Blue Berg Muffs by Ed “Fulldrop” Piper Along about 1914 Dave Berg of N.Y. hacked a Hoy Muff cock that walked off after knocking a man down. Before Berg could kill him a young fellow with Berg asked for him to breed over some Shelton Knob-comb Blues, as the Southern fowl were not considered any good for short heels. Berg laughed and said he reckoned he’d be O.K. to breed over them and so gave hom to the boy. In the fall, the young man stopped at Berg’s and asked if he could put his stags in Berg’s coops as he had none of his own. He told him no, he didn’t want any of that kind of chickens on his place. The fellow said that they were beating each other up. Berg told him he could put them there, all 19 of them, until he got some coops made, but to get them out of there as soon as he could. So he brought them over, big, beautiful blues with muffs. John Hoy was considered THE authority on the game at that time, came to see Berg about something and noticed the stags. Asked what they were and Berg told him, he pushed open a couple of doors and got two of them out. He watched them for a moment and said they were good, not to fool them away. They turned out to be great fowl. Phil Marsh says they were the greatest he ever saw in every way, practically unbeatable. They were later crossed with Whitehackle from Dr. Hallock, of N.Y. state. High Creek Blues The High Creek Blues have a long and distinguished History. I wish I knew it all, but I’ll have to settle for giving you the part I do know. Bobby Joe Manziel, Sr. a big time cockfighter in Texas originated a family of blues he called the Toolpusher Blues. Toolpusher being a term for a supervisor on an oil rig, the toolpushers can do it all if necessary. The Toolpusher Blues were the result of Mr. Manziel crossing Wilkens Typewriters with C.C. Cooke Perfections. The Typewriter fowl were originated by Judge Wilkens and contained Dr. King Blues, the old time Wildcat Blues, Smith Roundhead and possible other blood. C.C. Cooke made his Perfections by crossing Madagin Perfection Greys with J.D. Perry Hatch. Although a real “mongrel” chicken the Toolpushers COULD FIGHT! Mr. Manziel set the cross as a family which fought very successfully for many years. Pure Toolpusher Blues can still be seen in major competition today, usually being pitted in long knife due to their speed, accuracy, and intelligent style of fighting. I got my start with the Toolpusher bloodline over 25 years ago. They were a big hit with me right from the start. Beautiful, well built fowl and they could still fight! They were fast and aggressive, very accurate cutters. They would meet the other bird on the ground or in the air, breaking as high as necessary to do so. The thing that impressed me the most with these fowl was their intelligence. They knew when to dodge and they knew when to score! They could recognize an opening and would always take it if they could. The flip side of the coin was that they did not have a lot of bottom for a long drag fight and had a very hard time fighting an uphill battle. If we didn’t win in the first few pittings, we usually didn’t win period. Their gameness was unpredictable at times as well. Most would fight a good, game battle, but occasionally one would let up, particularly the young stags. Nevertheless, all things considered, I was sold on this family and even with their faults the pure Toolpusher Blues won a majority for me and rapidly became my favorite family. My breeding program soon became centered around the Blues. We experimented with many battle crosses on the Blues and gradually began to infuse the family with new blood based on the results of the most successful crosses. Some of the blood which ended up in what we now call the High Creek Blues is Narragansett we got from Frank Shy in the early 70′s, Boston Roundhead from Lloyd Jenkins, Irish Pyle from Richard Saint and Sonny Hancock (actually Hancock/General crosses) which came from Mike Ratliff, and others. Two years ago I sold out all my mugs and hatch fowl so I can focus all my attention on my favorite family, the High Creek Blues. These are high class fowl and are getting nothing but better. Although very uniform in body conformation and station (medium high), they come in a wide variety of colors ranging from solid white, white with black and red spangles, pyles, bluereds, bluegreys, and even an occasional black. Straight or pea combed. Leg color varies from white to willow with occasional slate or yellow legs. They are generally very easy to work with, very good temperament, never a man fighter if treated properly. They take bench work well, if you’re into that (I’m not). They are very active fowl and keep themselves in good condition. The High Creek Blues are very aggressive fowl. They get hot instantly at billing and break very fast. They are deadly cutters in the knife or gaff. They fight the most intelligent style I’ve seen, avoiding the other bird, yet always ready to hit an opening. They have good bottom and power although this is still the area I feel needs the most work. I fight my blues pure in high or medium high point, 2 1/8 to 2 1/4 inch gaffs and have been winning a solid majority with them for over 25 years fighting into tough competition. You can fight these Blues pure or use them for a good, aggressive cutting foundation in battle cross.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 17:05:37 +0000
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