How I maintain my Sweater gamefowl

I have a simple way on how I maintain my sweater bloodline so that I can preserve it in long time. I called my way of maintaining gamefowl bloodline “in and in”. In this method of maintaining bloodline I have my sweater brood cock and I want to maintain and preserve this bloodline what I did is first I selected two brood hens of different bloodline a lemon and Gilmore hatch hen. Then I breed my sweater bloodline to lemon hen (single mating). I mark the offspring of sweater lemon crosses so that I can recognize and identify then easily and record it in my breeding notes. Their offspring is composed of a 50% sweater and 50% lemon. Then I also cross-breed the sweater brood cock to Gilmore hatch hen (single mate). I also make a different mark to their offspring so that I can recognize them easily. Their offspring is composed of a 50% sweater and 50% Gilmore hatch. Finally when their offspring become matured and ready to breed, I choose the best offspring (stag) from 50% sweater and 50% lemon and I also choose the best offspring (pullets) from 50% sweater and 50% Gilmore hate and breed them. The result is that their offspring become more or less a 100% sweater and it really looks like the original sweater brood cock in terms of looks and characteristics. That is my way on how I maintain my sweater gamefowl bloodline.
My own method of breeding fighting cocks
The breeding of fighting cocks is very challenging because you need more time doing trial and error, money and effort. In order to become a fighting cocks or game fowl breeder it is important that you have a knowledge on genetics in order for you to produce the best fighting cocks that can compete in big time derbies. 
Breeding concepts like inbreeding, cross-breeding, line- breeding and others are also need to be understand by the fighting cocks or game fowl breeding. The concept of in-breeding is that you are going to breed brothers and sisters, the purpose of this type of breeding is to preserve the bloodline. Cross-breeding is the type of breeding were game fowl bloodline is cross-breed to other bloodline like the cross breeding of lemon to sweater. This type of breeding is used to produce a battle crosses. Another type of breeding is the line breeding was offspring is breed back to his mother or her father. The purpose of this is to retain the good qualities of a parent.


My own method of breeding in order to produce a breeding material is I choose a brood cock for example dink fair sweater, then choose two brood hens example lemon and the other one is roundhead. In order to produce a brood stag to be use as breeding material I breed my sweater brrod cock to a lemon brood hen to produce a 50% sweater and 50% lemon offspring and called it as output A. Then I cross breed my sweater brood cock to my roundhead brood hen to produce a 50% sweater and 50% roundhead offspring and called it as output B. Then finally I cross-breed output A to output B, then the offspring that produced by cross-breeding output A and output B is the one I use as my breeding material. It is likely the same characteristics with my original sweater brood cock. Now I can produce battle crosses out of the output from cross-breeding output A and output B.

THE MIKE KEARNEY FOWL

Without a question or a doubt the fowl fought by Mike Kearney of New York beginning back in the 1870's and ending with his death in 1916 were the gamest fowl ever in this country. Everyone seems agreed on that part of the Kearney story but there the agreement stops with a snap. For the past 15 years or more we have devoted no end of time trying to find out for sure what the Kearney fowl are or were and we have arrived exactly nowhere.

No two people we have ever talked to have the same story on them and we have talked to and questioned at least a hundred if not more. Many of these men who were alive and active in the game not only at that time but were well acquainted with Kearney and some of them fought against him. Probably old A.P. O'Conor did more to mess up the story of the Kearneys than any other 50 men in the country. He just wrote or told what he wanted to tell without the slightest regard for the truth at any time. Its a damn shame but there is nothing can be done about it now.

For years it seemed generally agreed that Kearney came over from Ireland in 1870 and brought with him both Brown Reds and Whitehackles. But there are many who right today insist Kearney brought with him nothing but some very poor Brown Reds. Others claim the Brown Reds he brought were the gamest and stoutest fowl ever to land in America. "Quills in their wings as big as pencils, no end to their gameness" etc. etc. Several we have talked to agree that Kearney did not bring any Whitehackles with him or get any from Ireland after he got here. Still others contend he sent his uncle Mike Quinn to Ireland several times to bring back specimens of both families.

One man who knew Kearney very well tells us he never had ANY good fowl, either Brown Reds or Whitehackles until after he fought Denny Mahoney a main near N.Y. years and years ago. After he got fowl from Mahoney and those were the famous Kearney Whitehackles? One thing seems certain he did have good Whitehackles but where they came from no one seems to know but everyone is ready and willing to argue until hell freezes over that he knows without any question marks. A departed friend of ours stopped to see Mike Kearney many years ago and asked him this question. "Mr. Kearney would you show me one of your pure Kearney Whitehackles?" Kearney told him he would, reached in a feeding coop and brought out a PEACOMB cock and handed him to him. "That's one he said." Well, if there is one thing all the students of Kearney history agree on it is that the Kearney Whitehackles were a strictly straight comb family of fowl. Yet Kearney himself shows one as a pure Kearney and he has a pea comb or what we call a roundhead. With such contradictions as that to contend with, how in the world is anyone to get the straight dope on any fowl?

Kearney as far as we can learn ran a saloon and had no where to raise or care for fowl on his own property but in back of his saloon. He went to work for Duryea at Red Bank, N.J. and was in almost complete charge of the Duryea fowl due to the fact Duryea was often gone for a year or more at a time - in Europe. The story goes that Duryea had a family of Boston Roundheads he got from a Mr. Coolidge of Boston where they were well known. When Kearney went with Duryea he took his Whitehackles or some of them, with him and raised them on the Duryea estate. He bred them straight and he also crossed them with the Boston Roundheads and these were named by A.P. O'Conor and NO ONE ELSE - Duryea Whitehackles. It is claimed Kearney did not take any of his Brown Reds chickens of any kind and forbade him to bring any of them on the place. So -- Kearney turned most of the Brown Reds over to John Madden of Hamburg Place in Ky. From time to time Kearney would get some of them back from there to fight or breed, But Madden was said to have maintained the bulk of the family on his stud farm in Ky, until his death not so many years ago.

