by COUNTYLINE
The "sharpness" that a cock experiences when he comes on point is a natural process that occurs almost daily in cock's life. As the cock becomes gut empty and his moisture level decreases, he will begin to come sharp. To try to force this to happen, using stimulants and drugs, will throw many fowl completely off. The secret to this is to know how to have the fowl come sharp when you want them to, then to hold them at or close to this level of sharpness for the duration of the derby. Sounds complicated but it really isn't.
Depending on the amount, make-up, and moisture intake, complete digestion will occur 4 - 72 hours after a cock eats. The softer the food source and the greater the moisture content, the quicker it will digest. The drier the feed, the more heavy husks in the feed (such as whole oats or whole sunflower seeds), and the less moisture a cock is given, the longer it will ake him to digest the food, thus the longer it will take him to come sharp. Moisture is needed for digestion. Moisture can either be given in the form of drinking water or in the moisture content of the feed. With the misunderstandings in so many keeps, many cockers will take the water from the fowl 3 days before fight day, then wonder why the fowl aren't passing their feed. THEY ARE CONSTIPATED and can't pass the feed. I feed a moist feed the last 3 days of the keep and reduce the amount each day until fight day. In weather less than 75 degrees, I use a mix of 1 cup of cracked corn, 2 bananas, 1 apple, 4 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar and 4 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon. If it has been dry, I soak the corn overnight in water. In weather hotter than 80 degrees, I use instant brown rice, instant white rice, and instant oatmeal in place of the corn. Bring to a boil 3 cups of water and 3 cups of condensed milk. Pour this over the uncooked grains and allow it to soak up all the moisture. Allow to cool then keep in the refrigerator when not being used. Add 4 bananas, 2 apples, 4 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar and 4 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon to this mix before feeding it to the cocks. With this feed mix, the fowl will completely pass it within 12 hours of feeding, if they aren't traveled far.
To keep fowl at a level of sharpness requires moisture, and sugars. This is why I use banana. It is almost all moisture, is full of simple sugars and potassium and will keep the bile in the digestive system from souring and making the cock go "over". I cut banana in 1/2 inch thick slicesm then divide each slice into 3 pieces. Once the cock comes sharp, I drop him out every 30 minutes. I also feed him the 1/3 of a 1/2 inch thick slice of banana every hour to keep him sharp. It works wonderful and there is no side effects that you WILL get from the other stimulants on the market. It is all natural and will not effect your fowl's ability. The brown sugar provides a quick reserve energy source, the cinnamon is the best blood clotting agent I've ever found, and the potassium in the banana will help prevent fatigue cramps during battle.