by Southern Cross
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In conclusion, I probably could have sold this keep and made a few bucks, but I chose to let the good folks at The Pit Master put it on their site in hopes of encouraging more beginners to get active in this sport. If you use this keep and like it, let The Pit Master know, and I'll send in some other ramblings.