Telangana's Sunera Yakud ready for Andhra cockfight

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh known for cockfights particularly in the twin Godavari districts during Sankranti will this year witness Telangana roosters raking in moolah for Andhra businesspeople.

A new startup business of breeding 'Sunera Yakud' roosters in a big way is growing in Telangana. These roosters are in great demand from the organisers of cockfights in Andhra Pradesh. The main reason for this high demand of these roosters is because the Hyderabadi breed is famous in the ring for its belligerent skills.

These cocks jump well and attack their opponents strategically and never back off. Hence, Sunera Yakud has become one of the preferred roosters in fighting in rings. As per old-timers, this breed is from the vulture. Sunera Yakud has a long neck, lengthy limbs, huge in height and weight between 3-3.5 kg compared to other breeds. And looks like a vulture. "This also changes colour in months," said Shaik Anwar Ahmed, the owner of the rooster in the city.

As Sankranti approaches, there is a big demand from the cockfight organisers from Andhra Pradesh. The event organisers are ready to shell out handsome money to get a fighter cock. They cost anywhere between Rs 15,000 and Rs 50,000 per rooster.

Since cockfight is a major traditional event in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, betting worth of crores of rupees is taking place. Sources said that betting on cocks ranges between Rs 10,000 and Rs 1 lakh.

Speaking to The Hans India, Shaik Anwar said he has the hobby of petting a variety of hens. "For the last 17 years, I have been breeding hens. Now, the present Sunera Yakud named 'Sultan' was the third generation, and this breed is famous for its fighting skills," he said. Sultan recently won the ring in a fight held in Bangalore, he added.

He said that there are over 20 varieties of breeds and he had a dozen hens with a variety of breeds, including 'Kagar', 'Dhumar', 'Jala Yakud', 'Jawa' and Noori (as per popularity in Hyderabad).

The fighting roosters are trained for almost a year prior to the Sankranti festivities. The roosters are fed with nutritious balanced diet of millets, cereals, dry fruits, eggs and minced mutton in the form of laddu so that they can withstand rival attacks and develop agility and toughness. They are trained for a month for fighting, Anwar said, adding that the roosters are given stamina training, swimming and in jumping.