William T. Green in North Carolina

Mr.Green was fighting a small derby and had a little grey of some breeding that I dont know well Sweater asked him why he was trying to save him and Mr.Green said he wanted to see more about him. Well suprised by this Sweater said William dont try to save that rooster come by my house next week and I will give you some real grey fowl. Well Mr.Green who worked for Norris Barnes at the time told Norris this and they just couldnt wait they went right over to Sweaters place and Sweater had two grey cocks and a few hens he told Mr.Green these are the last ones left pure no one else has them he said people think they have them but they dont. He gave Mr.Green a cock and hen that where half brother and sister.

That is the history to the best of my memory told to me by my dear friend and hero Mr.William T. Green. The greys are super inbred these days and it really hard to get one over 4.10Ib but I still love them more then ever they are beautiful. Here is a photo of one of my brood cocks. Just so ya know I dont sell any I just keep some for myself to show at a few poultry shows from time to time.

oh almost forgot they are 100% green legged and Straight comb dont let anyone tell you any diffrent thats the way they have been for 100 years. They Come this way as in picture also some can come with a little dirty looking grey in there neck and back. Some can even come like the joe redman grey color some people call this chocolate. Hens come silver robin breasted or buff (buttermilk) I have also had them come Barred like a silver redquil or the Joe redman color. I dont claim to know everything about them but we have had them for 30 years. Please maybe more people could share some photos and storys maybe I could learn even more about them or about there creation.

Well to me they are the best grey fowl in the world. They came from a guy by the last name of Gillman from England he had grey fowl that was known as gillman greys they where a white legged grey.He had one that was part grey and part some sort of pyle. that cock got sent to one of three men in U.S. John Madigan, Hanky Dean , and Dennis Mahoney they bread the cock to a Kerney Brown red hen some of the fowl came dark grey and some came light silver grey and dark legged and I think some came light legged grey. Well they fought through them all and discarded the dark greys because they had no ability. However the Silver greys and light legged ones where very good and I belive Madigin liked the green legged ones and Hankey dean got the light legged ones. 

Well as time went on Sweater Mcginnis went to work for Madigin and long story short Madigin gave him the pick of his fowl towards his death Sweater picked the little green legged greys saying he didnt want the clarets that had to be remade every few years he wanted the little inbreed greys that where game to the core.

That is the same grey blood that made up the Blueface Hatch also but thats anouther story. Back to the greys Sweater fought those little greys for years and years his favorite cross being Leiper/Blueface/grey which is what he was handling when he past away at boxwood pit. But I am getting ahead of myself, Sweater met a man Named William T. Green in North Carolina

