By: Elly Vogelaar. Photos: Team Brouwers.

"Why does someone decide to start keeping Game Fowl", is my first question

to Adrie Brouwers. The answer will surprise you

perhaps just as much as me: "Because they are so friendly and calm by

nature" ...

Who's Adrie Brouwers Adrie Brouwers lives in Roosendaal and is an enthusiastic chicken breeder; of

Gamefowls, to be more precise. And, like his fowls, he is just as friendly and

calm, and also said to be tenacious. As a result of his tenacity, he managed to get a one-day Show of Gamefowls in the

Netherlands, the Optimum Avium International, which will soon be

organized for the third time in his home-town, Roosendaal. More about that later. First, we shall learn a little more of

the man.

Photo above: Adrie with one

of his Shamo roosters.

Right: A breeding pen of Malay

and a head study of a Malay

cock. As a teenager he bred cage

birds and already had a passion for fowls. But at home there was no room to keep

chickens. In 1978, he left the family home and together

with his wife moved into a house with a garden in Eindhoven.

GAMEFOWL

at

ADRIE BROUWERS’

Soon a number of coops were

built, and he even built an incubator. Chicks were

hatched and the coops became populated with many varieties of fowls. As a brand new

member of the local breeders’ club he went to the National

Exhibition in Hertogenbosch, where he saw the large Malays and they conquered his heart.

Looking back, he thinks that at

the first exhibition he visited, he was actually inspired by the versatility of the chicken fancy.

That was 38 years ago, and he is still an avid chicken lover,

breeder and now also a judge. He has now kept the Malays

for 30 years. Now, he has been living in Roosendaal for many years, where he's lucky to have

a beautiful piece of land at his disposal; here, over the years, he has bred all the breeds of Gamefowl recognized in the Netherlands.

Above: Young Yamatos.

Why does someone chose to breed Game Fowl

Probably many chicken keepers think gamefowls are a 'false', or an artificial breed; they are usually very large and muscular, they can look so pervasive and

the name says it already; they fight. How different from other fowls it is! The

reason Adrie chose to keep Game breeds is because these birds are generally

peaceful by nature. Some varieties he has chosen purely out of a passion; others as study material, as he has to have all-round and specific knowledge of the

breeds to be a qualified judge. Besides the recognized breeds, he has bred several Game breeds that are not (yet) recognized in the Netherlands, such as the Yakido, Kulang Aseel and Tosa Chibi. He also has bred several Longcrower

breeds, such as Koeyoshi, Tomaru, Totenko and Denizli. And not to forget: the Ayam Ketawa, the laughing chicken from Indonesia.

Right: Adult Yamato. Below: Double laced Indian Game

bantam cock.

Right: Kishyu Chibi pair.

Below: Very old Ko Shamo pair.

The breed that he has had the longest

in his coops is the large Malay. This

impressive breed has always intrigued him because of its

size and majestic appearance. He

bought his first Malays in 1978 from Mr. Temminghof in

Hengelo.

Unfortunately, a few years ago, the last cock of his old line died. He has made

several attempts to pick up the thread again and bought birds from several top breeders; such as Harald Asbreuk in the Netherlands and his namesake in the

German Black Forest, Harald Heubach. Rearing results have been fairly good, but his feeling is that the old Malay character was gone. He then decided to start specializing in Japanese breeds.

Above: Young Yakido.

Left: Adult Sudanese Game.

The main breeds he is breeding today - along with his son Martijn, as ‘Team

Brouwers’ – are the Yamato, Yakido, Ko Shamo,

Satsumadori, Shamo, Indian Game LF and bantam, and Sudanese Game. From the

first five breeds he has bred fairly good specimens in recent

years thanks to a serious breeding program. He hopes to have the Yakido

standardised at the next National Poultry Show (the

Noordshow) in January 2017. He is applying for a second

time; last year they had some bad luck because one of the required number of

hens had to be removed to the infirmary because of a prolapsed cloaca; presumably because of stress, because she is still alive and still lays eggs.

Today they also have Kishyu Chibi, Thaiwan Game and Malay bantams in the colour red shouldered silver partridge in their coops.

If the breeding program is successful in the coming years, they want to spread

these birds among other serious and enthusiast breeders. Should there be a lot of interest for one or more breeds, he will be happy to start a recognition

procedure.

Left: Kishyu Chibi cock.

