both coop walking and conditioning would be worthless and perhaps do more harm than good. I have tried my methods on outside fowl and on some of them it was of no use whatever, on others it worked as well as on my own. Rather than change my methods I refuse to condition fowl I know are not able to stand up and do well under them.
Here are a few of my ideas on fowl. Wallop and the ability to carry that wallop when hurt and distressed, is bred in them. Neither I nor anyone I know can put it in them by conditioning. Nor can I make them any stronger by methods of feeding. As a matter of fact while, actually conditioning cocks I can't even remove excess fat and have them strong at the conclusion of the feed. I do all that before hand by scratching in straw. And I can't do it in a week or so without weakening them. I prefer to get them down to fighting weight BEFORE they ever go into the conditioning coop, by scratching them out in straw over a period of at least six weeks. Others can do it in a week, so they say. My cocks and stags in coops are kept practically at fighting weight by controlling the feed, at all times, and they fight at two or three ounces less than the weight I pick them up from the coops. The cleaing out, feathers, etc., that are removed will account the two or three ounces.
You want my ideas on the best fowl I have ever seen. I can give them to you in a few words. The greatest fowl I have ever known were the Berg Blue Muffs. To my mind they had everything a game fowl needs and some to spare. I am sure a big share of the goodness in Ed Pines fowl came through breeding a spangle cock that Dave Berg game him several years ago. Next to them I liked my own Butcher Boys best. They were nothing more or less than the old Lawman Whitehackle blood. Mine were rather small and delicate and would go toether in hand like an accordian, but for their size had a terrible wallop, were free hitters, knew how to fight and had gameness to spare. Very similar to the Clarets in looks. In fact, the Clarets for years contained more Butcher Boy blood than any other. John Madigin admitted that and I know I let him have two cocks. As you know they did a lot of winning for me for a good many years, mostly at Tom Foley's Pit at Troy.
My coop walks are stationary and consist of a house and a run of medium size. There are partitions between the runs so the cocks cannot see each other. Some claim permitting the cocks to see each other makes no difference to them. It makes a difference to me and I don't want mine able to do it. This practice in my opinion is responsible for a lot of cocks in the pit that refuse to work on a down cock, but I won't argue the point. I hvae grit and oyster shell before them at all times. I feed them but once each day at noon. Of course, fresh water is kept before them at all times except that here where we have lots of snow on the ground in winter I never water them. As long as there is snow in the runs they get no water. Some will argue against the practice but I have used it for years and it suited my needs. My feed consists of a mixture of 2-3 good cleaned cracked corn and 1-3 good sound whole oats. I feed a heaping tablespoon once each day. I go over the cocks at night every ten days or so and find some need a trifle more feed and believe it or not I now and then find one putting on too much weight with the amount of feed. In that case I increase or decrease as indicated. About twice each week I give each cock a quarter of an apple, and once each week, in the summer each ten days, a piece of good raw ground beef, free from fat and about the size of a walnut. I never vary this coop walk feed. If cock's don't do well on it they aren't the kind of chickens I want. Of course, both the cocks and their quarters are kept free of lice at all times. In the summer and fall and in the winter when snow permits, I feed on the bare ground. Stags should be wormed when cooped every six months thereafter. In the winter time, I have a light litter in the coop part and throw a little feed in that to make them scratch a little for exercise. However, my methods do not call for scatching in deep straw for grain. If that sort of exercise is desired more feed would have to be given and of course that would upset my system. I have swings in the runs where cocks get some exercise. The amount of feed I give has been carefully calculated so as to keep the cocks fully nourished, and still keep them from accumulating any fat. A dust bath should be available for the cocks winter and summer. My coops and runs are so constructed that the cocks can go under the coop and dust themselves at any time.
My conditioning method itself I am sure will be found too severe for many strains of fowl, and in that case I can only suggest to those who will use it to make adjustments to suit their own fowl. I always have plenty of cocks in my runs. When a fifteen cock main is made I usually bring in about 50 cocks and give them a good long spar, anywhere from 5 to 10 ten minutes. From the 50 I select 30 to feed. I don't believe in physics of any kind at any time, not even the customary bread and milk. After the cocks are selected for the main they go in the conditioning coop. Mine are a trifle over 2x2 and that's all I use, no scratch coops at all. Instead of physic they get nothing to eat for 48 hours and very little water - none the last 12 hours. Their weight is then recorded and I start from there. Remember none of these cocks have any fat in them, none are off in any way whatever. I like their heads a dull red with the little beads showing on them very plainly. No smooth bright shiney heads. I feed cocks 14 days including the two day fast. Stags 11 days including the two day fast. In other words cocks are actually conditioned 12 days and stags 9.