Gilmore Hatch

Gilmore Hatch

By BluffCreek

Lun Gilmore was a cocker and a good friens of ben ford,they fought birds with and agianst each other for over 60 years..lun gilmore accired his birds direct from sanford hatch and mike kearny ...when mike crossed the kearny brown reds on the hatch birds they were awsome as any ever bred til this day...sanford wanted to breed em back to the yellow legged side but mike insisted on breedin them one more time to the brown red side and produced them to fight.fight they did and won some derbies against everyone at that time,he wanted to breed a cock of his fathers breeding which was the kerany whitehackle to the sanford ,kerany,kerany breedings- from this breeding he had 17 black birds with white specs in them and over 40 brownred lookin birds,,he then crossed these back on the brown reds-having the kearny white hackle in them and hatch blood they came all dark fowl with green leggs-mike give lun glimore 6 hens and one dark red cock to breed over them=this was the origination of the gilmore hatch fowl -and the ben ford fowl-these birds was given and sold to gilmore from mr hatch and mike kearny...it did kearny mike s fathers blood -mike kearny sr white hackle blood in them and still till this day they will come spangle or dark ...!the next breeding that was the brown red and kearny out and out became the 42 hatch that jd perry dominated with-same fowl from same people except did not have the kearny white hackle in them...but mostly yellow leg ,and the black leggs made em all come od green legged.......believe it or not.....i knew collonel givens for over 40 years and he got his from lun gilmore in the early 40s and also got some of mike kearny jrs white hackles that was dark red and spangled.....and fought the kearny white hackle crosses at sunset and all over north alabama.....collenol givens and jimmy east were the handlers for john ovilan fowler from huntsville ala.when john fowler died jimmy kept has hatch birds and collenol givens kept the white hackles.....so the gilmores are 1/4 kearny whirte hackle-1/4 hatch- 1/2 brown red bred back to the 1/2 hatch 1/2 brown red and kept that way until he passed on- - - - still til this day all gilmores will throw a spangle every other year or so....depends on how there bred and where ya got them- - - so there is your facts- believe it or not- - - but if ya didnt get em from gilmore there yours MR KELSO* MADDIGAN*LAW*KEARNY*MORGAN* O 'CONNOR....there your birds- heres ya sign.......! before i forget...the mike kearny brown reds and the sanford duryeas crossed were very good fowl and after they bred em back makin the 42s the breeding back to the p combed hatch side was the ones they gave Ted McClain, and Thodore Mc Lean two seperate men...and the ones that were 3/4 hatch-duryeas and 1/4 kearny were the left nose hatch of the late Sweater Mc Guiness....Marvin anderson was in ww! with sanford hatch and become friensds in 1910 were they fought in north alabama in long heel mains which was all new to the short heelers....marvin s father had the Kelcy patts from ireland and sanford hatch fell in love with the long heel roosters....sanford gave birds to marvin untill his death,and marvin gave the patties to sanford upon any request of these men....and they whipped all round head fowl those days. which was dominating the early years....judge lacy was makin a statement at this time and was winning more than average in alabama and at the agusta tounaments.....the Kelcy Pattswere brought from ireland by marvins grandfather well before the civil war......no one knew there originality.... strait combed,lemon hackled,bigg thighs and wide backs and spangles came dark red with lemon around the bottom of the shaw.......the photographs are all black n white.....marvin lost them over the years do to hawks and eagles in the mountain areas of north east alabama....he owned the ranburne pit which was shut down in 73 due to his health........... Lun Gilmore was the insperation of establishing the hatch name in the south,tTed mclain routed the hatch name when he was dominating with the hatch fowl,sweater came famous in the mid section of the country,jd perry and blondy roland,harold brown ,ben ford,frank steel ,and curtis blacwell made the hatch name in the south east......the fowl that gilmore aquired were theone that won the orlando tiurnament from mr hatch and would have payed any price for those fowl...and was a very sharp eyed man that could recognise an ace cock....that made him a true breeder and respected in the gamecock fraternity...sanford hatch told marvin anderson that lun had the best fowl of the dark breedings anywhere and he would do well with them....at that time lun whipped leiper in a fight that lasted 6 hrs and 10 min.....both men strived on deep game fowl..as did all long heel men of the south at the turn of the century untill there deaths......Posted by Rick pena on Facebook

Roundheads

Origin of Boston Roundhead.

In 1864, John Harwood was head stevedore at East Boston docks for the Cunard Steam Ship Company. In that year one of the streamers brought over from England a trio of gamefowl. The address and shipping bill of this fowl was lost. The company kept the fowl for three months and gave them to Harwood. He paid the shipping charges. Harwood gave the fowl to his friend Ned Gill, who breed and fought them. They called this game strain the Gill Roundheads or Boston Roundheads. They were light red fowls with black breast, more or less streaked with ginger. The hens, light wheaten color. All had YELLOW legs. The imported trio had small ROUNDHEADS, pea combs and heavy feathers (same features of an Allen Roundheads if you noticed).

After Ned Gill died, John Mc Coy of Marblehead,Massachussetts got some of the Gill fowl and crossed this with John Stone"s fowl. The progeny from this mating went to Frank Coolidge and from him to Mr. Duryeas. Mr Duryeas Boston Roundhead has been one of the strain used for breeding the mean and vicious Sanford Hatch. Also, Frank Shy infused a fine Boston Roundhead from M.J.Bowen in 1933 for this Narragansett strain.

History of Allen Roundhead By: A.J. Jarret

 For the original cock of this family I am forever indebted to Dr. Fred Saunders of Salem, Massachusetts. I paid him the highest price ever paid for a gamecock in America. I took this cock and breed him a Grist yellow legged Grady hen. I raised 4 stags and 7 pullets. I then bred the old cock back to his daughter each season line breeding him until his offspring were 1/8 to 1/16 Grady and Balance Roundhead. By this method I increased their size, station, bone and muscle. They nearly all come yellow legged and often with white in their wings. The old cock was a spangle.

I then got from Mr. John M. Vines of Jefferson, Texas a very old cocker, 3 hens of his old inbred Cripple Tony family. These hens were dark fowl and legs. I bred the old original Roundhead to these hens. The cross was a hit and kept breeding the old cock to his daughters each season, breeding to the Roundhead side. This stock often throws a dark pullet or stag coming of course from the Cripple Tony blood. This family of Roundheads is one of the Greatest on earth. They are dodgers and smart cocks like a pro boxers of today. They use their head as well as their feet and they have won more mains and tournaments than any cocks known to the south.

