The Philippines is now acknowledged asthe center of the game fowl industry of the world after the game fowl raising and its attendant sport, cockfighting haVE become anoutlawed activity in the United States of America. While no exactfigures can be gathered, the industry is booming and is impacting awide cross section of the economy and social life of Filipinos.
Ilonggos and Negrenses are known widelyas the pioneers of scientific breeding and the fowls raised in theseparts and fowls coming from here are sold to all parts of the countryat prices higher than those locally grown there. We also have thereputation of having the knack for selecting the better fighters andthis had added to a reputation of excellence among breeders big andsmall.
By Dr Charles R H Everett & Craig Russell. My personal research in breeding has led me to begin gathering and collecting articles and books by cockfighters (cockers) of long ago; these men of the past preserved several different breeds of chickens for hundreds possibly even thousands of years.
Gamefowl Breeding Guide. The breeding of the fighting cocks is a very pleasant activity that can give you great satisfactions but it’s also long and tedious and requires a full time attention. If you don’t have the time for it, don’t dedicate yourself to the breeding. Methods for breeding:There are various methods of breeding purebreds. Although gamefowl breeders differed widely in their methods of breeding, their objective is always the same, to breed and raise the best fowl possible. Fowl that represent, what they feel is the best American Games in the world. Some breeders have for years followed line. It's very elementary and very linear arithmetic logic which leads to the same endless experiments. Not precisely for gamefowl breeding consumtion. And you know its not if you are really is gamefowl sportsman. Its just one of the many methods that mislead simple minds that gamefowl breeding requires a very scientific mind.
Aside from the ubiquitous gamefowls,there are many other income earning sub-industries within the largeindustry system that when studied closely would show that the gamefowl industry is one that should be promoted enhanced and preserved.Game fowl raising needs support sub-system players like the makers oftie-cords so that the roosters are anchored in place and makers oftepees or the structures that shade them from the harsh elements.There are also those who make other paraphernalia like gloves forchickens, tapes, scabbards and knives. These artisans are otherwiseunemployed and their income derived from these livelihood activitiesare their only means to support their families and send theirchildren to school.
Mar 31, 2018 Gamefowl Breeding Guide The breeding of the fighting cocks is a very pleasant activity that can give you great satisfactions but it’s also long and tedious and requires a full time attention. If you don’t have the time for it, don’t dedicate yourself to the breeding. Scientific Breeding of Gamefowl / by Floyd Gurley - The Scientific Breeding of Gamefowl (Floyd Gurley) Breeding gamefowl the correct way is explained in this 128 page paper back written by famous gamefowl breeder Floyd Gurley in collaboration with John J.
Take the case of two small scalebreeders in Brgy. San Nicolas, Oton, Iloilo. Nelson “Tandok”Tingzon had been growing gamefowls for more than 20 years already. Herecalls that even as a child he helped his father take care of theirchickens which when sold provide food and some extras for othernecessities. Rommel Planta has an almost the same story. He also grewup around chickens and he loved the selling aspect because he and hisfriends can sell their chickens at several times the price ofchickens intended for meat.
Nelson and Rommel have no other meansof livelihood except raising game fowls. Being already well-versed onthe breeding aspect, they make sure that their breeders are wellselected and often, they come from known breeders or from theirbuyers who want them to breed a certain type which they willexclusively buy from him. And they don't simply take the word ofothers when it comes to selection. They have their own set ofcriteria developed through their long years of hands-on breeding.
Breeding for true to type individualsand for performance.
One breed that they both maintain arethe Sweater fowls, said to be originated by Mr. Sweater McGinnis, anAmerican breeder of the 1930s to the 1950s. These fowls are lightred, bordering on pumpkin color and are well liked by many because oftheir fighting style and is said to be one of the outstanding breedsin the Philippine cockfighting scene. Nelson and Romel have their ownversion of the Sweaters and they say that each year they sell morethan 100 each for this type of fowl. What they breed it with is theirsecret though. They say that they mate their outstanding Sweaterbrood cocks with hens whose brothers have also performed in the pitas fought by their buyers.
They also have other breeds like theHigh Action Hatch crossed or tinted with Mc Lean or Gilmore blood,both of which are green or blue legged types which are said toprovide speed, power and gameness. Nelson says that he bred his HighAction Hatch hens to a Gilmore Hatch brood cock provided to him byDr. Pepe Sullano. He is very happy with the offsprings since he hasalready sold more than 60 heads at a good price of not less thanP4,500.00 each. With that sales alone he said that he has alreadyrecovered ;his feed expenses for this year and expect that the morethan 150 stags that are still maturing will somehow bring him morethan what he expects.
