Preparing for stag wars
Stag season is forth coming. The most important thing is the quality of your stags. But it is not every thing in stag fighting. One other important factor is conditioning. Prior to conditioning is the pre-conditioning, physical and equally important is psychological. Here are some tips.
Stag tip no. 1 First things we have to do immediately after harvesting the stags is to delouse, de-worm (better with natural dewormer) and put stags in a small enclosure to tame them. A false tie-cord put alternately on the legs will accustom the stags to the tie-cord. When the stags have been tamed and ready, you may transfer them to the cording area.
Stag tip no. 2 It is better to place the harvested stags first in small pens to tame them quicker. In smaller confinement it is easier to catch the stags when administering the post-harvest care such as delousing, deworming, injection of supplements and bacterial flushing. Later they will be transferred to bigger pens and the cord.
Stag tip no. 3 Hardening pens. Hardening pens should be spacious enough to accommodate the stag and pullet and high enough for the pair to roost. Adequate measurement will be 5x5x5’ or 6x6x6’ although of course the bigger the better.
Stag tip no. 4 Tie-cords. Aside from the regular tie cords, you may also prepare some high cords and long or running cords. High cords will exercise the stags’ wing and breast muscles. Long or running cords will exercise the legs and thigh muscles. The stags may take turns in occupying the different types of tie cords. The stags should also be placed in scratch boxes regularly. An area with available artificial lights will be very helpful in pre-conditioning and conditioning the stags.
Stag tip no. 5 Pullets. Prepare enough pullets to accompany the stag in confinement. When the stag is caught it should be placed in the small pen to tame it and also for easier application of immediate post harvest care. After a while the stags will be rotated from the hardening pens with pullets to the different tie cords and back.
Stag tip no. 6 Dubbing may be done 30-45 days after harvest. This is approximately also 45-60 days before the fight. Straight combs should be dubbed earlier to give more time for recovery because straight combed stags suffer bigger wounds and lose more blood when dubbed. Also stags with combs that interfere with the eyesight.
Stag tip no. 7 Preconditioning may begin after dubbing. Stags may be sparred more frequently at this point, 2 or even 3 times a week. But sparring should be limited to 3-4 buckles. Stags should be placed in the scratch box at least once a day and immediately every after sparring. Scratching will loosen up the muscles that were stressed by sparring. During the days stags are not sparred they should be trained by kahig and sampi. Always take care that in the midst of all these exercises you don’t overwork the young warriors .
Stag tip no. 8 Immediately after harvest, delouse, de-worm and give the stags some antibiotics for bacterial flushing. From this point on, vitamin and mineral supplements may be given regularly. There are natural de-wormers that are effective. There is a set of natural dewormer, probiotic and flax seed for cardio vascular care that is very beneficial to chickens particularly during pre-con and conditioning.
Stag tip no. 9 Others give some their stags steroids and androgens. But unless you are familiar with the use or willing to study the intricacies of the application, it is advisable to stick to natural means of enhancing the stags testosterone level. The company of a female may do the trick.
Stag tip no. 10 Pound for pound, stags ought to have more nutrients than cocks. Because, whereas cocks need nutrients just for maintenance of bodily functions and locomotion, stags need additional nutrients essential for growth. For stags crude protein contents of the feeds should be around 17-18%. You may feed pigeon pellets and a little grains but add occasional whole eggs and beef liver to raise the protein level. This is more economical and efficient than feeding with expensive hi protein pellets.
Stag tip no. 11 Stags also require more calcium and other minerals. Immediately after harvest we at RB Sugbo provides stags access to flax seed to compensate for proteins and omega 3 that were readily available to them while they were in the range but not when already confined to pens and tie cords.
Stag tip no. 12 Probiotics are also necessary to replenish the good bacteria that were killed along with the bad with the application of antibiotic for flushing. One of the negative aspects in using anti-biotic is that antibiotic cannot distinguish good bacteria from the bad and will kill both.
Stag tip no. 13 Most important, in the care of stags for fighting, is to keep in mind that in stag fighting we are trying to hasten the development of the chicken. We are trying to accomplish in a few months what would naturally take 2 years or more. We want to have a chicken mature enough for fighting at about 9 months of age.
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