06/28/2026
History of my Maverick Country Gamefowl
By Joel Edwards
I started raising Game Chickens in 1969.
My dad, Wildhorse Edwards, and I was gifted with three Full-Sister, Grey Pullets.
These three Grey Pullets were a gift from my dad's Longtime Friend, and Hall of Fame Cowboy, Sonny Hanc**k. Sonny Hanc**k then became My Mentor. Fortunately, my wife, Linda, supported my venture into the Gamefowl project. Sonny's Daughter, Elayne, who was named after Mike Ratliff's wife, and I were, and still are, Good Friends. We went through all 12 grades of school as classmates.
Sonny Hanc**k, had a Trio of Alva Campbell Boone Blues shipped to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in 1924, then he blended Traveler and Claret into them.
This was the origin of the Greatest Cutting Gamefowl of all time.
They still Remain Awesome to this day.
Sonny also put together, and raised some of the Greatest Greys that have ever been in our part of the Country.
He developed this Grey Line centered around the old "Grandma Grey Hen" (S.H. 317-62).
This old "Grandma Grey Hen" was sired by a 3/4 Madigan Grey, 1/4 California Hatch C**k that was raised by Howard Belk of California. Sonny paid $100 for this c**k after he came back from 100-5 odds behind, and won the fight, but wasn't expected to live.
The mother of the old "Grandma Grey" hen was a Pure McNerney Grey hen that was red in color. This McNerney Grey hen was gifted to Sonny Hanc**k from Spec McLoughlin (Bullrider) of Fort Worth Texas.
Sonny set his Greys by breeding the old "Grandma Grey" hen to the "Old Grey" c**k (S.H. 87). This "Old Grey" c**k was sired by the same Howard Belk Grey C**k, as the old "Grandma Grey" hen, and was out of a 3/4 Hanc**k Blue, 1/4 Harold Brown Grey hen, making him 3/8 Madigan Grey, 3/8 Sonny Hanc**k Blue, 1/8 Harold Brown Grey, and 1/8 California Hatch.
The three Full-Sister Grey Pullets (S.H. 574-577-580) that Sonny Hanc**k gifted my dad and me, were sired by this "Old Grey" c**k (S.H. 87) and they were out of the old "Grandma Grey" hen (S.H. 317-62). That means that our three Grey Hens were 3/8 Madigan Grey, 1/4 McNerney Grey, 1/16 Harold Brown Grey, 3/16 Hanc**k Blue, and 1/8 California Hatch.
Sonny loaned us a Blue/Grey Stag (S.H. 609) to breed these pullets to, that first season. This stag was sired by the "Needles Blue" c**k (S.H. 287) and out of the old "Grandma Grey" hen (S.H. 317-62).
The "Needles Blue" c**k was Sonny's Greatest Blue C**k and was sired by the "Killer Blue" c**k (B-31) that won 3 Derby Fights in 1 Fly each. This "Killer Blue" c**k was sired by the old "Coupled Blue" c**k that was 1/2 Traveler, 1/4 Blue Boone, and 1/4 Claret.
The "Needles Blue" c**k and the "Killer Blue" c**k were both out of the same Blue hen (S.H. 46).
The progeny from our first crop of fowl came in lots of different plumage colors - Dark Greys, Brassback Greys, Reds, Blues, and Blue Grey. These odd colors led to these later being called "Mavericks".
From this first breeding season, we raised enough stags for me to start fighting them in Derbies around New Mexico, in 1971.
Sonny Hanc**k and Rodge Pierce helped me learn how to feed and work my stags and Rodney Savage, and his father, Dan Savage helped me learn how to heel and handle my roosters.
I had instant success, and won three Derbies in 1971, before losing my dad in October of that year.
Although my dad was too sick to get to see any of the fights, I think these Game Chickens actually extended his life a couple of years, because of the joy he got out of helping raise them.
Sonny Hanc**k continued to mentor me, even while he lived in Nipomo, California, with breeding and raising my Gamefowl. He periodically brought me both, Hanc**k Blue, and Hanc**k Grey Broodc**ks.
I continued to win more Derbies with these Sonny Hanc**k bred chickens, in 1972. In fact, I actually won Five Derbies before I ever lost one.
I continued to raise only Hanc**k Blues and Hanc**k Greys, line-breeding them, and crossing them back and forth, always maintaining from 3/8 to 5/8 Blue in my battle c**ks, just as Sonny taught me to do. The Hanc**k Blues are Awesome Cutters, and the Hanc**k Greys add Power, and a Gentle Disposition, and both strains are Dead Game.
I got busier and busier teaching high school agriculture, and helping my wife raise our family, and had to move around the state to seek better jobs, and I left my chickens on the yard at my mother's farm in Fort Sumner.
I gave Rodge Pierce, of Bloomfield, NM, a Grey Pullet (J.E. 4) out of the first crop of chickens that I raised. She would later become known as "Mama Grey", the Foundation Hen of the "Mavericks", as Rodge called them.
When Sonny Hanc**k had moved to California, he let Rodge Pierce have a group of stags. Included in this group was "Luther" (S.H. 611) and "Honey Boy" (S.H. 634). Although they were quite different in appearance, they were full brothers. "Luther" was shorter and stocky, and "Honey Boy" was a Beautiful, tall, high stationed c**k. They were both sired by the "Needles Blue" c**k (S.H. 286) and out of the old "Grandma Grey" hen (S.H. 317-62). These c**ks each won 20 fights and were bred for a number of years, until they died of old age. "Honey Boy" usually killed most his opponents on the break. He was coupled in his last fight, the first time that he was ever hurt, and Rodge picked him up, at the insistence of his wife, Nancy, as he was her Favorite. Rodge usually fought his c**ks until they were 5 years old. "Honey Boy" died in 1978.
