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.
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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