Rommel on the other hand had beensupplied by his customers and friends with top rated brood materials.“I would not like to divulge the friends and customers who providedmy brood stocks because they want it that way. They also haveexclusive right to my stags that is why every stock that I raise isconsidered sold already. I cannot produce enough because it gets soldanyway”, says Rommel. Both he and Nelson are still breeding thisoff-season (May to September) because there are buyers who still buythose late produce since cockfighting is non-stop especially inManila.
Game fowl raising as a way of life.
“Breeding game fowls have been mymain occupation since I got married from which I have raised myfamily. My eldest son had graduated and is already on board a ship asa sailor and I have high hopes that like the other seamen who hadprospered, he will also help us economically as he progresses in hiscareer. My second son is graduating from the Hotel and RestaurantManagement course. My youngest is still in the elementary grades.With tuition fees and their daily school needs so expensive thesedays I culd not have afforded their schooling had I just taken manuallabor which pays minimum wage”, says Nelson.
Everybody in the family helps. His wifebeing very supportive tends to the incubator and the chicks that iswhy they can hatch more than 500 each year and on a 50/50 ratio ofmales to females, they can easily mature 250 or more stags orcockerels every year. Nelson and his children tend to feeding andother chores. We use only the best feeds available to other breedersand feeders of game fowls. “We don't scrimp on feeds because itshows on the health, size, height and conformation of the stags andcocks we produce. Since cockfighting is competitive and there is onlyone bottom line which is to win, our buyers demand value for theirmoney”.
Both Nelson and Rommel provideemployment indirectly to others in the neighborhood. Their tepees aremade by laborers who charge them P120.00 per unit and Rommel saidthat the materials cost about P50-60 and the rest is labor for themakers. A maker he said can make 5-6 units daily with some help,often from their own children. They also need 500 or so tie cordswhich they use to anchor the legs of their chickens. A tie cord costsP8.00 per unit so between the two of us, we buy about P8,000 worth oftie cords every year. A family making these can produce this in twoweeks' time and their cost of materials is just about P3,000 thusmaking for them an income of about P5,000.00 in two weeks.
Game fowl breeding provides fooddirectly and indirectly. Indirectly, when the choice stags and cocksare sold at a good price and used to buy rice and other food items.Directly, when undersized and culls are slaughtered for the table.Extra eggs are also eaten, often hard boiled and brought by thechildren to school as snacks. “Our children are healthy and activebecause they get to eat high levels of protein from chicken meat andeggs”, says Rommel.
The game is now competitive. With twomajor federations of breeders nationwide and an almost non-stopcompetition, the demand for quality stags and cocks have increased.We are often visited by buyers who say that they were referred bytheir friends who have bought from us and want to buy the same typesas those bought in the previous years because they said that they sawthem win. We cannot refuse them and they just added to our list ofcustomers.
“We don't fight our roosters anymore.Our buyers do it for us. We just sell and somehow these buyers comeback year after year because they are satisfied with the stocks theybought. Since we also improve our breeds according to theirsuggestions, they usually buy the new offspring where they had a handin selecting the brood stocks.
“This is our livelihood and ourpassion. While some may say that this is gambling, for us this issurvival and our chance for a better life. We have not finishedschool and we don't have other means to support our families. Wecannot leave this industry that has provided us with a decent life”,both Rommel and Nelson concluded.
by Chuck Everett
The whole act of preservation of our rare breeds begins and ends with patience. It has often been stated that patience is a virtue. When dealing with rare breeds’ patience is not a virtue; it is a requirement! Certainly patience can be a learned behavior. Maybe it can even be acquired over time. I just wish folks wouldn’t try to learn or acquire it with the rare breeds with which I’m working. I don’t wish to sound harsh: just honest. This year alone I have mailed out somewhere between three and four hundred hatching eggs all of rare breeds. It is always depressing to here that the folks who were so eager to receive the eggs have dropped the said rare breed in a year or so because they didn’t realize how much patience this whole process was going to take. Many of our rare breeds have fallen into a state of mediocrity or worse. It takes years and years of work to bring them back from the brink of extinction to a place where they even approach the Standard description.
