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Breeding game birds is a big and lucrative market in the cockfighting industry. However, it is a tedious and lengthy undertaking that requires full-time attention, patience, commitment, and care. If you’re interested in establishing your own game fowl breeding business and want to ensure success in breeding, here’s a short primer for you.
What Breed of Chicken Is Often Used in Cockfighting?
There are many gamefowl breeds used in cockfighting. Each game fowl breed has its own traits and characteristics that make them suitable fighters in the pit. Some of the most popular breeds that are used in cockfighting are the Kelso, Peruvian, Hatch, American Game, Radio, and Asil. Typically, the most popular breeds are also the toughest breeds around. They are also seen as the most aggressive.
How Do You Successfully Breed Gamefowl Chickens?
Gamefowl breeding requires absolute commitment and a lot of patience as it can be a very challenging undertaking. Certainly, a lot of the work is done by the rooster but there are certain aspects that a breeder can control to ensure that the breeding is successful. Here are some tips to help you produce quality gamefowl.
Acquire Information and Establish Your Goals
The first step to doing anything is to acquire as much information as you can. Thoroughly know what you are getting into, know the highs and lows, and figure out the hardships and successes of this kind of business. It also helps to visit experienced breeders and observe their methods of raising gamefowl.
There are also many resources available on the internet that can provide you with the information you need. You can also meet numerous cockers and breeders across the world who are more than willing to share their knowledge and experiences.
Aside from doing thorough research, the success of breeding your gamefowl can be achieved easily if you have a clear goal. A breeder can easily evaluate the success of matings and bloodlines if they have a gamefowl breeding goal.
Start Within Your Budget and Plan Accordingly
Plan your breeding program within the limits of your time and budget. As the saying goes, quality is more important than quantity. If you are just beginning to breed fighting roosters and you are careful of your budget, you can keep your numbers down through selective breeding and hatching. A huge farm is not a must to raise quality gamefowl.
Start With the Right Brood Stocks
Experienced breeders in the industry always say that gamefowl breeding becomes very expensive and wasteful if you begin with cheap brood stocks. Many of those who start with the wrong stocks end up spending more and losing their investments in the long run. In order to ensure success, you must choose a good brood stock that aligns with your goals.
When choosing a breed, scout for winning bloodlines or pick a bloodline that you intend to produce. If possible, find out the family tree of your preferred bloodline and try to seek the best source for the brood stocks that you need.
Specialize in Only One or Two Breeds at the Most
When you aim to be a breeder of premium quality gamefowl, you must consider specializing in one or two breeds at the most. You can do this by line breeding, inbreeding, out-crossing, semi-outcrossing, and infusion.
Line breeding is the most common form of maintaining a strain or a family of gamefowls that have the same physical characteristics and easily recognizable traits different from others. Line breeding is when a cock is bred to its mother, grandmother, or even great-grandmother. It also works if a pullet is bred to its father, grandfather, or great-grandfather.
Inbreeding is the breeding of a brother to a sister. This is important to accentuate or lock in the good genes or traits of your strain. Out-crossing is the method of bringing in new blood to establish a high degree of hybrid vigor which is breeding a game cock that is better, faster, stronger, smarter, and gamer than its parents.
Provide Your Birds With the Best Nutrition and Care
Don’t settle for feeding your birds with cheap feeds that won’t give them the proper nutrition they need. Instead, give them the best quality feed mix that can improve their form and health. Give them vitamins and minerals, and ensure that they have a comprehensive vaccination program as game birds are very susceptible to a wide range of avian pests and poultry diseases.
Keep Records
It’s vital that you keep track of each chick’s ancestry by having records and giving each brood cock or hen its own identification code. You can then use the code to mark each of the chicks with the identity that produced it. Through this, you will also be able to identify which pair of gamefowls to continue breeding with or to stop.
Final Note
An effective breeding program is a process that requires a systematic approach as well as great commitment and attention. Before you start breeding gamefowls, you should have clear goals in mind and draw out a roadmap for you to follow. The road of breeding gamefowls can certainly be bumpy but it can also be an enjoyable one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to breed fighting cocks?
It depends. There are countries, such as the USA, where the breeding and shipping of gamefowl are illegal. There are also countries such as the Philippines where gamefowl breeding is a huge and lucrative industry.