The breeding of these characteristic chickens

A characteristic of Gamefowl chickens is their stately and quiet nature. However,

some varieties can be quite aggressive later in life against any newcomers in the coop. One must therefore stay alert with

these breeds, as the breeding pens are not always easy to change.

The laying is, likewise, very different. His Yakidos lay about 150 eggs per year. By

contrast, his Yamatos only up to 20 eggs per year. Fertilization in the heavier

breeds can also be a problem due to their heavy weights, or because of the short, wide standing legs as, for

instance, Indian Gamefowls have. Below: Young Shamo.

With all the varieties he breeds only with pairs (one on one) so he always knows

the parents of the chicks. The breeding pair preferably consists of a virile cockerel and a healthy adult hen. In preparation for the breeding season, when

eggs are to be expected, he clips some feathers off around the cloaca of both the rooster and hen, so that fertilisation is not impeded. The eggs are collected and stored for up to two weeks in a room with a constant temperature and a

somewhat higher humidity. The number of eggs they hatch depends on the breed. From the Yakido and

Shamo they selectively produce only about 20 chicks per breed. From the Yamato they incubate all the eggs, as only about 60% will hatch. They use a cabinet incubator with electronic egg turning control and hatcher.

The hens of some breeds sometimes go broody, and hatching with a broody hen

could be possible; but because the runs are open at the top, there is always the risk that the chicks are taken by crows, gulls or other birds of prey. Hatching

with an incubator gives much more certainty, as not only temperature and relative humidity can be controlled, but also because the chicks are reared in safe environment during the first weeks.

Right: Young

Satsumadori,

Asiatic silver

partridge.

At hatching any

chicks displaying any anatomical im-perfections are

removed, and after 7 to 8 months the

young stock are selected for body type and feathering.

Surplus birds of good quality are

often given away to friends or family breeders. The inferior birds are slaughtered in an officially certified slaughterhouse.

Adrie is happy to share some tips for breeding these special chickens:

• Take time for proper care. • Feed them only moderately.

• Handle the birds regularly. • Breed one to one.

• Register the offspring. • Let the birds, especially the

Large Game breeds and Longtail breeds grow-on as long time as possible before

making your selection. With larger breeds the birds can

take up to two years to mature. • With Longcrowers it is an

advantage to breed, if available, with a hen that

crows, or attempts to crow.

Left: A young Ko Shamo.

Caring The type and amount of feed differs with each breed. Generally they are fed with a quality high protein and vitamin content feed from Garvo®. He gives only an

amount of feed that will be eaten in a single day. This way, pests such as mice

and rats are not given a chance to eat the leftovers during the night. The fowls,

especially those that don’t have access to grass-runs, also get greens and vegetables.

As seen in the pictures, the coops and runs are situated largely in the shade of large trees; ideal for the warmer, sun-drenched summer days. The downside is that there is a lot of work in autumn to clean up the fallen leaves. Only the more

delicate breeds such as Yamato and Ko Shamo are housed in the stables during the winter, where the temperature is at least above freezing. Because these

chickens have several patches of bare skin, they are susceptible to frost damage.

Left: A pair of old Ko Shamo.

Although the chickens are kept in the vicinity of neighbouring

houses, there are few complaints about the crowing

of the roosters. Good communication with neighbours works wonders.

Sadly, however, he has been visited by thieves several

times. Only Game fowl were stolen ~ mostly roosters! It's a miserable thing to lose your

valuable stock birds in such a way. 'Knock on wood', the

thieves haven’t been back the last few years!

Aim of the fancy To him, the main purpose of the hobby is maintaining and improving recognized

breeds and even more so, the non-recognized breeds - especially Gamefowl, Longcrower and Long-tailed fowl. The Netherlands is only a participator in this field and of course it is very important for him to maintain close contacts with

breeders at home and abroad. He has a lot of friends in this rather singular

hobby; "in a way we speak the same language", he says. Three years ago he

started quietly, but determined to live up to his great wish: To organize an international exhibition of Gamefowl, Longcrower and Long-tailed fowl. He

started to spread this idea to various breeders, and to his delight all reacted very enthusiastically. Although he had no experience of organizing such an exhibition, together with a group of real fans, and a lot of fun, he realized the first

“Optimum Avium International” Show in 2015.

Right: Old Satsumadori cock,

Asiatic silver partridge.