My feeding during the keep consists of 2-3 good clean cracked flint corn, 1-3 pinhead oats, that is hulled oats that have been broken up. A level tablespoon of this grain mixture plus 1-3 the white of a hard boiled egg to each cock morning and night. Use this from to the last day of the keep. Mix well and never use any mixture for more than one feeding. Always mix it fresh. With the egg added there will be more than a tablespoon to a cock. Every other day four pieces of cracked marble grit, large size. Work the cocks at seven in the morning and seven at night. After each cock has been worked, wash his head with a sponge dipped in good whiskey. Wash his feet and legs in luke warm water and be sure and dry thoroughly both his head, feet and legs. Wash cocks in morning only. The coops should be scrupously clean at all times. Change of straw every other day. Put no disinfectant in the coop but sprinkle Idicao crystals on the floor of the feeding room. The cocks should be empty completely between feeds. If for any reason any of them do not, or don't seem to be standing the work - throw them out quickly. If they can't take the work and feed there is no chance of them being able to go the route in the pit.
Have a long work bench, well padded but not springy. Have the padding smooth as the bench will be used for running and you want it so a cock can really run on it, and fast. Use another well padded and somewhat springy place for flying. I cannot place too much emphasis on the fact that a cock should at all times be worked fast, just as fast as it's possible to make him go, they fight fast and should be worked fast. To do it properly requires considerable practice. Place the cock about three feet to your right and facing left with your hand behind him. Run him three feet to your left, turn him and take him with your left hand and run him to the right. Take it easy for a few runs until he gets onto it and then throw into high. Over and back is ONE, not two. Start off the first day with 25 runs and 25 flies, increase it ten each day to 95. Keep him on 95 two days which is the eighth and ninth days. Drop to 50 on the 10th and 25 on the 11th and none on the 12th at all. Always run your cocks before you fly them. It helps to keep them from getting ugly as they don't have an opportunity to strike while running and when finished they are somewhat tired and not so apt to fight you when flirted.
Properly flirting or flying a cock is an art if it is to be done without stiffening him up. Stand at the bench with the cock in front of you facing left. With your left hand on his breast toss him back about a foot. Catch him quickly with your right hand under his tail and toss him forward, then with your left hand and toss him back, etc. When properly done, the cock has the appearance of running in one short space. It takes preactice to learn to do it but once acquired the cock can be worked very fast as he should be.
Fifteen minutes after all have been worked, feed them each a rounded tablespoon of the grain and egg white mixture. Watch their weights every morning and put it down on a chart. Some may need a trifle more feed than others but seldom more than a half tablespoonful. Try to keep them at the weight they were when put up, and fight them two or three ounces less. Every cocker has his own ideas about the amount of water to be given and I realize it requires varying amounts in various part of the country, depending on climate, etc. Regardless of the amount, you give them, never leave the cups on the coops. Let each have what water he wants and when he starts to play, take the cup away. If any of them want a lot of water it is an indication they have fever and should be thrown out. If they are coming right they will want little if any water the last two or three days. It's an unfailing sign. Wait five minutes after all have eaten before watering.
NOTES
Stags in coop walks will require more feed than cocks, perhaps half again as much grain. Give each what he will quickly clean up as long as he doesn't put on fat. Should a cock or stag in a coop go off a little from no apparent cause, put a hen or two in with him for a few days. If that doesn't help, kill him. You can't do anything with sick chickens. Give stags about 2/3 as much work in the keep as cocks. If cocks' head are to be trimmed close, do it when they are first put up. I never use any stimulants or conditioning powder of any kind. If cocks or stags should open their mouths before they have received their full amount of work - stop for a moment before giving them the rest of it. If at any time during the feed a cock goes off in any way, doesn't throw his feed, etc. - throw him out and take in a fresh cock from the runs even four or five days before time to fight. If cared for under my system of coop walking he won't be fat and will be far better than one that is off in any way. During the conditioning period go in the coops often and keep them moving around instead of sitting on their tails. If they are hungry as they should be, they will start moving when you go in the room. Spar cocks twice during the feed. I would suggest to anyone intending to use my methods, and who has been feeding his cocks in pens two or three times the amount I do, that he get them to the reduced feed gradually. Increase the oat content of the feed and give the same amount of feed as he is used to giving. Then gradually cut down the oats until the cocks are getting approximately the amount I give. If they stay too thin on it give them a little more but don't over do it.
