Gamefowl Terminology

Everything you need to know about gamefowl terms — from types of fowl to breeding and conditioning. 100 terms across 8 categories.

Bird Classifications

Day-old chick (DOC): A newly hatched chick, literally 0–1 days old. Sold by breeders who don't want to raise them. Cheapest way to buy gamefowl but highest risk — you don't know how they'll turn out.
Stag: A young male gamefowl, roughly 8–18 months old. Not yet fully mature. "Battle stag" means one being prepared for fighting.
Cock: A mature male gamefowl, 2+ years old. "Battle cock" = one ready or proven in fights.
Pullet: A young female gamefowl, not yet laying eggs. Roughly equivalent to a stag but female.
Hen: A mature female gamefowl.
Broodcock: A male specifically kept for breeding, not fighting. Usually a proven winner or from a winning line.
Broodhen: A female kept for breeding. Selected for bloodline quality and the performance of her offspring.
Trio: A set of one rooster and two hens sold together as a breeding group.
Pair: One rooster and one hen sold together.

Breeding & Genetics

Bloodline / Strain: A selectively bred line of gamefowl with consistent traits (e.g., Kelso, Sweater, Hatch). This is basically what "breed" means in gamefowl.
Pure / Puro: A bird from a single bloodline with no crosses. "Puro Kelso" = pure Kelso. Highly valued by breeders.
Cross / Krus: Offspring of two different bloodlines.
Sire: The father.
Dam: The mother.
Linebreeding: Mating birds within the same bloodline that are related but not immediate family. Keeps traits consistent.
Inbreeding: Mating closely related birds (father-daughter, siblings). Concentrates traits but carries risk of genetic defects.
Outcrossing: Mating two completely unrelated bloodlines. Produces hybrid vigor but less predictable offspring.
Backcrossing: Breeding a cross back to one of its parent lines. Used to get, say, 75% Sweater / 25% Kelso.
Hybrid vigor (Heterosis): The phenomenon where crossbred offspring are often stronger, healthier, and more vigorous than purebreds. Common reason breeders outcross.
Infusion: Introducing a small amount of another bloodline into your line. "Asil infusion" means breeding in a small percentage of Asil for gameness.
Foundation stock: The original birds used to start a breeding program.
Brood yard / Breeding pen: The area where breeding pairs are kept.
Pairing / Pagpares: The act of selecting which rooster and hen to mate together.
Selection: The process of choosing which birds to keep for breeding vs. culling from the program. This is the core skill of a breeder.
Culling: Removing birds from the breeding program. Doesn't always mean killing — can mean selling, giving away, or just not breeding from that bird.
Prepotent: A bird that consistently passes its traits to offspring regardless of what it's paired with. A prepotent broodcock is extremely valuable.
Nick / Nagnick: When a specific pairing produces exceptionally good offspring. "That Kelso-Sweater nick really works" = that combination consistently produces winners.
Battlecross: A cross specifically designed for fighting, not for further breeding. Meant to be a "terminal cross" — the offspring fight but aren't bred from.

Physical Traits

Station: The height/leg length of a bird. "High station" = tall and long-legged. "Low station" = short and compact.
Straight comb: The classic upright red comb. One of the main comb types in gamefowl.
Pea comb: A smaller comb, close to the head, looks like three ridges. Common in Roundheads and Asil.
Leg color: Important identifying trait. Yellow, white, green (dark/olive), dark/black. Different bloodlines have characteristic leg colors.
Plumage: The feather coloring pattern. Red, dark red, spangled, grey, lemon, white, brown red, etc.
Wattles: The red fleshy lobes hanging under the beak.
Spurs: The natural bony protrusion on the back of the leg. In PH derbies, natural spurs are usually cut and replaced with gaffs or knives.
Dubbing: Surgically trimming the comb and wattles. Done to prevent opponents from grabbing them during fights. Very common in gamefowl.
Dubbed: A bird that has had its comb and wattles trimmed.
Hackle: The feathers on the neck. Breeders note hackle color as an identifying trait.
Saddle feathers: Feathers on the lower back, just before the tail.
Wing butt: The "shoulder" area of the wing. Color here is noted for identification.

