BYC Café

[DobieLover]

Looks awesome, Tonya!

Thanks, Meg.

 

[DobieLover]

I've had an old school lesson taught to me today. I went to see the guy that bought the Asils I was interested in.
Some people may disapprove of what follows and I'm still not sure what I think of it myself.
The Asils are kept as pairs. They have their own runs and the runs are well separated.
These Asils in particular and probably many others have ancestors that were bred for fighting. Apparently it's not just a question of breeding for aggression because apparently it doesn't necessarily breed through the generations. Heart condition is vital in fighting birds. A lot of roosters die of heart attacks in prolonged fights. Those that breed fighting birds, train them for fitness just like fighting humans.
This guy does not and never has used his chickens for fighting but, he says that there is a lot of knowledge on chicken fitness in the fight circles and he wants to keep his birds as fit as there ancestors.
Anyway, I watched him training two roosters and I can't fault him for inventiveness.
He's made spur boots, they are tight fitting tubes with a small rubber tip inserted. They strap around the roosters legs. His wife made leather boxing gloves for the feet. They work really well although for the first couple of attempts there was too much padding underneath and the roosters lost their balance a lot.
So, he puts a couple of roosters in his training run and lets them fight for a bit. Even with the boxing boots on and the spurs covered the speed and style is amazing to watch.
One rooster can do a somersault right over the back of another.
He trains the hens as well but in a different way.

Can you get a video of this?
Do they ever go in for bites? Do they get hurt or is this similar to a boxer in training?

 

[Shadrach]

Are the birds still able to hurt each other Shad? Do they peck each other while fighting?

I saw very little pecking IM. It was one of the first things I was concerned about.
Mohammed says, Asils fight with their feet mainly. They are not stand in front and peck types. He does get pecked combs mainly and he showed me a rooster that did get pecked and he stopped the training. Tbh, most of the roosters here walk around with more comb peck marks.
Like I wrote, I'm not sure what I think about the training but on the other hand if I wanted anyone to have these birds it is was this guy. He really looks after his birds well and knows a vast amount about them.

 

[Shadrach]

Unfortunately I can't really. Cock Fighting is illegal here. Some people have had their birds confiscated just for having the training pens and paraphernalia.
It's a public forum.

 

[Shadrach]

Can you get a video of this?
Do they ever go in for bites? Do they get hurt or is this similar to a boxer in training?

Yup, similar to a boxer training.

 

[igorsMistress]

I saw very little pecking IM. It was one of the first things I was concerned about.
Mohammed says, Asils fight with their feet mainly. They are not stand in front and peck types. He does get pecked combs mainly and he showed me a rooster that did get pecked and he stopped the training. Tbh, most of the roosters here walk around with more comb peck marks.
Like I wrote, I'm not sure what I think about the training but on the other hand if I wanted anyone to have these birds it is was this guy. He really looks after his birds well and knows a vast amount about them.

I understand completely and it seems he's doing his best to prevent injury. I'm not sure I know how I feel about it either.

 

[sourland]

How's your new dog doing Sour? Is she up to participating in the field trials yet?

For a five year old, she is rather uneducated. I will run her tomorrow, but it will take a bit of luck for her to place.

 

[room onthebroom]

For a five year old, she is rather uneducated. I will run her tomorrow, but it will take a bit of luck for her to place.

You might have to just bring that one in the house.

 

[ShrekDawg]

You might have to just bring that one in the house.

X2 LOL

 

[Meg-in-MT]

I've had an old school lesson taught to me today. I went to see the guy that bought the Asils I was interested in.
Some people may disapprove of what follows and I'm still not sure what I think of it myself.
The Asils are kept as pairs. They have their own runs and the runs are well separated.
These Asils in particular and probably many others have ancestors that were bred for fighting. Apparently it's not just a question of breeding for aggression because apparently it doesn't necessarily breed through the generations. Heart condition is vital in fighting birds. A lot of roosters die of heart attacks in prolonged fights. Those that breed fighting birds, train them for fitness just like fighting humans.
This guy does not and never has used his chickens for fighting but, he says that there is a lot of knowledge on chicken fitness in the fight circles and he wants to keep his birds as fit as there ancestors.
Anyway, I watched him training two roosters and I can't fault him for inventiveness.
He's made spur boots, they are tight fitting tubes with a small rubber tip inserted. They strap around the roosters legs. His wife made leather boxing gloves for the feet. They work really well although for the first couple of attempts there was too much padding underneath and the roosters lost their balance a lot.
So, he puts a couple of roosters in his training run and lets them fight for a bit. Even with the boxing boots on and the spurs covered the speed and style is amazing to watch.
One rooster can do a somersault right over the back of another.
He trains the hens as well but in a different way.

Did he say whether that kind of conditioning made their aggression worse? Very interesting.