Chickens are everywhere in the village where we are staying near Ubud, Bali. There are wild chickens running around in the road and on every menu in the warungs and restaurants are chicken dishes, clearly made from real free range chickens.
But these roosters that we often see in cages by the side of our road are different. These are fighting cocks. We learned from a local Balinese restaurant owner, that originally cockfighting was part of Balinese ceremonies, and the fighting ended as soon as blood was drawn.
Now however, as in other parts of the world, knives are attached to the legs of the birds, gambling is the reason for the fighting and it is often to the death.