Combattant Du Nord

Names: Les Grand Combattant Du Nord, French game, le Coq Gaulois, Coqs Combattant Du Nord, Nordfranzösischer Kämpfer, Französische Arenakämpfer, Northern French Fighter

Description: The Combattant du Nord is a 100% bankivoid bird. What you see in the pit nowadays about the past 15 - 25 years are for 60 - 80 % crosses with Orientals, but originally they are bankivoid. There are also hennies, tasseled and muffed French game. The cockpit (in French; Le Gallodrome) is round, oval or a square, with a diameter approximately 4 meters. The floor is covered with carpet.
The pit is enclosed by a fence of wire netting about 1 meter high.

Origin: North France, you can better say they are from the departments Du Pas de Calais and Du Nord both situated at the Belgium border, concentrated around Lille

Particulars: The laying achievement is normal and it depends on the color of the birds if you get white or brown eggs. They hatch normal like other poultry and not nearly 100%. You can raise the young cock's normal, but when they get about 6 - 8 months of age you have to separate them like every other gamefowl. What however is a tricky in the French game is that there manfighters in certain strains (like in every other gamefowl, especially in bankivoid gamefowl). But there are strains that produce hardly any manfighters and their performances in the pit is excellent.

Weight: The weight is from 3.5 till 6.5 - 7 kg. They fight them in 4 weight classes "Petit" till 4 kg, "Moyen" between 4 and 4.5 kg "Demi-lourd" between 4.5 and 5 kg and "Lourd" more then 5 kg.
Why the half-stone-class is the best one I don't understand.

Literature: "Les Fils Du Sang" 'Coqs Combattant Du Nord', author Madame Marie Cegarra, ISBN 2-86743 157-3, Editions Bertout, F-76810 Luneray, France.

Author: Hans Nijenbrink, Werner Lamkemeyer