It has been said that around N.Y. city when Kearney was active some cockers would literally have given their right arm to get hold of a Kearney Whitehacle but very few of them ever got one or saw one unless a main Kearney was fighting. They say he actually didn't even want people to see them, let alone get hold of any. While Kearney was a famous cocker and had as game fowl as ever lived the truth is he was not such a successful cocker as many now imagine him to have been. One man we know contend Kearney lost more mains that any man who ever lived. Whether that is true or not we are not prepared to say. Old O'Conor used to say all the mains Kearney fought and lost were Kearneys and that the ones Duryea fought, with the assistance of Kearney were Duryeas and he won them all for thirty years. That of course is just more O'Conor hooey. They tell the story around Albany, N.Y. of Kearney fighting John Hoy a main which as we know now recall was won by Hoy 6-1. After it was over Kearney is said to have told Hoy his cocks were sick. "Your damn right they are sick now" said Hoy "but they looked OK to me before the main started." And from what they say Hoy was the kind of man who would have replied in about that manner.

Our own opinions is that Kearney fought chickens and lots of them long before he ever met Duryea. After they became associated they fought them together and at times when Duryea was away he fought some for both of them and at other times he fought them for himself. And in them they used straight ones of both the Bostons and the Kearneys and crosses of the two families. And probably Kearney used some of the Brown Reds in his own fighting, that is if its true that Duryea wanted nothing to do with that family. Of course O'Conor claims the Duryea were part Kearney Brown Reds but the less attention paid to ANYTHING O'Conr ever said or wrote the better off and more on the beam anyone would be. O'Conor would lie when the truth would answer better and that is not an exaggeration. In fact its doubtful if he ever saw Mike Kearney or his fowl. He told a long story of discussing the breeding of his fowl with Kearney and the general opinion is that Kearney discussed breeding of his own fowl with only a handful of intimates. And we believe that. At the time O'Conor tells of his conversation with him O'Conor would have been a punk of 18 and Mike his usual crabby self so we can just laugh that one off.

Still another man we know and one who was active in the Kearney era for many years claims Kearney did not bring any Brown Reds over from Ireland that he got them from a man named McCann of Albany, N.Y. So you can take your choice of what he brought with him and what he got after he was here. Certain it is that he was noted for the gameness of his fowl, whatever they were and wherever they came from. And at that time or rather the time Kearney was active and it covered a wide span of years, his vicinity (N.Y.); as noted for the gameness of their fowl. And it has been stated by many who SHOULD know that 90% of the game ones around thereat that time either were straight Kearney stuff or crosses of them.

Judge Wells story of these fowl is well written and considered by many to be absolutely authentic. Others claim its ALL wrong, none of it right! Take your choice. Back in those days cockers around N.Y. and in and around Boston considered they were very smart if they could keep the breeding of their fowl to themselves. Everything was a secret!

Many claim today that the breeding of the Hatch fowl were nothing more or less that a Kearney Whitehackle-Kearney Brown Red cross. Mr. Hatch without being asked, the year before his death and while attending the Claymore tournament in N.Y. state had this to say to this writer - Fulldrop "You have said some very nice things about me in your paper and I appreciate it. I am going to tell you how my fowl were started. I got some green legged fowl from a man on Long Island named (as we now recall) Lynch. I suppose you have heard of the Genet Pyle owned by Genet a member of the Tweed gang years ago. His Pyles were well known but few people seemed to know he also had a strain of Black Reds. I got one of the Black Red cocks, crossed him on the green legged fowl and those were my foundation stock. Of course I have added lots of new blood since then. Hatch told us that personally and with our asking him for any information at all. And yet I can name you 25 men who will claim its a lie. So how can one gather any accurate data on the fowl of others. Its fun to try but it simply can't be done. Ed.

(taken from Cocker's Gazette, Issue No: 46, 1988).

RADIOS

By Johnny Jumper

“Cecil brought me a rooster to train one time…and this rooster was very noisy. He was happy, happy all the time. So, I trained him and uh I’d exercise him and he was just so noisy. He had a great mental attitude. So, I named him Radio. I gave him the name Radio cause he talked all the time. And that…that name has stuck with those chickens since 1962. And course people call “you the man that invented uh come up with the radios?” and I say well I come up with this one rooster you know and so I bred him to 1 kelso hen then I bred him back to 7/8 of him and that’s how the…and I still have that family to this day. We call them Radios but they are red chickens with yellow legs. Their basic bloodline was 1/2 whitehackle I was telling you about and 1/2 murphy. They come from Mr. Murphy up in New   York. That’s what the rooster was made up out of, but we still have them today and they have such a great mental attitude. That’s so important…the mental attitude.”

Blue Legged Radio

by Marty Dutcher

The origin I’m about to tell you is from the originator direct so any disagreements with this should be written to me direct, as they did to the Marsh Butchers. I’m not writing a story about what someone else told me. You are getting it from the horse’s mouth as it was originated here on my two farms, one farm for breeding the other for experimenting.

It all started out back in the early 80’s when I was living in the Philippines. I saw Jumper Radios being fought in the biggest and toughest pits on all the islands, (Leyte, Luzon, and Negros Oriental) and I wondered where they came from because only the Chinese and rich Filipinos could afford them, not the so called back yard breeders – and they (Radios) were winning much more than their share so if you had money enough to bet on them you would win nearly 75% of the time. But if in a Bacolod City Pit be careful, because in this area thye had 90% Greys and the Greys by the rich cockers were hard to beat and they cuold of been Jumper Greys, maybe bought from Ray Al;exander because Ray came yearly to the Philippines at that time and was a personal friend of Jorge Araneta who owned the largest pit in Manila, which I lived only a short distance from. Many of the best birds in the Philippines came from the USA as well as Richard Bates, an American cocker, living in Cavite and tough to beat.

I decided when I returned to the USA during the molt season I’d try to buy a Radio trio. I inquired where these Radios came from and everybody told me they were Jumper Radios. So what diid I do as soon as I returned to the USA, I called Jumper and made an appointment to meet him at his farm on a Sunday afternoon. I was not only impressed with him and his set up but his birds also, so I made an offer to buy. Well, fortunately he refused to sell me any in the USA unless I payed him up front and only take delivery to my farm in the Philippines. Well this a no-no for any American cocker because my import permit cost thousands and he knew I would not accept such a ridiculous offer so I left without any Radios. My intent was to take only the so called pure Radio eggs to the Philippines and hatch them in the very hot country they were going to fight in.