Judge Around 1983 he started with

poultry judge courses. Adrie told me: “There are tough lessons that you had to learn.

The corrections were made by Harmen Hoving – a skilled

judge and teacher – who not only examined your answers, but was also strict on

grammatical mistakes; which I did not really appreciate.

Unfortunately, I had to drop out because I had to turn my full attention to several full-

time courses for my job as a policeman which I attended in Amersfoort and Utrecht. Judge Jan Steenbakkers

who took the judge’s course with me in the same year and got through, and is now a known A-judge with extensive knowledge and experience and is part of the examination committee.”

Left: Old Yamato cock, silver

wheaten.

Adrie has been a C-poultry Judge for nearly eight years. Not surprisingly, he is qualified

to judge all Gamefowl, long crowers and long-tailed fowl ,

but he is also qualified to judge a range of other chicken and bantam breeds. Of course

he prefers to judge the first mentioned breeds, but there

are not that many Gamefowls at the Dutch Shows, so in order to get invited to judge

more often, it is wise to have your papers in order for

various breeds. Adrie: “Obviously I accept the

invitations to judge other breeds for which I am qualified, and I have been

judging at many Club Shows in the country. Almost every year that since I became a judge, I have been invited to judge the Gamefowls at the exhibitions

of the Dutch and Belgian

Gamefowl Clubs. Each year I judge the Gamefowl at the

Noordshow; and this year I am invited at the Oneto Show too.”

Right: Old trio Shamo.

Showing

By entering your birds, you help an exhibition to be a success. That is also one of his

objectives. Thus exhibitions are frequently attended by the

Team Brouwers, especially the Shows where their breed varieties are exhibited by

several fanciers. These are often the bigger shows in the Netherlands and abroad. The highlights are the annual Shows of the Dutch Vechthoenderfokkers

vereniging, de Vechthoenderclub België, Club Deutscher Ur- und Kampfhuhnzüchter, the German Open, and – need I say? - the Optimum Avium International of which Adrie is the founder.

Left: Blue double laced Indian

Game bantams. Adrie and his son prefer to enter

birds in which nothing has to be ‘groomed’, or as little as possible. “Often you ruin more than you

improve,” he says. Another thing is that it is not possible to enter your

birds at a Show where you are judging. “Then I face a dilemma,

shall I accept the invitation to judge, or shall I participate with my chickens?”

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As a breeder and Judge he is a member of the Dutch Poultry Association KLN. and also of the Belgian Poultry Association. Besides that he is also a member of the local club in his hometown, Roosendaal; the Vechthoenderfokkersvereniging

Nederland, the Vechthoenderclub België, the Club Deutscher Ur- und Kampfhuhnzüchter, the German Club for Asiatic Longcrower breeds; the

O.A.S.L.L. and of course Optimum Avium International, of which he is chairman of the latter club.

Over the years he has won numerous

awards. He's very proud of them all, without mentioning any specific prize.

Although, last November, at the Rheinische Landesverbandsschau in Rheinberg (D) his wheaten Shamo hen

and cock won Best of the 75 entered Shamo, bothe awarden with the highest

score of 97 points. He won also best with his Yakido cock and hen, both 97 points and another of his hens was awarded 96

points. This happens only ‘once in a lifetime’ according to Adrie, and that is

true for sure. Super proud he returned home with his trophies, amongst others a large silver cup of the German Poultry

Union BDRG.

Above: The winning Shamo hen and cock.

Below: The winning Yakido cock and hen.

Nicest experience Adrie gets the floor, to end with: “My best experience is that my wish has come

true with the successful realization of an international exhibition, Optimum Avium International. With the help of enthusiastic board members, experts, breeders and lovers of Gamefowl, Longcrower and Longtail fowl, this exhibition has

become a household name among European breeders. Where aging strikes in the small-animal world, get younger breeders in attendance who prefer to breed

these varieties, flock to Roosendaal where Optimum Avium International is held annually in a beautiful ambiance. My fellow board members, Wanda Zwart, Roberto Gatti, Jo de Dooij, Willem van Ballekom and Roel van Eekelen ensure

that exhibitors and interested parties can visit an unforgettable exhibition. On January 14th, 2017, this one-day exhibition will be held for the third time. Show

schedule and entry form can be downloaded on http://optimumavium.com. Come and see for yourself how wonderful the exhibited varieties are.”

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