Pumpkin Hulsey
Gamefowl have a long, bloody, and uneasy relationship with mankind. Pitting one rooster against another in a battle to the death is a spectacle that has been staged for millennia by many cultures. In fact, some anthropologists believe that cockfighting, and not agriculture, provided the initial motivation to domesticate wild junglefowl, the forerunners to domesticated chickens.
In the early days of our nation, gentleman farmers and backwoods hillbillies alike raised roosters for bloodsport. There are types of gamefowl that directly trace their lineage to the plantations of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Until the summer of 2008, this sport remained legal in at least one state. But now, for the first time since our country was founded, it is illegal throughout America to fight gamecocks. While banning this brutal sport may be laudable, it carries with it one extraordinarily negative consequence: The demand for gamecocks has been all but eliminated, and many bloodlines, some of them refined and documented over centuries, will simply die out in the years ahead. While on one level these birds may be the legacy of a barbaric sport, on another level they represent a unique genetic treasure that is in danger of being forever lost.
Greenfire Farms has assumed the responsibility to save one breed of gamefowl, and for that effort we have chosen the pumpkin Hulsey. These birds were chosen because of their extraordinary beauty, their innate foraging ability, and their demonstrated ability to genetically transfer the fundamental attributes of gamefowl.
Pumpkin Hulseys emerged over a half-century ago when a famous ‘cocker’ from Texas named E.H Hulsey was losing cockfights because his birds lacked the size and hitting power necessary to win these brutal contests. But, from a friend in Memphis he heard the story of a single, pumpkin-colored rooster that was said to possess all the traits of a perfect gamecock, housed in a large and powerful body. (Memphis—the city that gave us barbecue, Elvis, and the blues— seems forever capable of supplying things that are beautiful and at least slightly dangerous.) Mr. Hulsey traveled from the dry plains of Texas to the humid streets of Memphis, and there he secured the seed stock that would make him one of the most successful cockfighters in America for the next two decades. The pedigree of that single bird remains a mystery, but its superior genetics were to spread through thousands of birds over the next half century. As Mr. Hulsey soon learned, the offspring of this mysterious rooster grew to be skilled and aggressive fighters, and pumpkin Hulseys gained the reputation as the favored breed to use when creating powerful hybrids that were smart and fearless in the pit.
While bred for the fighting pit, perhaps ironically pumpkin Hulseys also seem better suited than any breed for true free-range farm living. They have the flying capabilities of wild birds and are strong and fearless enough to fight predators, including hawks and owls. At night they roost in the tops of tall trees, and during the day they forage while the rooster maintains a protective vigil over his flock of hens. They are gentle to humans, and if integrated into a flock at an early age, will also tolerate other roosters.
Although there are many beautiful breeds of chickens, pumpkin Hulseys may stand at the pinnacle of aesthetics in the entire poultry hierarchy. They are simply stunning. The roosters may have hackles of a golden orange color that shimmers with light, and their taut, powerful bodies are tightly encased in feathers colored the many shades of the red and yellow spectrum. They possess an unblinking confidence, and in the aggressive caste of their eyes and erect posture you are reminded of a bird of prey rather than a chicken. To see a video of these birds, go to our blog on this website.
Greenfire Farms maintains a breeding colony of these birds from several bloodlines. We are constantly working to refine our birds through selective breeding. There is no generally accepted, written breed standard for these birds, and there is a quite a bit of genetic variation within the breed. Hens vary from a solid white to a deep brown color and have a wide array of color patterns. The cocks can be a golden orange --almost yellow-- to a deep orange with splashes of white, or can be a brownish orange with a black tail. Leg color varies from pearl, to willow green, to yellow. All of these are acceptable colors, and the birds you receive may not look like the photo on this page. If you want to see examples of our breeding stock, check out our videos on Youtube.
We sell these birds exclusively to hobbyist poultry fanciers. Prices do not include shipping costs. Young trios are typically six to eight weeks old at time of shipment.
If you're looking to buy birds for cockfighting, please go elsewhere. If you have questions about the weight of the roosters or the station of the birds, I will assume you are buying them for cockfighting and will not sell them to you.
