Here is a link to Laurence’s blog.  His writing is at least as good as his food.  http://www.thislittlepiggy.us/

Stan Schute and his family do a fine job with Triple S. They produce some outstanding cottage bacon and sausage. However, I have great reservations about the fact that Joy of Illinois has sold roosters for fighting and admitted as much in a national poultry journal. If you are selling animals for torture, how can you care enough to do a quality job with the rest of your herds and flocks?

As someone who has known and bought food for my family from the Giojas of the Joy of Illinois farm for the past decade, I don’t believe that there is any truth to this accusation that they are knowingly selling roosters for cockfighting.  I have heard that this accusation was made in the past by a vindictive individual, looking to create trouble for them, and they vehemently denied it.  If, as Joyless claims, they “admitted as much in a national poultry journal,” then quote the journal, cite the source, and link to the full text so everyone can judge for themselves.
It’s very sad to see this kind of unsupported accusation and character assasination by anonymous commenters.  The web can be a great way to disseminate opinions, to express dissent, to get information out there, but, unfortunately, it also allows for irresponsible accusations like this to circulate, gain currency, and do a great deal of harm.

Cull Hens and Mean Roosters Spell Big Business, by Penny Gioja, Joy of Illinois Farm in American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue #49, page 25
“We have a new and wonderful market (for us) that has grown out of the influx of Mexican and Guatemalan people settling in our area of central Illinois.”
“In fact, demand is so strong that we occasionally go to the auction barn an hour away to stock up on old hens and roosters to keep the hungry eyes off our laying flock.”
“Different groups like different types of bird: A family with a pregnant mother wants a fat old hen, while a carful of unattached males wants big roosters.”
Exactly what does she think that the boys are going to do with the roosters, make abuela’s arroz con pollo?
Anyone who wants a copy can get it from APPPA, www.apppa.org. BTW, Julia Rietz’s office also has a copy. But until county animal control can bust a cock fight in progress and get those involved to cough up who supplied the birds (both very unlikely), the Giojas and people like them can continue to sell animals for torture and claim ignorance.

Is it worth my time to rebut a vindictive person who hides behind anonymous slanders and hideous misrepresentations?  Her singular purpose in life has been to try to bring down anyone and everyone she has ever decided to dislike. Guess the buck stops here.
It certainly is not worth your time to listen to her.  If you want to know about the article, I could try to find it and post it for all to read. It was an article in the Poultry Press, pursuading people to think about where to sell their birds other than the sale barn - where you don’t make much money.  In the article, my wife told about one hispanic, and two Guatemalan communities, that frequent our farm to buy chicken - the bigger and fatter the better. Only certain breeds of chickens work as fighters, and we do not raise or sell them.
To assume that all hispanics who buy chickens are involved in cock fighting seems a bit racist to me. Especially when you see the smiling moms carefully holding each one and judging which is heaviest.  When the families come, it is like a holiday.  They like to play with the kittens and see the other animals we have.
Wonder what they do with the goats they buy? Razor blades on the horns, maybe? lol
Joyless called the Sheriff on us after the article came out.  The embarassed deputy, with article in hand, came out to look and apologized for the whole incident.  Feel free to contact the Champaign County Sheriff’s office and ask them about it, though it was a couple of years ago now.
Or ask the Poultry Press, since they published the article:
http://www.poultrypress.com/articles/poultrypress.gif
<span style=“font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; color: #000080; font-size: large;”>PO Box 542 Connersville, Indiana 47331-0542</span><span style=“font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; font-size: medium;”>Phone 1-765-827-0932  Fax 1-765-827-4186</span>
<span style=“font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; font-size: medium;”>
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Or - of course, why not judge for yourselves?  You could contact us - just search for Joy of Illinois Farm. You will find us listed in a number of places, and featured in a number of books and articles.
Arrange to come out to see for yourself.  One of the things we emphasize to all our customers, is that they can see what they are buying.  Maybe you will like what you see enough to try one for yourself, because tasting the sweetness of fresh chicken is truly rewarding.
P.S. Laurence is a great guy and a good cook. (Or is it the other way around?)

Am I the only one who knows that fighting cocks are small and that eating cocks are BIG?
The Hispanic people seem to think that female chickens produce female hormones, which help with female problems.  And that male chicken produce male hormones which help with - guess what?
That is what they do with those BIG roosters.
P.S. It was so long ago, that I forgot this particular artivcle was in the APPA, not the Poultry Press.

First, I’ll echo what Les Gioja says: anyone who leaps to the assumption that a hispanic man looking for a rooster can only be engaged in cockfighting seems to be guilty of something  worse than what he/she accuses the Giojas of.
 
Second, if Joyless was concerned that some of these roosters might be used for cockfighting, did he/she contact the Giojas to share those concerns and/or solicit more information?  Or did he/she go straight to the State’s Attorney and the Sheriff’s office?  If the latter, then it does seem less like a genuine concern for animal welfare and more like a personal vendetta against the Giojas.
 
Again, it’s very sad to see local producers who work very hard to raise some good food for the local market and for their own families (for very little financial reward!) have to endure this  kind of anonymous and baseless attack on their farm and their character.

APPPA Issue #49 was published last year.
Somehow, I doubt a carload of “unattached males” is buying a big rooster to collectively solve an E.D. issue.
Fighting birds are matched by size and weight, though sometimes an aggressive smaller bird will be allowed to fight a larger bird.
BTW, it is worth noting that Bedford Virginia police were able to catch someone selling roosters for fighting in a sting last month www.wset.com/news/stories/0609/634326.html  Perhaps next time the Champaign Co. sheriff’s department will expend a bit more effort.

Considering that the families and singles who come to the farm go home with epazote, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, kale, cabbage, onions, and whatever else is ready in the garden, WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY ARE GOING TO DO WITH THE CHICKENS???? A fresh, non-industrial chicken is a big treat, just as it was in the U.S. in the 30’s—remember Herbert Hoover’s campaign promise of a chicken in every pot? (I believe that was just on Sunday—it was potatoes and beans the rest of the week)
  The roosters we sell are VERY gentle and usually just not needed in the show string or laying flock. They are mostly Rhode Island Reds, White Rocks, Black Australorps, Ameracuanas or crossbreds of these. The APPPA Grit editor made up the article’s title, by the way.
  When the sheriff’s deputy came to our home, I laughed because the accusation was so outlandish. That the roosters were going for cockfights had never occurred to me! They become dinner.  This accusation is racial profiling.
  We no longer go to the sale barn—time and effort are too much, and that energy now that I’m an old grandma is needed at home!  However, several BIG buyers from Chicago buy truckfuls of roosters there—what on earth do they do with them???
  Why and what Joyless is so offended about that she would go to these lengths is not clear to me. How sad to be this unhappy person.
  Bendiciones!