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If you’re a health nut, you’ve probably used or at least heard of creatine as part of your fitness goals. But according to one GNC worker, there’s another hidden use for it that may not be entirely known—or legal.
Sydney (@user6383727942), a worker at nutrition retailer GNC, shares the time she learned this shocking revelation from a random customer. Her clip about the experience has since received 15,000 views, with some folks side-eyeing the customer she spoke about.
“I have some strange people come in here,” Sydney says in her clip, which she films from inside a GNC. She explains the time a customer walked in asking for some creatine. When Sydney led him to it, the man purportedly said, “’Oh, good, because I need it for my chickens.’”
Cue the record scratch. Confused, Sydney asked him if it makes the eggs better somehow, because she had never heard of “no chicken taking creatine.”
But no, it wasn’t for eggs or anything related to human consumption.
“’It makes them stronger,’” Sydney recalls the man telling her. When she asked him why they need to be strong, the man told her he was involved in—you guessed it—chicken fights.
According to the customer, he puts the creatine in the chickens’ food. He also shared how he had allegedly made $30,000 from the sport in the last week.
Sydney says while she “ain’t no snitch,” she’s wondering why the sport exists in the first place.
She concludes, “If you need creatine for your chickens, we have some.”
Are Chicken Fights Illegal?
Yes, chicken fighting, also known as cockfighting, is illegal in the U.S. The blood sport is not only illegal in all 50 states, but it is also classified as a felony in 42 of them. Since fights often end in death, the practice is considered animal cruelty. According to LawInfo, you can’t be a spectator, either. Attending a match can get you into serious trouble. The law resource states that, per the Animal Welfare Act, some penalties associated with attending a fight include:
- One year imprisonment for attending a fight
- Three years imprisonment for bringing a child under 16 years of age to a fight
- Five years imprisonment for offenses involving the commerce of instruments used in cockfighting
What’s more, cockfighting is often linked to other crimes, such as gambling or drugs, per the ASPCA. This makes it all the more illicit.
To win, many folks pump the roosters with steroids or vitamins, so it’s not far-fetched that someone would use creatine to boost a rooster’s strength for a cockfight.
So What Is Creatine Exactly?
Creatine is a compound known to enhance athletic performance by supplying energy to the muscles, per the Cleveland Clinic. Half of it comes from eating protein-rich foods, and then the other half is produced by your liver, kidneys, and pancreas, the resource states. So, avid gym-goers tend to take creatine in supplement form to assist their bodybuilding or exercising goals. It makes sense, then, that some would use it on chickens to make them stronger.
In fact, the practice is nothing new. Though not for cockfighting purposes, creatine has been known to be added to poultry’s nutrition during the early days of chick growth. Poultry World reported how feeding broiler breeder hens some GAA (guanidinoacetic acid) can boost the creatine levels in eggs.
This results in the chicks having more energy for hatching and early growth. Regular creatine isn’t added to the feed because of instability, but with the GAA, it converts to creatine, which the hen can now pass to the egg. This improves hatchability, especially in older hens, and supports stronger, more energetic chicks.
BroBible reached out to Sydney via TikTok direct message.