John Madigin keep

[bw]

The madigin cocks were always farm walked. when brought in for a main, derby or tournament, they where placed in a scratch pens and brought down to approximate weight by feeding up or down accordingly, by approximate fighting weight is meant within about three or four ounces which they would lose after drying out,etc. as an illustration a cocks comes in from a walk weighing 5.10 . it is decided he should fight at about 5.02. scratch him down to about 5.05 and he will lose another three or four ounces after drying out and being trimmed out. the cock house was a large room over a double garage there were windows and shades on each side to let in air and the shade to darken the room when the cocks were not being worked or fed, so they could rest. there was a small room about 4x6 in front of the windows on the east side of the building. the bottom of the windows were about 3 1/2 feet from the floor. against the wall, in front of and even with the bottom of the windows was a padded board about 18 inches wide and three feet long. on the floor in front of the padded board was another pad. there were always hens running on his yard. and they could be seen front the board in front of the windows. after the cocks had been handled for the day so they would be tame.ech would be placed on this board so he could see the hens on the yard. then he was taken off and dropped the pad on the floor. anxious to keep the hens in sight he would immediately fly back up to the board. the colonel called this "jumping the cocks". they where jumped each day at 11:00a.m..ten times...fast. he said this helped to empty them out and it did. everything was done on a schedule. work started at 4:00a.m. sharp. they were fed at 7:00a.m. jumped at 11:00a.m. worked again at 4:00 p.m. and fed at 7:00 p.m.. they were given 6 dips or water after each feed, morning, and night. they were conditioned 14 days and fought on the 15th day,inbetween workouts and feed the cocks where darkened. the grain fed during the entire keep was made up as follows: 3/4 of the total was composed as equal parts of crack corn { chops} whole oats with the hulls on, 1/8 barley,1/8 wheat. an illustration: suppose you were feeding a dozen cocks .mixe up two gallons of grain before the keep began. there are eight quarts in two gallons so mix up three quarts of corn three quarts of oats, i quart wheat and one quart barley. each cock got 1/4 of the white of a hard boiled egg and half head of lettuce was fed to all cocks at each feeding. this is they way it was done. say there where 12 cocks the white's of three hard boiled eggs would be placed in a bowl with half a head of lettuce these where chopped up very fine. with a food chopper. now estimate the amount of grain the 12 cocks require then put in all the egg and lettuce you have chopped up and thoroughly mix up. now take an ordinary tablespoon and get a heaping tablespoonful of your feed shake it until its nicely rounded and you have the amount each cock is to be fed twice day during the 14 day keep. FIRST DAY: at 4:00 a.m. give each cock 15 runs and 15 flies, fast. rest for one minute, rub for two minutes and repeat the work 15 runs 15 flies do the same everday. that is where the keep calls for 35 runs and 35 flies after they rest and rub repeat. for a total of 70 runs and 70 flies when the keep calls for 45 runs and 45 flys rest rub and repeat.for a total of 90 flys and 90 runs. also in running the cocks over and back is counted one and the flys and runs are always fast. at 7o a.m. feed, then give each cock exactly six dips or water. darken cock house. at 11:00 a.m. jump 10 times fast. after jumping put each cock in a scratch pen for 10 minutes. with about 6 grains of feed. darken cock house untill 4:00 p.m. same work as in a.m. same feed and water 7:00 a.m.. close up for the night. SECOND DAY: exactly the same work, feed jumps and scartch,etc, as first day THIRD DAY: exactly the same except increase work to 25 runs and 25 flys morning and night. FOURTH DAY: exaxtly same as third day. FIFTH DAY: increase work to 35 runs and flys. At noon feed each cock one once of lean ground beef, raw and rolled in corn meal. feed morning and night as usual. SIXTH DAY: same work and feed as fifth day except no meet at noon. SEVENTH DAY: increase work to 45 runs and flys. Wash feet and heads dry then trim them out the way they will fight. feed.jump,scrath , etc., same usual EIGHTH DAY: same feed,work,jumps,scrath,etc as seventh day except at noon give each cock one once of boiled ground beef. NINTH DAY: same as 8th day. no meat at noon. 10:00 a.m. put outside runs for 1/2 hour so they can take dust bath. TENTH DAY: same feed,water,jumps ect. decrease flys and runs to 35. ELEVENTH DAY: same feed,jumps,etc. decrease runs and flys to 25. TWELFTH DAY: cut runs and flys to 15 scratch each cock for 5 minutes morning and afternoon. THIRTEENTH DAY: no work. Scratch each cock five to ten minutes morning and afternoon. FOURTEENTH DAY: same as thirteenth day. DAY OF FIGHT: no feed or water unless the cocks are to fight in afternoon or at night. then they are given a few grains { 1/4 teaspoon} of damp chops on the morning. no water. the last two days { 13th and 14th} the cocks should want little water. if they have come on as they should a desire for much water at this time indicates they have fever and should not be fought. this keep was pubished by The Feathered Warrior