Sweater

There have been a lot of inquiries about the make up of the Sweaters who are arguably one of the most popular breeds nowadays. I too have Sweaters and will fight some in the coming days.

I would like to share an article that I read a very long time ago, and when I read this, it was already a very old issue. This was WAY before the boom of the internet so I had to rely on old gamecock magazines. This was written by Johnny Jumper, who we all know as one of the hallmarks of this industry.

Sweater McGinnis gave Walter Kelso a yellow legged Hatch cock whose bloodlines are thought to trace back to Harold Browns McLean Hatch. Mr. Kelso bred this cock to his Kelso hens and the offspring from the mating proved to be outstanding pit cocks.

Cecil Davis, who was a friend of Mr. Kelso, walked cocks for him and had access to Mr. Kelso’s best fowl. Cecil got one of the cocks which Mr. Kelso raised from the Sweater McGinnis Hatch cock and his own hens.

Cecil got this cock from Doc Robinson, who also walked cocks for Mr. Kelso. The cock was yellow legged and pea combed. Cecil bred him to five of his out-and-out Kelso hens. The offspring from this mating were the foundation of the Sweaters. They were called Sweaters because the Hatch cock from Sweater McGinnis was their grandfather. As the above indicates, in breeding, they would be ¾ Kelso-¼ yellow legged Hatch.

The original Sweaters were bred by Ira Parks, who was Johnny Jumper’s brother-in-law, a very fine man and an excellent breeder of gamefowl. Ira, Johnny and Cecil were at the hub of a group of cockers in northern Mississippi and Tennessee who were friends and cocking partners. Several of this group got Sweaters from the original mating. Some of these friends have bred the Sweaters without addition of outside blood and have them in their purity today. Other breeders have added infusions of other blood to their Sweaters.

The line of Sweaters which is bringing the breed such popularity today came from Roy Brady, who got some of the first mating of Sweaters, to Sonny Ware, to Odis Chappell, to Carol Nesmith and the Browns of Mississippi. Odis Chappell let a number of friends in addition to Carol, have his Sweaters, so the blood has been distributed rather widely in central Alabama in recent years. It has been excellent blood for all who got it. This line of Sweaters produces occasional green legged offspring, usually pullets. When asked about his, Roy Brady said that at one time some Hatch was bred into this line. This line is said also to carry small amount of Radio blood.

The Sweaters described in this article are typically orange-red to light red in color, with yellow legs and pea combs. Of interest, however, Dolan Owens of Booneville, Mississippi, acquired some of the early Sweaters and has bred them to come uniformly dark, wine red in color, straight comb and white legged. In looks, these two lines of Sweaters show almost no resemblance. This is an example of how a family of fowl can be bred toward different standards by different breeders and In a few generations the two lines will be like two different breeds.

Sonny Ware bred some Radio into the Sweaters making them pumpkin in color. Most people like this color better and breed to that end.

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Karachi Hatch

The World Slasher cup (WSC) is considered to be the olympics of cockfighting, as breeders from all corners of the world test their mettle and prove who has the best feathered warriors. In the recently concluded World Slasher Cup 2 2014, Eddie Araneta, a world class breeder had a great record and taking the runner-up post. I have been admiring Mr. Eddie Araneta for many years now and have always wondered how his famed Karachi Hatch was made.

This bloodline has been winning for 30 years now and the last WSC just proved that once more. Let me share the real make up of the Karachi Hatch to everyone as detailed by the great Mr. Eddie Araneta himself in an article and interview.

The Karachi Hatch

In 1966, Eddie Araneta invited Billy Ruble to come to the Philippines to fight in the International. At that time and up to 1968, the international fights were always a main of Duke Hulsey against all and thereafter, a series of big hack fights. Billy brought with him 40 cocks. In that batch there were 12 brothers that were marked Right Out-Left Nose (ROLN). They were sleek looking and lemon hackle red in color. Most were pea combed and green legged. According to Billy, they were 3/4 Hatch (Mclean & Blue Face) , 1/8 Whitehackle and 1/8 Claret. In that International event, they fought 22 times and overall they scored 14 wins 1 draw & 7 losses. They fought 10 of the ROLN cocks and they scored 7 wins and 3 losses. They scored 2-1 against Duke Hulsey and 3-1 against Joe Goode who was also here in the Philippines. The ROLN cocks were awesome to say the least. They fought real well and smart and every time they hit, they hurt the other cocks badly. The 22 fights that they had were fought in a span of 3 weeks in Araneta an in the old Paranaque cockpit now known as Roligon.