I inquired at Clear Creek II Pit and Pumpkin Valley and was told that a cocker named Dennis Oakley was beating every one with his strain of Radios. So the following Sunday I went to Dennis’ yard and was really impressed with his Radios that he sparred for me. It boiled down to two pure Bull stags, so he knowing his fowl, I asked him to pick the one he thought would make the best brood cock. It ended up dark red and white legged. It had large diameter legs and the upper part of the leg was really muscled and right away I knew he had plenty of lower power. His eyes were big, his wings tough in back and the spurs were very low on his legs. I asked him to show me his pure hens and pullets and I picked out two of the smallest pullets he had, as in the Philippines many of the Radio hens were geting entirely too big with age, something that I refised to breed to.

This was two years before Dennis became cocker of the Year at Cooper State. Thank goodnes Jumper didn’t sell to me because every bit of my foundation Radios have turned out to be superior – which I accept as pure luck. God was on my side that Sunday.

Well, as the years passed Dennis Oakley became Cocker of the Year at Clear Creek II, our local pit, which is tough and if you don’t believe me try it or ask Oscar, Ray Alexander, Carol NeSmith and the top cockers in Alabama and Tennessee. Well to face the facts, here is the same blood that I’m sitting on that Dennis beat the big boys with so I was smart enough to ask the genetic experts how to breed them. I had already asked Harry Parr, after reading his book on “The Breeding of Game Fowl” and I asked Dr. Cocker as well as Dr. Goan of the University of Tennessee and also M.L. Fernando a genetic expert in the Philippines, and Gerald Ware of Arkansas. I knew how to maintain the pure family but I wanted to set a family from a cross because I had so called pure families of Wm McRae Hatch and YLH, GLH, which I understand from Carol NeSmith of Black Water Farms were Sweater McGinnis Hatch and I bred both of Carol’s YLH and green legged Hatch to my Radio cock. I have plenty of tyson single mate pens so I put a pure Radio hen in pen number one and in pen number two I put my Wm McRae Hatch hen, and in pen number three I put a Ray Alexander pure LRH hen, in pen number four I put a pure Carol NeSmith GLH hen, in pen number five I put a pure Carol NeSmith GLH hen, in pen number six I put a pure Oakley Kelso hen. So I bred pure to pure on six hens hoping that if I did get the “nick” I could get repeats. I moved my Radio cock everyday.

Well, much to my surprise, out of two of my WmMcRae hens, when her pullets were four months old they had blue legs which I understand now but didn’t at the time until Gerald Ware and Harry Parr explained recessive genes and XX and XY genes. So naturally I bred back all my Blue legged daughters to their father a white legged Radio but much to my surprise still only half my pullets came blue legged. So I did it the years of 1988 thru 1991 and in conjunction with breeding back all the pullets ot their father after the 4th generation, I bred a blue legged Radio stag to a blue legged Radio pullet and I’m now convinced it is from the Genetic trait Blue to Blue that usually produces Blue and has been set as a family as I’m getting repeats and have decided now to produce Hybrids that would be a 3-way cross consisting of 1/2 Radio 1/4 Hatch and 1/4 Kelso. I’ll have 64 single mate pens all breeding hybrids because the best combination could be 1/2 Radio 1/4 Hatch and 1/4 LRH. If I had a Harry Parr Grey stag I’d use him on top of my other breeds including my pure Radio pullets.

I saw a show of cocks fight at Clear Creek I that was only 1/4 Grey and he beat them all going 5-0 and ended up with the por. Ray Alexander did the impossible and went 11-1 in the 12-cock short knife in the toughest pit in the world using Harry Parr’s pure Grey cocks on top of Ray’s pure Democrat hens. I’ll try to catch him some day using Harry Parr’s pure Grey cocks top of my pure Radio hens also on my 1/2 Radio 1/2 LRH hens. I have never had any 4-way crosses on my yard period. That’s what they have in the Philippines and many don’t know it but when American cocker’s imported battle cross fowl into the Philippines for a specific derby, many of them imported a 3-way or 4-way cross, something that I have never ever used for breeding.

If the Lord is willing and the creks don’t go dry, I’ll be in Mexico with my Blue Legged radios and crosses in 1992. So I have a lot of people to thank because it was pure luck on my part and I fel that most the credit goes to the most famous breeders of alltime, the great Wm McRae. He put something in his Hatch blood that was instrumental in getting blue elgs because my pure hens and their daughters had greenish legs with a blue tint. Please do not misunderstand me as it makes no difference to me what color his legs are as I had one coming one leg white and one leg blue and they are barn burners but I really believe by using this Blue Legged Radio cock in producing a two or three way cross, could and should, make the best battle fowl. And once you hit the “nick” be satisfied and make repeats the way.

No way can I tell you with accuracy what went in this excellent Hatch blood and anyone that tries is completely hear say as all Hatch families have so many different bloods in them I doubt anyone knows. But I do know from experience, that whatever Mr. McRae put into his was the right blood. My opinion is for sure Blue face Hatch and McLean Hatch, because a lot of the offspring had greenish blue tint on their legs. So my expectations was to experiment and brred for 3-way battle fowl only, as it was pure luck how I got a true fmily of Radios. I started out only trying to get a battle cross of 1/2 Radio 1/2 Wm McRae and after much experimenting found the right combination. Now after four generations was a 1/2 + 1/2 and I was smart enough to produce this end of it not as a family and have found out that the blood from a 3-way cross is the best for battle fowl. Without the family to begin with you can’t get the 3-way cross. Remember, it’s very dangerous using Hatch blood as a cross, as there are many, many Hatch families that are croses to begin with so don’t give up, try them all. I have never once bred a brother to a sister so Ishould not end up with a bag of worms and many unknowns. Many cockers who think they have a 2-way cross probably have a 3-way cross.

So I will end this true Radio story by admitting it was pure luck and admit it was a team effort not by me alone and hopefully it can be one of the best pure families that you can cross to your best families and end up being some of the best battle folw of the 1990’s. Forget about the 1960’s, as competition today is by far the toughest ever. And hopefully they will not do to this breed what they did to the famous Marsh Butchers and stil call them Marsh Butchers. Come see me and I’ll show you the “proof of the pudding.” Good luck!

Hulsey Fowl

The E.H. Hulsey Fowl

Their start began prior to J.W.’s employment with Mr. E.H. Hulsey, Mr. Pipes was breeding and fighting the Barnett Wonders fowl and was very successful with them. In fact he stated that these were the best cutting fowls he owned.

