“Someday, you will know just how precious your chickens are.” These words reverberate in my ears as I look at the rows of teepees, which now house the progenies of the very fowls which I once thought were worthless.

The quotations above are the very words of my cousin, Manong Mamie Lacson, who was, and still is, my mentor when it comes to gamefowl breeding and cockfighting.

In 1988, when I got serious with gamefowl breeding, Manong Mamie gave me a Blueface broodcock, along with 2 Mclean hens, and a trio of Roundhead-Butchers. I was surprised and wondered why he sent them over. These are high-breakers, not much shuffle, but accurate punchers.

Most of the fowls I saw and admired then were shufflers and power punchers. My buyers were looking for these types of roosters, so I asked again for shufflers and grounders. Manong Mamie obliged with several fowls, which had black eyelids like the Marion Rose and Bill Baumgardner fowls. These fowls won their fights, all right, but they won only once, sustaining a lot of wounds which made them unfit to fight another battle. But I was contented with them, and so were my buyers.

In 1990, the cocking public started noticing the sweaters. In the first 3 Million Wolverine 7-cock Derby at the Roligon, Mr Pete Rodriguez of the Road Master Entry was invited. But, Pete had no chickens to fight. He asked Joey Lapid and Manong Mamie for assistance. They recommened the Sweaters of Mr Rafael “Nene” Abello which where imported from Carol Nesmith. At that time, Nene informed them that the fowls were losing 60% of their fights. Pete knew this, also. But Manong Mamie guaranteed winning the derby if he will be the one to condition them and as long as Joey Lapid will be the handler. So, Pete agreed.

Manong Mamie stayed in Pete’s Farm in San Pablo City for a month to condition the Sweaters, and pointed them during the derby itself. He used the Ratliff Method where you have to point them dry to make them exhibit the speed, shuffling and focus, Sweater are known for. The cocks all won.

Back in Bacolod, the news of Nene Abello winning the first ever 3M Roligon derby spread like wild fire. When Nene visited Joey Lacson, only son of Manong Mamie, a day after the event, Nene said, “It was your dad who made them move well.”

Lately, however, the Sweaters’ fame seems to be waning. Breeders blended them left and right. These haphazard breedings sometimes resulted in disasters. What really is there in Sweaters? The primary attribute of Sweaters is their focus, speed and multiple shuffles. They are good cutters, too. But they are not so brainy. They charge, and charge, and charge, oblivious to the fact that the opponent is also armed with a slasher knife. Thus, most breeders now try to blend them with brainy bloodlines. But most brainy strains are also light fowls like the sweaters. So, it’s very difficult to find the right combination.

Eventually, most breeders went back to the hatch fowls to infuse into their Sweaters. Hatches are more stable, packed with power, and one particular strain, the Blueface, breaks high, has speed, side steps and is brainy. These are the qualities of the Blueface line, which Manong Mamie gave me, back in 1988. The composition of these Blueface fowls is basically ¾ McLean-1/4 Blueface or ¼ McLean-3/4 Blueface. And these are the ones that they call Hi-Action of Mamie Lacson. They are very good for infusion to most any bloodlines. Joey Lapid has proven this in last year’s Bakbakan 8-Stag Derby where he won straight 8 points. The longest fight time for all of their fights were only 30 seconds. Be it ½-1/2, ¼-3/4, or ¾-1/4 blending of Sweater-Hi-Action, the outcome has always been superb.

Today, aside from Sweaters, I breed this Blueface line to 5 Kelso strains: the WAK out and out, Cardinal, Super J (of Johnny Jumper), Travis (from Sonny Lagon) and the Humprey Kelso (from Jay de Jesus). I like then kelso’s for their accurate cutting. The Humpreys have already proven their worth; 6 Stags have already won.

I also have other Blueface strains from Manong Mamie: the Golden Yard – Harold Brown, Oscar Akins and Mel Simms. Most of all, Manong Mamie gave me one of his best, the Sweet Music Line. Of the 5 sons, the lowest number of wins for each rooster was 4. One won 7 times. Another line is that of Solar Splendor, which Joey Lacson gave me. Solar Splendor is the broodcock of my present-day Blueface broodstags, Jacky Chan and Tyson. They break high with multiple shuffle, side step, salto, and are wise fighters.

Well, ypu might be getting more confused with all these strains and their stories. Better come and visit me at Pitbull GameFarm in Lipa City or give me a call at (043) 756-2274 / cellphone # 0919-4008773.

Maybe, someday, you’ll also know just how precious your chickens are.

The Fightingcock
Volume XII
Number 6