Morgan Whitehackles - A little history

How to breed

Cock vs hen
Dad to daughter (3 times = 15's/16's cock), set a family

Mother to son (3 times = 15's/16's cock), set a family

Bring them together every 5 years
You have to be really strong minded in how you select.

BRIAN CORKREN 

SWEATER by Jesse Horta

a very smart gamefowl breeder, said that in order to win in today's competition, you should have bloodlines that can kill Sweaters. The current reigning champion of the pit throughout the Philippines is the Sweater, its swarming attack always overwhelming all comers after the last infusion by Carol Nesmith enabled a bird that once lost steam in a long fight due to its relentless attacks to sustain a fight until its opponent gave up the ghost. Because of this, almost all cockers in the country have Sweaters as part of their broodstock. Jesse

To make his Sweater Killers ( Jesse christened them as his White-Legged Sweater ), he crossed a Kearny Whitehackle and Junior Belt's Cowan Roundhead together at a 3/4 Kearny Whitehackle x 1/4 Cowan Roundhead ratio.

Curt Langston, another cocker who was lucky to get original stock from Floyd Gurley himself in the 90s, before the old man retired. Both exchanged ideas on how to cross and raise the Whitehackle for better fighters. Mr. Langston chose to breed with Oriental fowl, and the outcome helped him win 13 straight fights in long knife in his outing with the Whitehackle hybrid crosses years ago and recently he won 4-cock derby using the same Kearney Whitehackle cross.

Most other Gamefarms in the Philippines that had the precious opportunity to acquire Floyd Gurley bred Kearney Whitehackles to cross with their own broodstocks, like RED GAMEFARM have had very good fight records against othewr local top cockers.

The Kearney Whitehackle is always bred as pure stock and are often crossed with the Sweaters and Roundheads for a modern pit fighter that can go head to head with any rooster.

THE HISTORY OF THE SPANGLE HATCH

a letter from Dee Cox

Contributed by: thaGamest

The great speckled bird or better known as the Garrard Hatch or whatever you

want to call them, is an old breed of gamefowl that have stood the test of

time and are still winning with an utmost high percentage today. These fowl

have a long history of great breeding behind them, Billy Ruble who was a

famous man for his power Hatch cocks, Harold Brown had these Hatch cocks that

he and Curtis Blackwell got direct from Ted McLean. Harold let Billy have

these cocks; the ones they liked best were getting old. Billy bought the old

cock and bred them brother and sister, which came out spangled. Harold Brown

and Billy Ruble did not want spangled chickens so Ed Garrard got the spangled

fowl from Harold Brown. These were strictly POWER cocks.

Foxie was Ed Garrard's wife's brother, who was a referee. Richard Bates at that time had

the highest breaking power and cutting cocks at that on the circuit. Richard Bates was in a short heel derby and had a cock that had a broken wing and could not see. Ed got Foxie to buy the cock from Richard which was a tall, high stationed spangle cock.

This cock had to be fed by hand to mouth for a long time. The cock never did get to where he could see. Ed Garrard was determined to breed this cock; he was put in a 4 by 4 pen. The cock learned where his feed and water was. Ed bred this cock over the

spangled McLean hens then put them together. The Bates and McLeans came out

Green and Yellow legged. Harold Brown bred to the Green legged side, but got a

few Yellow legged chickens. A man by the name of Massey in Mississippi took

these and bred to the Yellow legged side with great success(but that is

another long story). Ed Garrard bred the Yellow legged side 5/8 by 3/8; Richard Bates bred both 5/8 by 3/8 together and made a set strain. The cocks were not only good but also reproduce well, and I have had the fowl since 1964.

They have kept on producing and the offspring have kept on reproducing. Personally I think they are better now than they have ever been. I took the Spangle Hatch and made a family, and also took the Red ones and made another family. Bud MacPearson was the only one I would swap bloodlines with. When Ed Garrard got sick, Bud and myself inherited these fowl. We got the ones we wanted. Bud MacPearson who was a great friend of Red Richardson got an Albany cock and bred it to the Spangles, then went to the

Albany side(the Albany fowl from Mr. Red Richardson is another long story of

great history). Richard Bates right nose Blueface bred to Percy Flowers Hatch..... May everyone have friends such as I have ,and had...

Dee Cox