When Cocks shou’d be Dub’d and Penn’d.
Let them Walk till the young Cockerils begin to disagree, and when once you find they are inclineable to quarrel, and raise up civil-Wars amongst themselves, you must speedily take them up, and if they are strong enough, cut their Combs and Wattles, and not before; for if you cut them too early, there will be no Comb remaining either to grace or guard the Head, and he’ll look so Capon like, that you will hate to see him when turned into the Pit. But on the other hand, if you let them wear their Wattles a Year, or may be five Quarters, as some unwisely do, they will then be heavy headed, and in spight of Fate must needs loose a World of Blood, which of all things is the most hurtful to a Cock of the Game; and, therefore, as you may not before a Quarter old at soonest, so you may not exceed three Quarters at the farthest, before you dub your young Cocks, for the Reasons aforesaid: And in cutting, if you observe this for a Rule, to leave the Comb round like a Half-moon, it will make the Cock appear as it were Roman-nos’d, or Hawk-bill’d, and will not only be a good guard to his Head, but will render him much handsomer to look upon: Whereas close cutting makes them appear sneaking, and also much weakens the Beak of a Cock, and by that means many times looses the Battle. But when you Cut, or Dub your Cocks, be sure to put them up into the Pens for a Week, or more, until you find their Wounded Heads begin to shell and heal; and this imprisonment will be of double advantage to the young Cocks, for it will both acquaint them with the Pens, and give you the advantage of often handling of them, which is the most compendious way to make them become tame and gentle, without which qualification, or good property, a Cock (tho’ never so well bred) is not to be trusted to Fight for any considerable Wager: for should he come to be sett, it is ten to one he skuts, and basely quits the Pit, and that more for fear of being handled by the feeder, than hurt by the other Cock, and so looses the Battle for want of prehandling, and being made tame, and gentle before he comes to Fight: And therefore, as ’tis a most notorious Crime in a Cock of the Game to be wild or shie, so it is as weak and silly in a Master, to Fight such a Bird, before he be familiaris’d, and made bold and gentle.
When Cocks should be set out to Walk, and where.
And now in the next place, after this Penning, and his Wounded Head is got well, you must send him to a Walk, where (like an absolute Monarch) he may Reign without controul, and be beyond the hearing of the hourly challenges of neighbouring Cocks, which is a thing apt to stir their Choller, and therefore it is that Captain Markham so much commends a Lodge, a Grange-house, or Mill, because that, for the most part, they are places remote, and far from Neighbours. And as you are always to chuse a Walk that is grac’d with Solitude, having green Fields, or pleasant Meadows on one hand, with Mountainous, Hilly, dry Ground on the other, and a murmuring Brook, or twatling Rivelet, or in their stead some pleasant Pools, or Ponds of clear sweet Water, with a good Barndoor, or else some loving Hand from the House that may daily afford plenty of Corn, especially if the Cock be large; So should you, if possibly you can, avoid the having of too many Hens in your Walk, for look how many above six your Cock walks with, so many Mates has he too many; and, indeed, had he but two or three it’s enough, and the Walk would be the better: for many Hens make a Cock to tread often, and much treading greatly debilitates a Bird of the Game, and makes him feeble when he comes to Fight; tho’ length of time and good Feeding will much restore a Cock that is decayed by hard Treading.
Of a proper Roost for Cocks.
And now for the Roost of your Cock, which is one of the choicest things you are to look after in his Walk, for it makes or marrs a Cock I assure you; and therefore know, that there is nothing better than a Beam, or broad Struncheon, wraped round, and close with well twisted Thum-ropes of Hay, into which he may set his Claws, and by that means hold himself fast without stradling, or lying wide with his Legs: Whereas if his Roost be either small or narrow, he is forced to sit wide, and gripe hard, to hold himself on; and this many times spoils a good Cock, and makes him not worth a Groat, that might otherwise have been a Jewel of impreciable Value; and therefore be sure to be very careful and curious in the Roost: and see that the Floor be not too hard on which he is to light when he is to descend from his Roost, for that will be apt to break his Claws, and bruise his Feet, and make him Club-footed, and Gouty; neither is it good to give a Cock Meat either upon a Brick, Plaister, or Boarded-floor, for that will much harm the Bill, or Beak of a Cock, making it blunt, and dull, and many times breaks it quite off, to the spoyling of the Bird at present.