Mr. Pipes had contracted to walk some cocks for John Madigin. One of these cock must have been exceptional as Mr. Madigin urged or suggested that Mr. Pipes breed the cock if he desired. Mr. Pipes bred the cock to a Barnett Wonders hen and raised six stags and six pullets. Note – These were all marked “out and out”. Mr. Pipes later was employed by Mr. E.H. Hulsey to feed and manage the Seven Acre Farm, bringing along the stags and pullets of the Barnett Wonders -Claret cross.

Mr. Hulsey at this stage of his cocking career was sold on the P. Dixon Travelers fowl. It was with these same fowl that Mr. Pipes fed and conditioned in his first main, and won for Mr. Hulsey.

The following season the six Claret-Barnett, as cocks were used in a main. In fact the P. Dixon Travelers were down 5-0. When Pipes started bringing in the Claret Barnett cocks and they won the main by winning six straight fights.

Liking their style and cutting ability, Mr. Pipes bred their hen sisters to a Roundhead cock from Vincent Hotines. This cock was the “Newell” yard of the Allen Roundheads cock and a many time winner. These were of the “Cripple Tony” infusion that Burnell Shelton made and stated that these were the best of the Allen Roundheads. Mr. Pipes stated that the offsprings from this mating were also marked “out and out”, like thier mothers.

These were the basic bloodlines of the E.H. Hulsey fowls when Henry Wortham came on the scene. That is, half (1/2) Roundhead, quarter (1/4) Claret, quarter (1/4) Barnett Wonders. At this time the fowl came both pea comb and straight comb and one could breed to which ever trait they liked.

When Henry Wortham came under the employment of Mr. Hulsey, the “Hulsey” were beginning to come on the small side and as a result their top weights were being borrowed from friends to complete their tournaments.

Henry saw a great need to raise his own top weights as this was the big weakness in the show of cocks, so it was natural that he was always on the lookout for a broodcock large enough to improve the size of the “Hulseys”. One such cock was a large pumpkin – colored straight comb that he secured from his days in Memphis Charlie Babb. Henry said that he never did know the breeding of this cock and didn’t really care as the cock was everything he wanted in a brood-cock to improve the size of the “Hulseys”. This yard was referred to as the “Babb” yard or family, and many came pumpkin colored.

Henry also made other families of the Hulsey’s, he obtained and bred a cock from Sam Bingham. This was called the “Bonehead” Family which was heavy in Marsh Butcher blood.

Another yard was from a Dark Mahogany red cock from Beaumont, Texas. This cock was heavy in Claret blood and was used by Henry in several important events. It was later used as a broodcock giving rise to what was known as the “Beaumont Yard.”

Another Sub-Family was made from the R.E. Doyle Reds. These were made by Mr. Doyle and not Henry, although Henry furnished Mr. Doyle with brood cocks on several occasions. A good number of this family was used in Florida tournaments after the Walton-Wortham forces joined together after the World War II.

In the later year of the combination of Walton-Wortham forces, Hatch blood was infused.

Today there are very few people as Transplanted Okie says who might have like them like they were in the 1930’s and 1940’s, but at one time the breeders of this grand old strain were men like Maurice White, R.E. Doyle, B.L. Saunders, Al Jacobs and last but not least Norman Paine of Oxford Mississippi. Most are all gone.

well friends, to give credit to transplanted Okies efforts on this article, satisfaction is his to have shared an insight on the history of the grand old strain of the E.H. Hulsey Fowl.

Hennies

Irish Hennies

History of the Irish Hennies!

History of the Hennies i got from Rick Bohn of California Gamefarm: In about the year 1890, there was a strain of Hen Feathered Games, in the hands of cockers in & around Jackson, Michigan. They attracted attention from the fact that they were apparently invincible.

While in the hands of John Neil & the Robson Brothers, they defeated all new comers & most of the old strains, that were represented at that time. In fact, when a well conditioned Hen Cock was theown into the pit, it was almost impossible to get a bet on him.

As to their breeding or origin, they came from a William Blair of Pontiac, Michigan, about 1880. Mr. Blair’s fowl were believed to be descendants of a trio of Hennies, from an old Irishman. This old Irishman brought them over to Quebec in a wicker basket some years prior to this. Old Jack Neil kept Hennies from this stain until his death in 1921.

About twenty-five percent of the Hennie stags will be long feathered until they molt out as cocks, nearly all then become hen feathered. Colors run from brown to black, with generally a few lighter colored feathers in hackle.

As a cross they usually put speed in another strain & produce a large percentage of Hen feathered males. In several instances crosses of Hennie have wiped out strains thought to be invincible.

Hennies

by Paul Dawson (1976)

I have been asked many times how the Hennies were made up – what crosses were used. A Hennie is one of the very few Strains of pure Game Fowls. They were first seen in India and they must have come out of the Jungles as did the Bankiva, and when you cross them they are no longer a Hennie. I believe they are just as the Maker made them. Their traits, their fighting style, their speed and cutting makes them as different from their long feathered cousins as daylight and dark.

I have bred, fought and sold them for sixty five years so I feel I am qualified to write their history.

They came into England in the early fifteenth century and the good British breeders bred them to perfection and at one time they challenged all of England with their Hennies. From the Sports and Mutations they bred them in many different colors, including the beautiful Grouse bred by John Harris. They soon found their way into Spain where the Spanish bred them over their Brown and Grey Spanish. My good friend, the late John Thrasher, bred the Spanish just as they came from Spain and many of them came he-feathered.

The first Hennies were brought inot this country by a party named Story and they proved to be great fighters in short heels as used along the East Coast. Mr. Chester A. Lamb imported the Black Thorne, also the brown Hennies in the early eighties. He bred them for fifty years and sold most all of the old time

breeders, Hennie brood cocks. Mr. Lamb also imported the Kikilia from Ceylon. These he gave to me about a year after he imported them. My first Black Hennies came from Mr. Lamb and I also imported some great fighting Brown Hennies from England.

I never aspired to be a big shot, I bred my Hennies because I love them. I fought a few each year but never enough to make a nuisance out of it. They won for me and for my customers all over the world and after 65 years my Hennies are just as fast, just as rugged as in years gone by and they are bred and fought all over this country. Not in large numbers but by men like me who like them and they win for them.