It requires judgement which comes with experience, to tell when a cock is at fighting weight, where I try to keep them in the coop walks. A great many cocks anf families of cocks will go under hack if kept near fighitng weight. I have no suggestions in that case as neither I nor any feeder can get them in real first class condition. Some feeders seem to do quite well with short bred cocks by fighting them over weight and pampering them, but I never kearned how, and never wanted to.
In mxing the conditioning feed use a level tablespoon of grain for each cock. Put this in a tin, then add the white of one hard boiled egg for each three cocks. When feeding, this will make a rounded tablespoon of the grain and egg mixture for each cock, twice daily.
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The Charlie Carr Modern Knife and Gaff Keep
Most knife fights are decided in a few seconds after the rooster leaves your hand.
Endurance and stamina play no part in this type of fight. Cutting ability,
aggressiveness, sense, health, and speed are what it takes to win quick, which is
what you want to do. Mental condition is 80% of condition is a well fed knife or gaff
cock.
He must have his mind on absolutely nothing but the other rooster.
This mental condition is achieved by a good week of pre-keep in which the roosters
are gentled and acquainted slowly with their new surroundings.
You may think when you follow this keep you are not really conditioning the roosters
you are partly right because what we are trying to do is get the rooster ready to
fight. Without losing any of his natural abilities, especially his cutting ability.
In conditioning for the gaff or short knife the keep is the same except during the work
week you may want to fly the rooster on the work board: or move him more times.
Start with 5 flys and work up to 15. Hold the rooster lower that the board: about 3
feet out and release him at the board. This is optional, I think it's more for you than
the rooster. Most people quit hand working roosters years ago, even for the gaff. Any
keep or video you see with board work is dated to say the least.
Facilities and Equipment Needed
Cockhouse: About 15' X 20' with high ceiling, well ventilated, but no drafts, stalls
about 2 square.
Flypens: Roost poles about 4' high off the ground, pens about 5' wide X 8' long X 8'
high use black felt tar paper on the floor with 4" of corn shucks as litter.
Feed cups: Small, plastic 2 oz. feed measure.
Stringwalks: 7' long in grass, huts 4' high.
Drop-out pens: 4' diameter and 4' high, put some loose leaves.
Rectangular Pens: 4' X 6' X 4', use horse manure as litter.
Pens: 4' X 4' put on the grass. Have a pullet by each one.
Acquaint roosters with all stalls and pens they are going to be in.
Feed twice a day - start with 2oz. feed per feeding. Feed dry in morning. Wet with
about 1 ounce of buttermilk at night.
Give 1 - teaspoon of chopped vegetables and fruits at noon each day of entire 3
week keep up to Wednesday of the third week.
The pre-keep is mainly for mental conditioning.
Spar everyday in pre-keep, just 2 buckles. Also tease in and off pens.
Feed
Morning feed: 50% laying pellets (18%)
25% Cracked corn
5% Wheat
5% Barley
5% Dry Blue Ribbon dog food (21%)
5% Calf manna
5% Oat groats
Night Feed: 75% above mixture 25% Cooked pearl barley and buttermilk
Feeding and Conditioning Procedure
At 7 am go to the cockhouse and get the cocks from the stalls where you put them
the night before. Be sure they have no feed in their craw, then put them in the fly
pens. Throw 1 1/2oz of the morning feed on the litter. When the cocks are taken from
the fly pens, check the pen to see if all the feed has been eaten. If not cut the
amount by 1/4oz the next morning. You can increase by the same amount if he cleans
up real quick and still acts hungry.
Leave the cocks in the fly pens for an hour then follow the morning schedule below:
8 am - 10 am ....................................Strings
10 am - 12 noon ...............................4 X 6 pens
12 noon - 2 pm .................................Round pens
2 pm - 3 pm ......................................4 X 4 pens
3 pm - 4 pm ......................................Back to fly pens
At noon feed each rooster a heaping teaspoon of chopped vegetables and fruits. (Do
this the entire keep up to Wednesday of the third week.)
At 4 pm put the roosters in the stalls and feed the night feed.
Feed 2oz per bird. If he has any in is craw in the morning, feed 1/4oz less the next
night. On
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the first week, put one tablespoon of redcell
vitamins per six cocks on night feed.