I’ll get calls that ask why the leg color is wrong, or why the weight is not up to Standard, or if there is anyone else raising the breed that is further along. Oh, might I add that most of these calls come from the folks that I felt sorry for and I sent them the eggs for FREE. All I ask for many times is the cost of the postage and about half the time that isn’t even sent back to me. I just figure they needed the money worst than I did and write it off: back to the calls. I usually begin by asking, ‘You know these are rare breeds don’t you?’
After I receive an affirmative answer, I then ask what attracted them to the breed. Nine times out of ten that is when I find out that they wanted to be different, to standout at the local poultry show, and to brag to all their “going green” suburban friends that they were saving a piece of living history. No where did I hear anything about patience or hard work or the challenge of breeding for improvement. I didn’t hear any of these things because these folks either weren’t aware of the need for improvement or it never even crossed their little minds. So, this article is meant to inform folks before they call for hatching eggs or chicks.
1. Rare breeds need improvement. The improvement could be related to health and vigor, type or feather color. Possibly it might include all of these things. It is important to remember that there is no perfect fowl. They all have some fault somewhere. Even the best of the show strains still throw chicks with faults. It is only more so with rare breeds.
2. Improvement requires patience. In the first years of working with a breed you will see some dramatic improvements that come about by simple selection processes. However, this all slows down after those first few generations. Sometimes, it even seems that you go backward instead of forward.
3. Improvement requires culling. Culling is a part of the selection process. It begins when the chicks hatch and continues all the way to the breed pen. The harder you cull the faster will be your improvement: provided you have hatched plenty of chicks. If you can’t cull a bird then don’t call me or any other breeder for stock. You are wasting our time and taking away potential birds from our breeding stock.
4. Improvement requires a basic working knowledge of the breed you wish to improve. This may seem rather obvious. Yet, there are lots of folks out there who don’t own a Standard and aren’t planning on breeding to the Standard. How else can you seek to improve a breed unless you have a Standard to guide you? If your breed of choice is not included in the APA or ABA Standard then you should research the breed and find out of there exist a Standard from the breeds country of origin or from another country that has written Standards.
5. Improvement comes with hands-on experience. I believe in research and study; otherwise I would never have done the hard work required for my master’s and doctorate degrees. That said experience is the best teacher. Reading about something and doing it are two totally different things. As a matter of fact, don’t believe everything you read: especially on the Internet. Any fool can put something online. It doesn’t make it true just because it is in print. Also, be very careful concerning old poultry material. Years ago there existed many opinions that reflected the wisdom of the day which has now been proven to be untrue. Even the description of our old breeds in these older poultry records can not often be trusted. During the 19th century many writers quoted other writers as if they were speaking from personal knowledge. What they quoted might not have been true at all.
6. Improvement requires an understanding of breeding and breeding systems. One of the great things about raising chickens is that I get to breed they way I want too: so do you. Yet, there are still some basic breeding systems that have been proven through the years. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Read about these systems, talk with others and decide what would be the best fit for you.
7. Improvement requires good management. Management includes everything from feed to housing. I have found that if I free-range my young stock they are healthier throughout the remainder of their lives. There is no substitute for green grass and sunshine. A good start is essential to good birds. Birds need to be routinely wormed and sprayed for lice and mites. There housing needs to fit your particular location. You’re not running a hospital, but the housing should still be cleaned and sprayed periodically.
Breeding Gamefowl Techniques
8. Improvement is enhanced by sharing stock with other serious breeders. Now we were all new once upon a time. I don’t want to discourage you from sharing stock with new folks at all; just make sure they know what they are getting into. Whether you give stock away, trade it or sell it, you need to be honest about the quality of the stock. Sharing stock will give you a person to go back to should your line need freshening up or should something happen to your birds. The person you share with might be a better breeder even than yourself; thus, you can get birds from your on line that end up being better than your own.
It has not been my goal to discourage anyone from raising and breeding rare breeds of poultry. On the contrary, I have only meant to encourage and inform. Raising and breeding rare breeds is my passion. This year alone I have hatched over 400 chicks of the rare breeds I keep. I plan to keep only a few of these birds. The remainder will be eaten by my family, given away to friends, or sold at poultry shows I attend. I begin hatching each year during Christmas week and continue to do so until the first week of June. That means that I’m setting eggs every 7 to 10 days during that entire time. Poultry is my passion; improvement is my goal!
For more information on breeding, and preservation of poultry, visit the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities. You can also reach Mr. Everett at the Ultimate Fowl Forum.
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