![Picture](/uploads/3/7/6/1/37616355/cock-on-tipee_orig.png)
Of course, there were several philosophies on how to raise the chicks. Some folks claimed letting a hen raise the chicks was bad because the young roosters would learn to be afraid from watching the hen, though a broody hen - one sitting or with chicks - could be pretty cantankerous. Others thought a hen could naturally do a better job of tending the chicks than a human could with brooder heaters and feed troughs. Others had old hens that didn't lay much anymore but would sit the eggs and raise the chicks. We sold them what they needed/wanted whatever they thought was best - incubators, brooders, feeders, waterers, tie out cords or the parts to make their own,
When penned up as a laying trio they were given top grade feed, pretty high in protein (18-20%). They need access to oyster shell for calcium or the eggs are too fragile. I raised chickens for several years (common, not game) and found that shrimp heads boosted my egg production as did bones (from whatever we might be eating) that I softened up in the pressure cooker.
The stags (young roosters) got to a certain age, and they'd get cocky. The breeders referred to it "They turned." a in a boy turning into a man., Sometimes they'd pick a fight with one of the older roosters who were stacked out on a tie cord (see picture above). They'd have to be staked out themselves at that stage.
A man who worked with us at the feed store raised gamecocks and fought them. Most of what I know I learned from him or from customers. There's a pretty good article at the site I list here. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2006-12-16-cockfighting_x.htm
Some participants were immersed in breeding the fowl, some in the training and conditioning for a "derby," and some for the gambling. A "derby" is a scheduled match where a "club" (family name, home town, and one was "Rice Farmer Game Club") brought cocks. There were 3 cock derbies, 5 cock, etc. Generally, there were 2 categories, natural heel and gaff. The cockpit, usually in the same building as a bar or dancehall, either specialized in one category or had natural heel derbies on 1 day and gaff on another. On a side note, one pit (Cormier's, right across the highway from Jay's) sometimes had a turkey match or 2 on Thanksgiving - I'm told.
![Picture](/uploads/3/7/6/1/37616355/spur_orig.png)
Gaff aficionados were more vicious. They attached a curved steel gaff to the roosters "nub." There was also a group that used knives. These were "big money" competitions where individuals flew in from all over the world - particularly the Philippines, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and India. This genre was practiced at 1 pit in Sunset, La - the only one in our area.
The clubs show up at a set time with their roosters in individual cages. There's a match setting process accomplished by drawing numbers from a hat. They put the spurs or gaffs on the roosters and the first 2 competitors go into the ring carried by a handler. A referee goes to a basin and wipes the roosters' heads down and also the gaffs or spurs - just in case there may be any foreign substances - drugs or poison.
If you noticed the first picture in this entry, the rooster has no comb. Those are trimmed off. Roosters fight by getting a beak hold on the opponent and then giving body blows with the spurs. Having a comb would be a disadvantage since it would give the opponent a really good beak hold. They still try to grab around the opponent's head, even with no comb.
They fight until they get tangled up - in a clinch where they can't fight anymore (frequent in gaff fights, not in natural heel) or until they just quit fighting. Then the referee calls "Handle," and the handlers grab their birds. They back 'em up and turn 'em loose again.
Since this is all based on a rooster's natural aggressiveness to establish a territory, when they stop fighting it's pretty much a signal that the 2 opponents have established a "line." A more aggressive bird will fight for more territory and a less aggressive bird will back away. When it appears the roosters are ready to call a "truce," they handle the birds and the ref draws 2 marks closer together, which gets the roosters fighting again. This goes on until they are pretty much head to head toward the end of the match. When 1 cock can't fight any more, the other bird is the winner. The loser is usually dead or dying. Frequently the winner has such serious wounds that it dies, but it is quite common for the winner to crow when his opponent is down. These birds are bred to be aggressive, and it is exceptionally rare for one to run from a fight, even when mortally wounded.
Cockfighting has finally been outlawed in Louisiana, the last state to do so. I guess they watch MMA now.