A good Texas cocker has a Black Hennie cock that has won seven derby fights. Another Texas cocker who went to Copper State last season, saw one of my Black Hennies win his tenth fight in one short pitting.

In the early 30’s I helped W.R. Hudlow run a pit south of Chickasha, Oklahoma. I only had nine Hennie stags and cocks but I won thirty-four fights without a single loss. This was reported to Grit & Steel. These Hennies were fought with any one that could match the weight, the great Sweater McGinnis included.

I married in 1935 and my wife informed me that she didn’t like game chickens. I have five stags ready to fight so I told her if she would go with me and see them fight I would dispose of them. (A man will do funny things when he is in love.)

We were having a brush fight with about a dozen of the local cockers. I matched Sweater with a 4-8 Black Hennie stag; Sweater had a hot Grey Toppie that coupled and wry necked my stag in the first buckle. When I set my stag down for the second pitting he just rolled over on his back but when the Grey reached for a bill hold it sounded like a snaer drum and the fight was over. While I was cutting off the heels my wife asked me for some money to bet on our stags. I won all five fights and the best Pal a man ever had, my wonderful wife Opal.

So as long as I live I will always breed a few of what I believe to be the greatest fighting cocks on earth, Dawson’s Black Hennies.

The gene responsible for the hen feathering is not sex linked and is carried by either the male or female in different strengths. Since this gene is an Incomplete Dominant, Autosomal, about 1/4 of the stags produced from pure Hennies will be long feathered, 1/4 will be hen feathered, and the remainder will be of mixed feathering until their second year when they moult out completely hen feathered.

From an article written in 1891 Hennies were very plentiful in Wales and Cornwall. There is an account of a main fought at Ponterfract (in the country of Yorkshire) in 1670 of hen-cocks v. long feathers. The black hen-cocks of Wales were thought a fit present for a prince, and Pembrokeshire ( a country in Wales) once challenged all England with them.

Hennies are an old-established and well-known variety of British game fowl, from which they differ chiefly in length, form and brilliancy of feather, the plumage of the male resembling that of the hens, hence the name of hen-cocks or hennies, and the more rounded, short and free from sheen or gloss they are in the hackle, cloak, and tail, in short the more hen-feathered they appear in neck, wings, body and tail the more they are entitled to claim purity of breed.

They are generally lighter in bone than other cocks, having light corky bodies that appeared larger than their wieght at the scales, and on that account were never favorite match cocks with the old feeders at the “Cockpit Royal” who preferred cocks with more bone.

GREYS

Chocolate Grey Part 1 by Rex DeRusseau

The first part of this information came directly from Rex DeRusseau, of Kansas, a breeder for Dave Ward. Ward told DeRusseau that his Chocolate Grays were an infusion of four different strains of the old Gray bloodlines; the Madigin (Regular) Gray, The C.C. Cooke’s Perfection Gray, the Deans Gray and the Four Webber Gray, from Bobby Manziel Sr. Manziel and Cooke were partners at this time.

As far as we know, only S.B. Clay, Rex DeRusseau, and Sam Bingham had these Chocolate fowl. They come both straight and pea-combed. They will come with pearl, yellow, green or dark slate colored legs. They have a superb style of fighting, and fight as well pure as they do crossed. They are smart, aggressive, and game to the end.

Chocolate Grey (HOLCOMB STRAIN) Part 2 by Frank Holcomb

We took the above mentioned strain, purchased from Robert Logan, of Mississippi, we then took an Asil hen from Vasco Sibert, of Florida, and bred her under a Chocolate cock (from Logan), called “Number 18”, alwats carrying the same punch – right-out and left-out, and still do until this day.

We then bred this cross to a Lundy Roundhead, from Jimmie Johnson, of Americus, Georgia. We then bred this down until all fowl carried 1/8 Asil and 1/8 Lundy Roundhead. By having from 4 to 6 breeder pens we were able to keep this percentage in all of our Chocolate Gray fowl. We have experimented with other degrees of blood percentages, but found with out a doubt this is the best that we have come upon.

As to my way of thinking, the Chocolate in this confusing blood mixture is the very best that I have ever run upon. It is easily kept in this percentage, but also would be just as easy to unbalance it by putting new blood into them, or by crossing and double crossing.

Chocolate Grey Part 3 by Jim Gooch

As you probably know, I have been advertising 4 Webber Grays for a long time, since 1949. Through friendship, I secured the last of the Manziel 4 Webber Grays the late S.B. Clay had. Clay wanted me to get back into the game chicken business, and told me to look over his place and pick out anything I wanted for brood stock. I saw a well built Gray cock, about 6 years old, that Clay had in a stall, that had bad feet. I told Clay I liked his looks and he was too old to fight, how about that one? Clay gave me a big smile and said, “Jim, do you know what cock that is?” I told him I did not. Then he told me he was the old 4 Webber Gray cock from Manziel, and that this cock had been fought in 5 large tournaments and derbies. This cock was marked all 4 webbs out. Whether Madigin marked them that way, I do not know. I was under the impression that was Manziel’s mark, but Grady Hamilton says it was Madigin’s. Regardless of who marked them, mine were marked that way.

I told Clay I had better get something else as I didn’t want ot get one of his best brood cocks, but he said he wanted me to have the best and to take him, which I did. This was about 1949. He also secured three C.C. Cooke Perfection hens for me to mate with this cock, and I raised quite a few, and gave most of them to Clay, in appreciation for what he had done for me. I bred this 4 Webber cock for three seasons and when the cock became sterile, due to age, I took him to Clay, and Clay told me to destroy the cock, which I could not do, and left him with Clay, and he destroyed the cock.

The year Clay passed away, I gave him 6 Gray stags out of the old 4 Webber cock and he shipped them to the islands. The same year I gave him 4 pullets that he wanted to mate with one of his cocks to ship to LA in exchange for 5 Shake cocks. I asked Clay why the name “4 Webber”, and he told me because they were marked all 4 webbs out.

Mr. Hamilton said there were 3 hens, two went to Henry Wortham and one to Bobby Manziel, Sr. I do know that Bobby Manziel, Sr. had gray fowl that were marked all 4 webbs out, (4 Webbers, as they were called.)

