The Roosters - Ayam Hutan of Terengganu.

The conversations i had with my long time friend Mohamad Rafi or Pok Pi as he is better known to those who knows him, was mostly about Roosters, Ayam Hutan. (wild fowls). These roosters are the ongoing craze among the young and old alike where they are held in competition for their crowing abilities. These roosters were caught from the wild and raised given special care by the owners especially in getting them to crow as much as possible. To me their colors are dazzling and the mark of an Ayam hutan is the fact that it has a white patch on its cheeks which distinguishes it from the normal kampong roosters.  

Rafi is respected as an expert on these birds and his advice is sought after by the young and old on how to raise and take good care of them. For as long as I have known him Rafi has been raising all kinds of birds and animals, including exotic fish like the Flower Horn specie of fish when the fish was a craze among collectors all over the country. He used to raise fighting Roosters and still do perhaps and exotic singing birds and one of his birds, a Burung Tiong is capable of saying, AsalamuAlaikum whenever anyone approaches his house . At one time he had a few monkeys untentrants comes from all over ill his favorite one bit him in the leg that landed him in the hospital and that was the end with monkeys.

very weekend which falls on Friday and Saturday on the East Coast, Rooster crowing competitions are held where participants comes from all over with their roosters which was snugged in a specially designed bag and placed on a stand called 'palang' alongside fifty to sixty other birds.

    

Judges are place along the front of the rows of birds to keep count on which rooster crows and how often within fifteen minutes and ther are usually at least two for each two rows of birds. The bird that crows the most number of times within the time given wins the competition. The prizes includes, goats and sheep for the first prize and in the form of money.

As soon as the whistle is blown the owners and his supporters would start a frantic cheer to urge their birds to let it loose and crow their hearts out as many times as possible. It was more fun to watch the crowd of people than the birds sometimes as words like "Stupid bird, useless piece of ..." fills the air. This goes on for fifteen minutes the specified time.

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Raising the birds is an art in itself and often takes time for consultation and advise;t is like visiting the Vet. "Well maybe this one is good for the frying pan after his last poor performance."