On Tuesday and Thursday of the first week put one tablespoon of desicated liver per
six cocks on night feed. Starting Sunday, the 7th day of the third week, change the
moving schedule to below:
Monday: Move 4 times.
Tuesday: Move 3 times.
Wednesday: Move 2 times.
Thursday: Move 1 time.
Friday: Rest day.
Monday of the third week put the roosters in stall at 4 pm.
Tuesday put them in stalls at 3 pm.
Wednesday at 2 pm. Thursday at 1 pm. On Friday rest all day or half a day, use own
judgement. Nervous or high strung roosters require less rest.
The idea is to move the cocks less and less each day of the last week until the day
before the fight. Starting Monday of the second week, increase the amount of
cracked corn in the morning and night feed by 15% per day.
Starting on Wednesday of the second week, discontinue the vitamins at night
feeding, also discontinue the vegetables and fruits at noon. Cut feed 1/4 ounce on
Thursday morning. Cut feed 1/4 ounce more on Thursday night. Friday morning feed 1
1/2 ounce.
Point for knife: If you fight on Saturday at about noon, feed 1 teaspoon leveled of
half cracked corn and half barley wet with buttermilk on Friday night. Feed 1/4
teaspoon Saturday morning if the cock craps out very little or just "dots" early in the
morning. Keep droppings medium loose all during keep, even on fight day.
Point for gaff: On Friday night feed half a teaspoon of cracked corn and half hard
boiled egg white with a few drops of buttermilk over it.
Traveling Feed
This is going to be given in place of the night of travel. Give this feed just before you
box up and head out.
Take one box of knox plain gelatin and mix with 2 cups of water and 1/2 can (small
can) of pet milk and one tablespoon of sugar in a boiler. Stir and bring to a boil. Pour
into a pan 1" deep.
Put into refrigerator. Cut into 1" cubes and give to roosters just before you leave. If
they won't eat it, hand feed it. Use this feed when traveling long distance only. They
will not dry out and travel well. When traveling short distances, be sure there is no
feed in craw before you start.
Sparring
Once a day let the roosters buckle into each other one time and catch them
immediately. If a rooster gets hit and doesn't get to hit back he will tomorrow.
When the roosters feathers are green, which they will be until sometime in January or
February, hold a battered cock in your hand let the rooster to be sparred hit into him
once or twice a day. Hold the battered cock only one foot off the ground and offer
him straight into the cock to be sparred. Don't make your cock fly up after a cock. Bill
the cocks before you do the above.
"Remember roosters will not travel well or fight up to par when in green feathers."
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My fowl are kept in 4'x4'x8' high fly-pens at all times. During the coop-walk period, I feed- 1/3 oats, 1/3 scratch & 1/3 lay pellets. With the fly-pens boarded up at least 3' on the bottoms, the fowl get all the exercise they need in order to retain their proper weight. If, the fowl need to lose weight, I cut their feed down. If need to gain, I simply ad more feed. I give about 3oz of feed daily.
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MY 2 WEEK FLY-PEN KEEP FEED
Here, we change the feed a bit. Instead of measuring the feed with the container, as in the coop-walk, we measure all our feed on the scales. All parts are by WEIGHT.
I use 1 part cooked liver, 1 part onions, 1 part lay pellets, 1 part oats & 1 part scratch. First, I cook the liver & then grind the cooked liver with the raw onions. Next, I mix all parts together and ad a heaping tablespoon of Log Cabin Conditioner to each 1/2 lb of this mixture.
This mix is kept in the refrigerator with a top on it, in order to retain a stable moisture. Each bird is given 3 heaping tablespoons daily in his feed cup (once daily).
Several hens & pullets should be running loose at all times in order to make these cocks work up & down in their pens.
Fresh water cups, & feed cups should be kept up high near the end of their high roosts (solid roosts, no swings). Their roosts are about 6' up off the bottoms of the pens. At leat 6" of clean builders sand is kept in the pens.
Water is taken away from these fowl after the last "IT" is given, the night before their battle-day. Only 2 "IT"s are given at the end of this keep. One on Thursday, one on Friday before the battle-day on Saturday.
Take your fowl off their roosts just before daylight on the battle-day. In that way, they are empty, rested & SHARP.
ALL the B-vitamins are derived from liver. When we use liver, we are giving them all their B-vitamins in their best form, which is the NATURAL form.
Good Luck
Shelby Johnson
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