Taming the Game fowl
Roosterman No. 11; January, 2012
Taming the Game fowl
He may even eat some of the " goodies " you have placed there for him. But keep your hands on him gently all the time, and make no quick or fast moves.
Taming should begin while the chicken is young, moreover when it is for stag fighting.
After a minute or so, lift him gently off the board, rub him for a few seconds, and then carefully ease him into his cock stall, releasing him slowly, and quietly close the door. I ' ve gone into this with much detail which sounds like kindergarten stuff, yet I know countless men who have been conditioning roosters for 60 years who to this moment have their twice a day " go-around " with the cocks in their care. They never fail to remark when they visit me how tame my birds are and what a tussle they have with theirs. My birds aren ' t tame. By nature they are not as tame as theirs are since mine are more high strung. It ' s all a matter of how you handle them, and particular, how you start in.
The first few times you take a cock out of a conditioning stall is another critical time. Do this very quietly and very gently. By all means avoid getting him " het up " and flouncing around in there. Better to leave him in there than to get him all excited and fighting you. Sometimes you can divert his attention with feed in his cup so that you can get your hands on him gently without raising a fuss. Once in hand remove him slowly from the cock stall, pet him for a few seconds, then put him on the work bench where the " goodies " are, and walk him around for a while as you did the first time. Don ' t attempt to " work " him those first few trips. Rather, concentrate on having him aquainted with the place and liking it there.
Another dandy tidbit to put on the work bench for taming a cock are little pieces of unsalted butter about the size of a pea. They love it; dance and jump around calling the hens and forget all about you and being afraid. While he is in that mood, take your hands off him and back away a step or two so that he owns the work bench himself. It ' s his now. Then slowly approach him with your hands down rather than extended as if to catch him and when you get alongside him, slowly and gently put your hands back on him, move him around a little, pick him up, pet him a few times, and carefully return to his stall.
Third:
All this seems like an awful lot of detail and actually takes longer to read than to do it, but if done right the first few times it pays big dividends, and saves a tremendous amount of time for all the remainder of the keep, to say nothing of avoiding countless scratches and bruises to yourself. In a couple of days you should be able to open the cock stall door and have the cock come out to you by himself, fly to the work bench, crow and strut around without your laying a hand on him. That ' s when you ' ll be glad you spent all that care with him at the beginning. Now you can work him with pleasure instead of engaging in a " free for all " twice a day. That same relationship carries over when you move him from pen to pen. He will be right at the door waiting for you to pick him up and carry him to new quarters. He always enjoys changes.
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