Manziel was associated with C.C. Cooke and they had the fowl from Law, which fowl came from Madigin. I do not know when Manziel became associated with Cooke, but they did fight lots of derbies here at Waco, and Manziel fought lots of Grays when they were fighting as Manziel and Cooke, and anyone that attended these meets knew what records Manziel and Cooke made with their fowl. Both Law and Madigin got gray fowl from Hanky Deans, so evidently they were of the same breeding. It is a fact that Law shipped Gray fowl that were red in color, so after Law got these Grays, no one but Law would know how they were bred.

Bobby Manziel, Sr. was a good friend of Law’s, and am sure they exchanged fowl. Law let Manziel have a red cock, called “Repeater”, to breed over his 4 Webber Gray hens, and lots of white fowl showed up. What this “Repeater” red cock was, I do not know, but probably a Clipper.

As to the $1,000 hen, or Chocolate Hen, it is my understanding this hen went to Dave Ward, in Kansas. She was a gray hen with chocolate colored body, with lots of chocolate color feathers, hence the name Chocolate. The information I have from Kansas, this

Chocolate hen was a Madigin Regular Gray.

Shelly Clay told me that C.C. Cooke gave the grays he had their name, Perfection Grays, and in bloodlines they were the exact breeding of the Regular Grays. Cooke had a cock that he said was what you would call “Perfection” Gray.

I still have some of the 4 Webber Gray blood, and the gray cock that appeared in Grit & Steel some time back, the one that moulted out white is a pure 4 Webber Gray, and he is still on my brood yard, and is out of the old original 4 Webber fowl from Clay.

I had a very lengthy letter from a Red Robertson (or Roberson) that worked for Bobby Manziel at the time he had these 4 Webber Grays. He said the late E.W. Law let Manziel have new blood to use with his 4 Webber Grays, and that Law let Manziel have a red cock to breed over his 4 Webber Grays, and when mated, they produced lots of white stags, and Manziel did not like the white coloring, and gave them to Clay. When in partnership with Cooke, fighting at Dripping Spring Pit in Waco (Clay’s pit during the 1940’s) I did not see any white fowl fought by Manziel. Law didn’t know Manziel gave the fowl to Clay, as he did not like to see them go into other hands. Clay tried the white stags and they were excellent fighters, and this changed Manziel’s mind about not wanting them.

I do not know how Clay got his 4 Webber blood from Manziel, whether he bought fowl or Manziel gave them to him, Clay told me they were the best he had on his yard.

After Clay passed away, I gave Mrs. Clay two of the 4 Webber Gray stags to mate with some highly inbred gray hens she had. The stags from this mating were bought by Mr. Galbreath when he was in Colorado, as I helped Mrs. Clay dispose of her chickens. Galbreath bought both red and grays and when he moved to Orgeon, he got in touch with me and wanted some of the 4 Webber blood. Galbreath won a six cock derby with 6 full brothers of these grays, winning six straight without a loss. He entered another derby and used two of his 3 Spur Grays, and won six straight again. One of Galbreath’s stags was returned to me for a brood purpose, and I have him in a brood pen at this time. Galbreath wrote me he won 10 fights with 8 stags without a loss.

There is no question about it – anyone having this 4 Webber Gray blood, has just about as good, if not better than any fowl.

I have corresponded with Rex DeRusseau, of Kansas, a breeder of Dave Ward fowl, and part of this information came from him, and as he was on the ground, he got the information first hand from those that bred this $1,000 hen, and fought stags from her. He told me the $1,000 hen was in Kansas, and he talked to the man that ran the pit at Beloit, where Dave Ward, a noted cocker in Kansas fought fowl from this Chocolate or $1,000 hen, and Mr. Ward said the Chocolate name given the hen was account, as stated, her feathering. This letter from Rex DeRusseau was dated March 2, 1959, and he had bought Choclate blood from Bob Basham. As to where Mr. Basham got his blood, I do not know.

When I bred the 4 Webbers straight, I did not get anything but gray fowl. I got a stag from Clay, a J.D. Perry Gray, and used him over the gray I had, and that is when I began to get fowl that were red in color. This Perry Gray blood was a perfect blend with my 4 Webber Grays. Don’t anyone write and ask me what are the J.D. Perry Grays, as I do not have this information, and I doubt if Clay knew.

About 1957 I bought two white hens from Bob Basham, went to his place and picked them up. He told me they were Deans Grays, and some come white. These two hens were a little too old to breed, and I only raised one stag to maturity. These hens were mated to a pure 4 Webber Manziel Gray, and this stag came light red, with lots of white in feathering, and looked more like a Whitehackle. A party from St. Louis visited me when I had this stag, and I told him the full history, and that I had this one stag, and as I did not like his color, gave this stag to him, and he was shipped to St. Louis. The white hens did not moult out completely the next season, and were very short feathered, and they would not lay any eggs; so I have them to a Waco friend of mine and told him to take them to the country and turn them loose and they might freshen up and start laying. The last I heard of these two hens, they died and none was raised from them.

If Grady Hamilton is correct about the three hens, Bobby Manziel, Sr. gave or sold the hen to Dave Ward, as that is where the $1,000 hen went to.

The 17 years I have been breeding these 4 Webber Grays, I got one white hen, but the following year after moulting, she turned gray, and is still gray. My old white 4 Webber gray cock is moulting out this year with lots of dark feathers in his breast, and red on his back. He is not solid white at this time.

My pure 4 Webber Grays did not throw any white fowl, but if crossed on the pure Madigin Claret, you would get some white ones. I made this cross of 4 Webber on pure Sam Bingham Red fwol that came out of the Old Cedar cock of Clay’s and this mating produced white dowl, but I discontinued this cross and bred them straight.

What information I have, I got from the late S.B. C.ay, Rex DeRusseau and the late Sam Bingham, and I believe what they say about these Grays. Sam Bingham told me that Madigin had lots of Gray fowl with dark legs, and they came pearl legged, yellow legged and dark legged. Sam ought to know, as he walked hundreds of cocks for Madigin, and had access to his best.

So, summing it all up, the Madigin Regular Gray, Cooke Perfection Gray (bred by C.C. Cooke) and the Deans Grays are close kinfolks, if not exact bloodlines.

English Grey

by Cocking Cousins (1992)

In Britain, there are three well known strains of English Greys. Namely Felix Leach Greys, Colonel Greys, and Hawes Greys. Their may be others but these are the most well known and widespread.