Up to that point in time, Eddie Araneta (E.A.) was not too keen in breeding as they were doing real well with Billy’s cocks. However, in 1967 there was a ban on importation of cocks and E.A. was left with no other recourse but to breed from this end. In 1967, Billy sent him 8 hens and they were bred individually to the ROLN cocks. At that time, E.A. did not mind the fact that a brother-sister mating was not advisable. The pullets from yard A were then bred to the brood cock in yard B. The pullets in Yard B were bred to the brood cock in Yard C and so on in the other yards. The pullets from one yard were never bred to their daddies. Using the same system, he bred the stags from one yard to the original hens from the other yards. These breeding yards is the makeup of the Karachi Hatch 30 years ago.

In 1995, E.A. was introduced to Larry Powell by Mac White. He invited Larry Powell to come over for the 1995 International Derby. Larry informed him on the authenticity of his Rubles. The same year, he acquired 2 Ruble trios from Larry and they have been blended to his Karachi Hatch.

We have to go back a year before,. in 1994, E.A. was introduced to a top American cocker named Bob Howard by another great Filipino breeder, Esting Teopacio. The Bob Howard cocks were Murphys, Kelsos, and Hatch. Bob informed E.A. that his Hatch blood were either Mcleans or Billy Ruble Hatch. There was one particular cock in the yards of Esting Teopaco that was a brood cock from Bob that was a pure Ruble. That cock was loaned to E.A. by Esting and he had that cock in the farm for 6 months. He named the cock Uncle Bob. He bred Uncle Bob to his pure Karachi hens.

To date, the Karachi Hatch 30 years after is more or less bred this way. It is 60% Billy Ruble (ROLN), 15% Larry Powell Ruble, 15% Bob Howard Ruble and 10% Ray Alexander Griffin Claret -Lacy Roundhead.

Thanks to Eddie Araneta’s Liza Galore for providing this information.

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My rooster from the market

This is a short story that I want to share. I absolutely agree that in order to win in today’s competition, one should have a good, solid bloodline and good feeding and conditioning. I just want to highlight something else that helps a rooster win, Love. I want to believe that the love and affection we give our warriors give them enough motivation to return to us after the fight. Let me give an example of this.

Maybe around 15 – 18 years ago, my father and I were walking in the market to buy what we needed for the month. I then spotted a very dirty white cock who had both his legs bound, as if he was being sold to be cooked. It was apparent that this was a fighting cock and not a rooster bound for the cooking pot. Granted that it was extremely obvious by the way he looked that he had questionable bloodline. I then approached his owner, a coal vendor, this explains why the rooster was so dirty. I then asked him if I could purchase the rooster, he looked at me from head to toe and seeing that I was just a boy, he gave me quite a high price for a rooster of that caliber. I then reached in my pocket and gave him all the money I had. I carried the rooster and showed him to my father. He then said that he didn’t like the cock and that it would just take up space, but I still decided to take him home.

I trained him like all the other roosters we had, gave him the same feeds that were given to our other warriors and treated him like all the others we had who were of good blood. But since he was special to me, he got more attention. I would get him in the morning and mid day and wet his face to cool him down and he was the one I would normally hold in my hand when I have nothing to do during the weekends. And he was the first one I would pick up when I got back from school. During that time we had lemons, hulseys, kelsos and hatches. Each new rooster that my dad purchased was sparred with my market cock, sometimes one after the other. My dad did this to see if we would turn tail and run, but he never did. After a few months, we decided to finally fight him in a hackfight. Once we entered the ring, the entire cockpit erupted and we were severe underdogs. He was pitted against a very beautiful hatch looking red that belonged to a known breeder in the area. The fight started in a flurry by both combatants and quickly went to the drag. He then outlasted the opponent and to the shock of everyone, we won! My market rooster won! The entire cockpit erupted once more but in cheers for my ugly rooster. That was one of our most memorable fights, my market rooster won twice more ending in 3 wins under his belt. His last fight cost him an eye and a piece of his wing bone.

That rooster showed the will to fight in order to return to us. This is why I believe that together with a solid bloodline and conditioning, we must also show affection to our roosters because in the end, they will give it all back to us.