Also included in the group of stags that Rodge got from Sonny, was "Turkey Neck", a dirty blue black rooster with light colored legs, believed to be a Hanc**k Blue. A raccoon had caught this stag and tore the skin on his neck, before he escaped. "Turkey Neck" won 19 fights and Rodge bred him for a long time, until he died in 1979, at 14 years old. Rodge saved a lot of his daughters as brood-hens.
Rodge Pierce bred these three c**ks to the "Mama Grey" hen, producing many great c**ks, such as "Little Luther" (873) and "Bob". "Little Luther" and "Bob" each won more than 10 fights, and were Great Broodc**ks.
Rodge Pierce never bred a c**k unless he had won 10 or more Fights.
Sonny Hanc**k gave Rodge Pierce some Blue hens, including "Mama Blue", but never gave him a Grey hen.
Rodge Pierce infused some Jim Prescott Brunner Roundhead into the "Mavericks", making them smarter fighters, and giving them the ability to out maneuver their opponents.
Many of the "Maverick Blue" hens have large spurs - Some only have a spur on their right leg.
The Yellow Legged "Mavericks" have longer bodies and heads, Break Higher, and have a lot of white feathers in their tail. The Green Legged "Mavericks" have very little, or no white feathers, are usually a lot more Aggressive, and Have a Lot of Power and Bottom.
The "Mavericks" are Very In**ed. Rodge Pierce always said "You Don't Need a Lot of Chickens, Just a Few Good Ones".
Rodge loaned the Chadburns the Blue Grey C**ks that won the Kemper Derby at Copper State in 1978, going 12-0.
Shortly before he died, Rodge gave some of the "Maverick" gamefowl to Dave Carter of Roswell NM, now living in Hobbs, NM.
Dave Carter had got his start of gamefowl in 1980, from the chickens that I left on the yard at my mother's farm in Fort Sumner, NM. These gamefowl were all grey with dark legs, and the descendants of the Grey c**k (J.E. 17), a c**k that had won Multiple Derby fights for me.
Dave Carter won the first Derby he entered in December of 1980, with these stags, going 4-0. In fact, Dave won 4 of the first 7 Derbies that he entered with this genetics. Dave has since won a lot more Derbies with the "Mavericks", and went 10-2 one year at Copper State. Through the years, Dave said he "put a bit of Skidmore Blue and Minor Blue" in the "Mavericks" then, as he said, "bred it out of them".
Dave concentrated on the Blue Side of the "Mavericks", by way of the "Turkey Neck" bloodlines, but did let his Friend, and former Neighbor, Ivan Peregrino, from Veguita, NM have a start of the Grey, or Brassback side of the "Mavericks". Ivan said he bred some Bruce Barnett Sweater into his "Mavericks" in 2002, then bred it out of them. Ivan has also had a great amount of success with these "Brassback Mavericks".
When I got back into the gamefowl business, I wanted to start back up, as close as I could, to the same Sonny Hanc**k breeding that I had first started with. I went to Dave Carter and got a trio of his "Pure Maverick Blues" - a red blue-breasted stag that I named "Cowboy", and two Blue hens that I named "Bluebird" and "Bluebelle". Dave also let me have an Old Grey Hen that I named "Sister Grey". This old Grey Hen was from the "Sis" Mitochondria, and was the closest genetics Dave had to those that he got off the yard at my mother's farm in Fort Sumner.
Then Ivan Peregrino let me have a Trio of his "Brassback Maverick Greys". Ivan let me pick out a c**k that was Dark Brassback Grey in color, and had won 4 Derby Fights, including the "Money Fight" in a good Derby. I named this c**k "Mangus". Ivan then selected two pea headed, green legged, "Maverick Grey" hens for me. I named these hens "Buttermilk" and "Clabber".
These Blue and Grey "Mavericks" that I got from Dave Carter and Ivan Peregrino were the foundation of the "Maverick Country Gamefowl" that I raise today.
I presently raise three families of Gamefowl - "Maverick Blues", "Maverick Greys", and "Edwards Greys". The "Edwards Greys" are a blend of "Maverick Grey", Jim Campbell "Shorty Bullock Grey" that I got from my friend Mike Williams in Kentucky, and "Little Johnny Grey" and "Muletrain Grey" that I got from my friend, and Sonny Hanc**k's former handler, Mike Allen, in Arkansas.
I select for Pea Combs and Green Legs in all my gamefowl, although I still get a few straight combs, or yellow legs, especially in my Greys. My "Maverick Blues" come Blue, Splash, Red with a Blue Breast, or Dark Wine-Red in color- almost Black. My "Maverick Greys" usually come Dark Brassback Grey, Buttermilk Grey, or the traditional Silver Duck-Wing Grey, and my "Edwards Greys" usually come the Traditional Grey color, although I do get some that are Darker in color.
I Enjoy Raising my Gamefowl, and I feel like I have Some of The Best, although I always Strive to Make Them Better, by Serious Selection, Rigid Culling, and Extremely Accurate Record Keeping.
I Continue Doing My Part to Preserve Our Heritage and Tradition by Keeping 'Em Crowing.
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