Felix Leach, a racehorse trainer of Newmarket in Southern England, is perhaps the most famous breeder of Grey fowl over here. He took great pride in these fowl during the early and middle part of this century. They were and still are a good fighting bird and are used a lot in English pits. They are around 4 1/2 pounds and are low to medium station, aggressive pressure fighting type fowl, allowing their opponent no room or rest, fighting mainly low to the ground and looking to keep on top their opponent. They need to be dead to be beaten. My knowledge of Colonel Greys is slightly better, having used this strain of Greys myself for a few years. They come slightly bigger than Leach Greys being about 4.10 to 5.4, they are long in body and narrower than most English strains, looking more American in appearance. When right they are very fast, heads high, legs in front type fighters, they are also very aggressive. When “oure” they are prone to man fight, but cross very well for battle. They are light boned birds appearing big for their weight. They perform much better when fought in lean flesh and mature early.

Hawe’s Greys are not so widespread in England. They are very much like the Leach Grey, both in size and fighting style, in fact Felix Leach and Hawes were friends and its likely the strains are of very similar blood.

At a recent sale of gamefowl by Sir Mark Prescot in Newmarket, both Hawes and Leach broodstock along with American strains were sold in good numbers. They also made a high price by English standards. It was quite an event for English gamefowl lovers, being the only public sale of gamefowl in England this century.

I’ve also seen a lot of Black Grey Hennies fought over the years, though the origin of these birds is unknown to me at present, they have been game and always deadly cutters.

Well, thank you for listening, as you can gather we are not done yet on the gamefowl front. I even know of old strains of Creel and Black Toppy that are game and deadly but we will leave it for now.

Ginn Greys

The Ginn Greys were bred and fought by Col. S.A. Ginn, of Georgia, and their blood lines are unknown. Ginn and more used these Greys in some of the biggest and best mains ever fought in the south, and they made a wonderful pit record. They are still extensively bred throughout the country. The males come a light silver grey to a solid white, with hens the same color. Both have straight and peacomb, and some show a small tassel. Red fiery eyes and both yellow and white legs. Run in weight 5:00 to shakes.

Regular Grey

Regular Grey is said to be a combination of three grey families: the Law Grey, the Sweater Gray and the Plain head Muff Grey. Regular Grays come green legged, sometimes with yellow, silver duck wings and straight comb. They are medium to low-stationed, and are known for power and gameness. Breeders note that they are as powerful and dead game as the Blue faces. Because of these, many breeders have made Regular Grey as their foundation line.

JOE HOWELL GREYS: Origin: England.. Bloodlines: Tassel Grey Cock added 1900. Description: Light to dark Grey.

MISSOURI PACIFIC GREYS: Originator, Jack Dycus, Mo., approx. 1907. Bloodlines: Irish Grey, Joe Redmond Grey, Toppie Grey, Warhorse. Description: Dark Grey, dark green legs.

GREY DRAGON MUFFS: Originator, A. L. Shapmore, R. I. Description: 90 percent Muff.

GREY TORMENTORS: Originator, R. R. Raines, Ky. Bloodlines: Four greys, Grimble, Gordon, Ginn, Mortgage Lifter.

GREY SPEEDERS: Originator, E. E. Weller, N. Y. Bloodlines: Bohler Fair-Warhorse X Smoke Ball-Sangamingo Cock.

GINN GREY: Originator, S. A. Ginn, Ga. Description: Light silver Grey to white, red eyes, white and yellow legs, st. and pea comb, some Tassel.

CHAMPION GREYS: Originator, W. H. McCurdy, Ft. Payne, Ala., 1909. Bloodlines: Dark Grey Cock X one Ginn Grey hen,, Cock over daughters and inbred. Description, Grey, dark eyes and legs, st. comb.

HOLLAND GREYS: Originator, C. Holland, Vinemont, Ala. Bloodlines: Black Hennie Cock X Boone-Redmond hen and inbreeding. Description: Dark Grey, lead color legs, st. and pea comb, Grey and black eyes.

Law Greys

Around 1935-1936, Law named his fighitng Greys, Law Greys. In published fight club reports, he used to name his fighters, Canadian Greys. This was so he could remember that some of his fighters were Hanky Dean Greys, bred in Canada for Col. John Madigan. Law Greys were yellow and white legged. All were straight combed. They were the exact same blood as the Red Madigin Clarets.
The Law Greys were infused with O’Connel Albany (hen side) under a Madigan Grey cock. The yellow leg becoming more common with a white leg still expected. A later infusion of McNerney Greys solidified the predominance of yellow legs over the white. Law crossed these on a lot of his other good fowl and advertised and sold a lot of fowl.

A successful cross was the Law greys to Madigan’s Texas Rangers. These came dark legged. Therefore, if you have dark legged Law Greys and the trait is due to Law’s breeding and not some other breeder afterward. Some Boston Roundhead was also bred into some matings.

As cocker legends have it, those Law cocks would wander for a mile and DRAW another cock into them and snuff him of his living chicken. More than a bloody heel they had the DEATH HEEL, really strong hitting roosters.
Harold Brown Greys

Harrold Brown who originated Red Fox Farm and John O Fowler were partners and developed these gamefowl. The strain goes back to 1937 J.D. Perry called them perfect chickens as Post Oak perfected the fowl even further. Some come blue legged just like Harold Browns Red Fox Farm Greys or Post Oak Greys.
The Harold Brown Greys are also known as Silver Back, colored Greys in their Purity or simply called the Silver Greys.
They are an excellent as pure stock gamefowls that can withstand heavy inbreeding for years or used as a foundation for other crosses…when you have a foundation blood that can withstand long term inbreeding to maintain their purity without losing their vigor and other attributes, that shows how special this line of Greys truly are. These greys have the “THUMP” behind their blows, you can HEAR them cut their enemies. You will be proud to own a Harold Brown Grey as part of your gamefowl stock.
The Perfect Talisayin: Regular Greys

The Regular Grey is said to be a combination of three grey families: the Law Grey, the Sweater Grey and the Plainhead Muff Grey. These three excellent and proven foundation bloodlines were improved by Freddie Wimberly who received Colonel Madigans gamefowl who late in age gave them to Harrold Brown and John O Fowler and are the basis of the regular grey bloodline and genetics. The grey feathering is a dominant trait – and an excellent bird to cross with the Hatch or Albany. These crosses are for that problem bird in a line up against you.