My dad and I with my market rooster

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Mitra 56

During the 80′s, a Filipino breeder named Ramon Mitra had a dream to create a kind of gamecock that didn’t fight like the normal aggressive breeds at that time (hatches, butchers, etc). He then began experimenting with a lot of oriental breeds. It was rumored that he used Japanese shamos, Brazilian Aseel, Pakistani Aseel, Indian Aseel, Philippine Parawakan Aseel, Philippine Igon Aseel, Sumatras, Vietnamese Ga Noi, Spanish fowl and other breeds from all over the world.

Through his experimental breedings, he was able to create the Mitra gamecock or Mitra 56. There were a lot of theories about why this line was called Mitra 56. Some say that he used 56 breeds, others say that it took him 56 tries, maybe only his family can shed light on the Mitra 56 etymology.

The Mitra 56 gamecocks were fantastic and won in a lot of fights. The Mitra 56 looked very oriental, fought like orientals, very off-beat with all their dodging and dancing around the ring. The main problem with orientals at that time was that they lacked gameness, just a small wound would make them quit. But the Mitra 56 was very game, that set it apart from other orientals and imported cocks. It was said that Mitra bred a little of cowardness into his gamecocks, the purpose is to have a fighting style which does not mixed it up (a blow for a blow infighting) but is one with timing and deadly as a sniper. Very clever ring generals that side steps, backs up, waves, ducks intelligently, and the powerful blow (one stroke or multiple strokes).

Personally, this bloodline hits close to home as some of the very first cockfights I witnessed was my father using the Mitra56 fowl. My father was friends with one of Ramon Mitra’s children and he gifted my dad with a pure Mitra 56 grey hen. According to him, they don’t normally let the pure hens go to other breeders as Mitra believed that the hen holds the key to successful breeding. My father was so happy with his hen and she was his prized possession. My father then bred this hen to an imported Kelso rooster that he acquired. The offspring was very ugly, big headed like an oriental, and the feathers were sticking to the body. In all aspects, very ugly roosters. But they were magnificent fighting cocks. They never lost in their first few fights. If they would lose, it was on their 3rd or 4th fights. This combination worked extremely well for us. Unfortunately, as time passed, we lost this bloodline.

Currently, very few breeders still have the Mitra bloodline. Those who do, just have around 1/8 or 1/16 Mitra blood in their fowl. Ramon Mitra has 2 sons who are trying to revive this great bloodline, Dado and Baham. The exact make up of the original Mitra gamecocks may have been only known to the late Ramon Mitra, according to his eldest son Dado, he remembers the original Mitra56 to have 1/4 – 1/8 parawakan fowl and some bobby bowls blood both red and black.

Probably the last pure Mitra56. This magnificent rooster resides in Dado Mitra’s farm.

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Lemon 84

This is a fantastic line which worked well for me. I got my Lemon 84 Armalite line broodstag and pullet from Doc Teddy Tanchangco of queens TJT game farm in the Philippines. When I purchased that pair, I was quite young and didn’t have a lot of money to spend on gamecocks, but Doc Teddy was kind enough to give me a discount (a big one at that). My father and I went to his house to personally select the pair, they were part of his personal stock that’s why they were at his house and not the farm. Doc Teddy told me that he got his original Lemon 84 brood fowl from Paeng Araneta who created the lemon 84 line.

The Lemon 84 bloodline was established back in the 60’s and is still winning to this day. The name lemon 84 came from the original lemon broodcock that Paeng got from Duke Hulsey, and the number 84 came from the leg band of that specific cock. In an exclusive interview, Paeng explained what this coveted bloodline is. He said that the Lemon 84s are what they are, lemon hackled Duke Hulsey chickens. Duke told Paeng that they consist of hatch – butcher – clarets which has been set as a strain because through the years, they have remained as they are and have attained a certain ability in the pits where they cut well and they have a certain defensiveness with precise timing. Contrary to popular belief that the lemon 84s only come as pea combed, Paeng says that they also come as straight combed. The original lemon 84 broodcock was a pea combed rooster but he has a straight combed full brother. they were both marked left in from Duke. When these lemons are inbred, sometimes a green legged chicken comes out, Paeng said that he loves the green legged lemon 84s because they fight the same as the yellow legged ones but they are somewhat stronger.

How they look: 

• Light reds but on occasion some dark reds come out with a light red ring around the hackles. 
• Yellow legs but sometimes throws green legs. 