Conditioning

Conditioning / Pointing: The process of physically preparing a gamefowl for a fight. Involves diet, exercise, supplements, and sparring. Usually a 2–3 week program.
Keep: The specific conditioning program/regimen used. "What keep do you use?" Breeders guard their keeps like trade secrets.
Sparring: Practice fighting with padded or muffled weapons. Used to evaluate fighting style and sharpen skills.
Muff / Muffler: Padded covers put on spurs during sparring to prevent injury.
Pre-conditioning: Longer-term preparation (weeks/months before) involving general fitness, diet, and health.
Pointing: The final phase of conditioning, usually the last 3–7 days before a fight. Fine-tuning the bird to peak physical condition.
Deworming: Standard health maintenance. Done regularly, especially before conditioning.
Vitamins / Supplements: B-complex, iron, electrolytes, etc. A huge market in the PH gamefowl industry.
Scratch grain: Mixed grains given as feed.
Pellets: Commercial gamefowl feed in pellet form.
Cord work: Tying a bird to a cord/string and letting it exercise by flying/jumping within the cord's radius.
Fly pen: An enclosed area where birds exercise by flying back and forth between perches.
Rotation: A conditioning exercise where the handler gently tosses or rotates the bird to build muscle and coordination.

Hatching & Raising

Brooding: The period right after hatching where chicks need warmth, controlled environment, and special care. Usually lasts 2–4 weeks until chicks develop enough feathers to regulate their own temperature.
Brooder: The heated enclosure/box used to keep chicks warm during brooding. Can be a heat lamp over a box, or a commercial brooder.
Incubation: The 21-day period where eggs are kept warm (either by a hen sitting on them or in a mechanical incubator) until they hatch.
Incubator: A machine that maintains the correct temperature (~37.5°C / 99.5°F) and humidity for eggs to develop and hatch.
Setting: When a hen naturally sits on eggs to incubate them. "The hen is setting" = she's broody and sitting on eggs.
Broody: A hen that wants to sit on eggs and hatch them. Her hormones have shifted to "mothering mode." Some hens go broody often, some rarely.
Candling: Holding an egg up to a bright light to check if it's fertile and developing. Done around day 7–10 of incubation.
Fertile / Infertile: Whether an egg has been successfully fertilized and will develop into a chick.
Hatch rate: Percentage of eggs that successfully hatch. A good hatch rate is 75–85%.
Grow-out: The phase after brooding where chicks are raised to maturity. Involves proper nutrition, space, and eventually separating males.
Range: An open area where growing birds are kept. "Free range" = birds can roam in an enclosed outdoor area.
Tying cord / Tie cord: Young males are tied to individual stakes/posts with a cord once they start becoming aggressive toward each other. Very common in PH gamefowl farms. Each bird gets its own radius.

Fighting / Derby

Derby: An organized cockfighting tournament with multiple matches.
Sabong: The Filipino word for cockfighting.
Pintakasi: A type of derby, usually smaller/local.
Hackfight: A type of derby format.
Tigbakay: A Visayan term for a small local cockfight.
Sultada: A single match between two roosters (not a tournament).
Meron: The favored/bet-on side in a cockfight.
Wala: The underdog side.
Gaff: A sharp, curved blade attached to the bird's leg for fighting. Most common in PH derbies.
Knife / Tari: A straight blade attached to the leg. Used in some derby formats.
Gameness: The most important trait. A bird's willingness to keep fighting no matter how injured. A "dead game" rooster fights until it literally cannot move.
Smart fighter: A bird that dodges, counters, and picks its moments rather than charging in blindly.
Shuffler: A fighting style where the bird rapidly delivers multiple hits in quick succession while staying close.
Single stroke: A fighting style where the bird delivers one powerful, accurate strike.
Flyer: A bird that jumps/flies high during the fight to attack from above.
Ground fighter: Fights on the ground, doesn't jump much.
Runner / Talbos: A bird that runs away during a fight. The worst insult in gamefowl. Indicates zero gameness.
Brood material: A losing bird that still showed enough desirable traits (gameness, power) that it might be worth breeding from despite losing.
3x winner / 5x winner: A bird that has won 3 or 5 fights. Huge value multiplier.

Business / Trading

PM for price: "Private message for price." Very common in PH gamefowl selling — and exactly the problem ManokHub solves by having structured pricing.
LF / Looking for: Buyer searching for a specific bird.
FS / For sale: Listing something for sale.
FT / For trade: Willing to swap birds.
RFS: "Reason for selling."
COD: Cash on delivery.
Ship / Padala: Shipping live birds via bus cargo or air freight. Common in PH.
Meetup / MU: Meeting in person for the transaction.
SRP: Suggested retail price.
Nego: Price is negotiable.

Farm Management

Loft: An elevated housing structure for gamefowl.
Teepee: A-frame shelter for individual birds, very common in PH farms.
Scratching area: Ground area where birds scratch and forage.
Cock house: Individual enclosure for a single rooster.
Bantay manok: Caretaker/handler of the gamefowl. The person who does daily feeding, conditioning, and farm maintenance.
Mangangahoy: A breeder/handler who specializes in conditioning and fight preparation.