Greys from E.W. Law and Sweater McGuiness were perfected by John O Fowler and Jerry Hughes.

Regular Greys come green legged, sometimes with yellow, silver duck wings and straight comb. They are medium to low-stationed and are known for power and gameness. Breeders note that they are as powerful and dead game as the Blueface Hatches. They will enhance any cross with other gamefowl, providing agility, dedication, and lighting fast speed. Because of the similarities between the Harold Brown and the Law Greys, you can combine them with other bloodlines or other Greys for genetic enhancement and stability of a strain. In action, the Regular Grey fight like the whirlwind, in the air or on the ground. Most decent gamefowl can and will be hitting his oponent but the Grey has the ability to cut deep being a power hitter, and not just strike his opponent. Other fighting fowl are not deep cutters, but when you get your hands on really proven line of Greys, you have a winner….whether the moon is full or not.
Secret Breeding Tech: Infusion of Grey blood to Maintain a Bloodline.

Cocking sages often say that inbreeding problems (like more regressive traits appearing in offspring), in your pure stock or red bloodlines can be solved via infusion with GREY blood (to the reds). To restore the bloodlines vitality after so many years of inbreeding the reds.

The Regular Grey is known for power and gameness and is a bloodline from a cross of three other superior stock of grey crosses. This is why infusion is a smart remedy because it can bring the new set of genes to somewhat rejuvenate and revitalize mental sharpness, health, and other traits of the inbred red family. It is one of the best-kept secrets among old school breeders but they don’t want to talk about it too much. Another reason why most gamefowl breeders of reds, strangely do not sell off their own Greys.

Other bloodline traditionalists, usually old timers who only fight with their own strains and seldom fought gamefowl that were crosses. These were dyed-in-the-wool line breeders (using an inbreeding system, or breeding crosses only with the same bloodline, using a specimen from another farm).

The gamefowl they pit are mostly uniform looking, and uniform fighting birds, nothing special. Cockers of this cloth will exalt and vouch for the purity and authenticity of their birds\’ bloodline as their standard for competition. Until other smarter cockers defeat their pure stock with smartly-crossed murdering gamefowl.

Smart cockers of old knew better, once they notice that their strain is losing vigor, an infusion of Grey blood into the reds will be their secret tech to bring the vigor back without changing their general physical conformation. Of course, this is done as discreetly as possible, because crosses are believed to ‘taint’ pure stock and undermine the breeders reputation as providers of pure bloodlines.

But today, there is no snobbery anymore as far as infusion of bloodlines into stock is concerned. If pure stock is indeed maintained, it is done so a base bloodline with its identifiable and known traits can be used for infusion to either maintain or improve another bloodline. An outstanding specimen of a pure breeding stock (free of fault) commands a premium price to serious breeders. A pureblood sire bull cock can fetch up to a hundred thousand dollars while significantly less for any of his brothers. Serious gamefowl hobbyists are willing to pay the price to acquire the bull cock.

Crossing a pure grey cock to the red hens will produce all greys (1/2 grey, 1/2 red in pedigree), both males and females. Breeding back the grey offspring stags to the red hens wil give both reds and greys stags and pullets. The resulting genotype will be pure red although they are 1/4 grey 3/4 reds in their pedigree. Thus, the infusion introduces new blood but does not dilute the core genetic bloodline to an extent that it becomes a different fighting cock altogether.
The Fabled Grey / Kelso Cross


Like the Sweater Grey, the Grey Kelso is one of the newer strains that promise awesome fighting prowess in the pit. Combining power hitting, gameness, fighting smarts like weaving and side-stepping and NOT jumping up to meet an attacker but waiting for him to land then launching its own air attack, the Grey Kelso is an improvement of the two strains, with the Grey as the dominant genotype of the two.

Redquills

Eslin Redquills by Redquill Rooster

Long ago and far away, in England, there lived a family of cockfighters The Elsins or Eslins, which ever you prefer. This family owned a strain of terrific leg fighting fowl with unexcelled speed, topping, and cutting ability. By topping I mean that they were very seldom if ever topped. They always started fast and ferocious, shuffling and cutting their opponent to pieces. If they did not win quickly they usually did not win at all. The fowl came to a bright red-orange in color, with black over brown spangles on their chests. One other mark that will come out in greater detail later in this history is their large jet black eyes.

Anyway, the Eslin fowl, Redhorse, were starting to come smaller and more nervous as inbreeding went on. Obviously what was needed was a cross of a different blood. The Eslins procured a power strain of fowl called Redquills from a family named Winans, who lived in Baltimore. They crossed this strain on their Redhorses.

Incidentally, the Redquills had red eyes and usually came yellow legged. They were long winged and had lots of stamina. Their tails were jet black (the Redhorse had bronze tails). However, it should be noted that this first cross (1/2 Quill – 1/2 Redhorse) was not, repeat, NOT very good. So they crossed the Redquill blood down to a quarter or less, and came up with the Eslin Redquills.

Today, pure Eslin blood is hard to find, and also it should be known that the pure Winan blood is GONE. So, anybody who claims to have pure Redquill, and their fowl are red eyed and just red or brown-red in color, does not, repeat DOES NOT have pure Redquill. It just is not so.

I hope this will answer questions and also shed light on the grand old strain of Eslin Redquills.

Redquills

by W.T. Johnson & Frank Holcomb

James Eslin bred a red eyed, yellow- legged , blue-red, topknot cock from his friend Winan over his Brown/red hens, which carried the blood of the original fowl Mr. Eslin’s father had fotten from Lord Fairfax (Fairfax was a friend of George Washington and imported game fowl from Lord Derby). These were duckwings, pyles and white-legged light reds. These fowl had many fresh infusions of Irish blood. They carried the “Old Hickory” blood of General Andrew Jackson’s, Blackhackle from Jarvis Elise and several infusions of Hansbrough’s Meyell greys, and the blood of the Mexican cock “General Santa Anna” and blood from Thomas O’Neil. The produce were first called YellowJackets and later Redquills. The Wellslager rose comb Brown/Red from Ohlenschlager was later added, as well as a Brown/Red Tasseled “Counterfeit” cock from John Goss of Maryland.

From History of Game Strains by W.T. Johnson & Frank Holcomb