Malay Gamefowl: Ancient Cockfighting Breed to Revitalize Asian Fowls

Malyas are an endangered chicken breed once widely used in many Asian cockpits. The breed itself is an ancient chicken breed similar to the ancient Asil gamefowl breed, but it is unknown which of the two breeds is older.

Malay chickens are currently a heritage breed, making most existing bloodlines to be traditional and purebred lines. This breed was brought to England in 1830 where they became popular for their fashionability and this bird reached Holland and Germany in 1834 and the United States by 1846. In fact, these chickens were the first gigantic Asiatic fowls to reach the West where it struggled to find a specialized use.

Imported birds weren’t used for cockfighting but were instead used as exhibition birds and experimented on as meat birds. Their meat bird days saw heavy criticism as detractors criticized the bird for having coarse and dry meat due to how lean the meat is while supporters praised them for the large amount of meat they produced.

The constant use of this breed resulted in them becoming critically endangered. Today, Malays are seeing more use as either exhibition birds or as breeding birds to develop new breeds and redevelop or regenerate old breeds through outcrossing and line breeding.

Key Features of Malay Roosters:

Malay chickens typically have the following distinguishing features:

They are widely known to be the tallest chickens worldwide, which solidifies its trait as a gigantic Asian fowl.

How the Malay Gamefowl Fights

These birds are natural cockfighters born from thousands of years of development and constant use for fighting. Modern Malays are also likely to show their natural aggressiveness in the cockpits today. Their long legs give them plenty of reach for high kicks and being able to endure hits fairly well for extended fights.

While this breed is a naturally aggressive cockfighting breed, the fact that they’re critically endangered means that it isn’t wise to fully rely on this breed for wins since a single losing bird is a huge loss when breeders can instead create new breeds or revitalize lost or other endangered breeds. In fact, it’s much more ideal to create new gamefowl breeds from a purebred or well-developed Malay line.

Are Malay Gamefowls or Their Derivatives Good for Sabong?

While Malay roosters can be used as great fighting roosters, they’re better off used as exhibition birds or to develop other breeds and bloodlines by adding health, strength, and vigor to certain lines. Several examples of their use in revitalizing breeds are the development of Rhode Island Reds, Phoenix and Yokohama exhibition birds, and the Cornish Game meat birds.

Even the Livestock Conservancy stated that their best role is for crossbreeding to create new fowl breeds. Several breeders have also begun regenerating certain Asian fowl bloodlines, including Longtails.

When aiming to throw these birds into the pit, breeders must first develop a dedicated bloodline for fighting to further develop the fighters into some of the best fighting rooster breeds.

Conclusion

Malay chickens are well-known not only for being great cockfighters but also as beautiful tall birds and excellent birds to regenerate certain Asian fowl breeds. These birds can effectively develop new breeds and bloodlines to create more beautiful fighting cocks.

Start betting on Sabong International’s cockpits and keep an eye out for Malays in the pit. Who knows, you might see them thrown into the pit and you’ll likely have a winner to bet on. It’s also a good idea to look out for roosters from other breeds that may have been developed with Malays as they are likely to have more vigor compared to their base breeds.