How they perform: 

• Excellent cutting 
• Very game

The master, Paeng Aranets

Doc Ted Tanchangco

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Kelso

Walter Kelso, who died in 1964, fought his cocks under the entry name of Oleander-a type of flowering shrub that grows profusely in the semi-tropical climate of his home on Galveston Island, Texas. In the heyday of the pure old-time strains Kelso was a maverick. His Oleander cocks were simply a succession of battle crosses. For example, when John Madigin died in 1942, Kelso and Bill Japhet inherited all of his Clarets, Madigin Grays, and Texas Rangers.

Most any breeder would do anything in his power to keep the stock pure. However, Kelso wrote, “I immediately began infusing new blood in the Madigin hens.” Kelso obtained his brood cocks from other breeders after he saw the cock fight. He was more interested in performance than he was the name of the strain. He would mate the new cock to a sister of his best pit cocks. If the cross was successful, he would add other sisters to the pen.

More often than not, the pen produced worthless offspring and the cock was discarded. At any rate, that was the method used to produce the Out-and-Out Kelso family that is still the foundation stock for many of the best winning cocks fought in the major pits today. The Out-and-Out Kelso family was so-called because they were marked in the outside web of both feet. The cocks are generally black breasted reds (ranging from a deep mahogany to light reds) with their white or yellow legs and pea or straight comb.

About 1940, during the Orlando Tournament, Judge Ed Wilkins of San Antonio, Texas, fought a beautiful light blue Typewriter cock that won his first fight easily and was repeated to win a second fight on the same day. Kelso asked for and received this cock. The typewriters are a great family of game fowl made by crossing a Marsh Butcher cock over two Irish Blue hens from James G.Oakley of Alabama. The Butcher family is a cross of Grove Whitehackle (Lawman and Gilkerson) and the Marsh Gray Speeders, which are reported to be a combination of the old Santo Domingo Grays from the West Indies island of that name and Burnell Shelton’s old Knob comb Blues.

The Typewriter cocks were placed on a walk with some of Hill McClanahan’s Claret Roundhead hens. A blue cock from this mating was bred in 1942 to two straight comb hens from Tom Murphy of Long Island, New York. Most of the cocks were Yankee Clippers that Bobby Schlesigner of Charolottesville, Virginia, had obtained from E.W. Law of Thomasville, Georgia. Duke offered to let Kelso have any of the Clipper cocks he liked. Kelso with Sweater McGinnis handling had met Schlesigner in his deciding fight at 1942 Orlando Tournament. Kelso won the fight and the Tournament but had been impressed with the quality of the Schlesinger cocks.

Kelso passed up several of Duke’s easy winners and finally selected a cock that won against
a Hatch cock after 58 fighting over an hour in the drag pit with the odds 100 to 40 against him. E.W. Law started these Yankee Clippers by crossing his Clarets with Dan O’Connell’s Albany fowl. This Albany family was made by mating some hens that were Hatch, Foley’s Ginger, Roundhead, and maybe some Pine Whitehackle (Stryker, mostly), with a Hardy Mahogany cock (Jim Thompson Mahogany and Kearney cross). The Yankee Clipper cock was mated to two of the Left-Out Kelso hens to produce the original Out-and-Out cocks that won 85 percent of their fights in major competition over a six-year period (1947 to 1953). These cocks were 1/2 Yankee Clipper, 1/4 Murphy, 1/8 Typewriter, 1/8 McClanahan.

In 1951, Oleander won the Oaklawn Derby at Hot Springs, Arkansas, with a ten and two score. One of the Out-and-Out cocks won a quick battle and then was repeated to also win the deciding fight. In his second win, the cock broke the tip of his wing. This was the Broke wing cock that was mated back to three Murphy cross hens (probably from the Left-Out yards). In 1955, cocks from this Broke wing yard were fought in the Oaklawn Derby and Oleander won ten, lost two to split first money.

At the Oaklawn Derby in 1956, Oleander won four lost four the first two days of fighting and then on the last, they had a full show of the pea-comb cocks from the Broke wing yard. They won four straight to tie for first money with the Van Horne entry of Kentucky. It just so happened that the Van Horne entry was using cocks bred by Curtis Blackwell out of a full brother to the four final Oleander winners. In 1957 Kelso advertised all of his fowl for sale except the cock he needed for the events he had promised to enter. In the ad, his bloodlines are listed as Murphy, McClanahan, Claret and Albany. It was rumored that the Broke wing yard went to a major cocker for $500.00.

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