Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(1919) Wyandotte Standard and Breed
(1919) Wyandotte Standard and Breed
American PoOLTRYAssocwanoH
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OCT 31 1962
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Wyandotte s t a ndrad and bre e
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THE
WYANDOTTE STANDARD
AND BREED BOOK
A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF
ALL VARIETIES OF WYANDOTTES, WITH THE TEXT
IN FULL FROM THE LATEST (1915) REVISED EDITION
OF THE AMERICAN STANDARD OF PERFECTION
AS IT RELATES TO ALL VARIETIES OF
WYANDOTTES.
BY ACCREDITED AUTHORS
SEE LIST OF AUTHORS, PAGE NINE.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY ARTHUR O. SCHILLING.
sale of this work, nor may they be used for odvcrtisin;/ pur-
poses, as in circulars, catalogues, etc.
INTRODUCTION.
1322'^
4 amj:i;ica.\ polltuy A^aot'iATioy:
PREFACE.
FOR number
a years
of
among poultry breeders
there has been a growing demand
for the publication by the Ameri-
can Poultry Association of what are popularly known as
Separate Breed Standards a series of books each one contain-
ing the official Standard description of a single breed, and in
addition, reliable and authoritative information in regard to
the actual breeding of such fowls.
This work the Association undertook and published the
Plymouth Rock Standard and Breed Book, the first of the
series, which was promptly followed by this, the Wyandotte
Standard and Breed Book, the second in the series.
The first step taken by the American Poultry Association
toward the construction and publication of Breed Books, re-
ferred to at that time and even yet, as Breed Standards, was
the adoption at the Thirty-second Annual Meeting, Bufifalo,
August 15, 1910, of a resolution presented by Grant M. Curtis.
The presentation and adoption of this resolution was the
outcome of a demand more or less general on the part of the
breeders for separate "Breed Standards," each of which would
describe completely one breed only, in addition to the com-
plete work, the "American Standard of Perfection," which
gives a description of best shape and color type of all breeds
and varieties recognized by the American Poultry Association,
as well as illustrations of both the ideal male and female of any
of the leading varieties also, rules by which all breeds and
;
INTRODUCTION.
CONTENTS.
SECTION I.
SECTION II.
SECTION III.
NOMENCLATURE
DIAGRAM Off HALE.
1 HMd. 10 Hackle. lit I'rlmartes. Flights. 28 Body Feathers.
8 Beak. 11 Front of Hackle. L'o I*iiniarj-coverts. 29 Fluff.
3 NostrU. 12 Breast. lilMack. 3U Tliighs.
4 Comb. 13 Cape. 22 Saddle. 31-31 Hocks.
5 Face. 14 Shoulder. 23 Saddle Feathers. 32-32 Shanks.
6 Eye. 15 Wing-bow. 24 Sickles. 33-33 Spurs.
7 Wattle. 16 Wing-front. 25 Smaller Sickles. 34-34 Feet.
8 Ear. 17 Wlng-coverts. Wing-bar. 26 Tail -coverts. 35-35-35 Toes.
9 ar-Lobe. 18 Secondaries, Wing-ba^. 27-27 Main TaU Feathers. 36-36 Toe Nails.
Figure 2.
NOMENCLATURE-
DIAGRAM OF FEMALE
1 Head.
14 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
SECTION I.
CHAPTER I.
Figure
Stnped Neck ^
8.
Feath-
Kecl.
,
The- . median
,
ridge
on the breast-
er, Female (Ideal). boUC of fowls.
18 AMERICAX POULTRY ASSOCIATIOX
Knee-joint. In fowls, the joint between the thigh and shank
iscalled the knee-joint. (See figures 1 and 2.)
Knock-Kneed. A deformity in which the legs come too near
togitlur at the knee-joints, and are bent outward, laterally,
below the knees.
Figure 9.
The fringe is that portion of a feather at the extremities of the web and tij)
where the fibers are not joined by barbules. In self or solid colors, this border or
edge is more glossy than the web. In parti-colors the color changes usually at the
junction of the central web and the border as in hackle of a Columbian Wyandotte.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 19
Laced
Lacing. A term applied to feathers edged or bor-
dered with a well-defined band of color, different from the
ground color of the feathers.
Leg. Includes thigh and shank. (See figures
1 and 2.)
Line-Breeding. Breeding from a male and fe-
male of the same strain or of descent.
line
Lopped-Comb. A comb falling over to one
side. To disqualify for a lopped rose comb
it must lop over far enough to come in con-
tact with one side of the head or obstruct the
sight. (See figure 12.)
Luster. The special brightness of plumage that
gives brilliancy to the surface color of the
fowl or section.
Mahogany. A brownish-red. (See Bay.) Figure 10.
Mealy. Having the appearance of being sprin- Mealy (Defective)
Feather.
kled with meal. Applied to bufif or red varie-
ties where the ground color is stippled with
a lighter color. (See "Stipple," also figure 10.)
Mossy. Irregular, dark penciling appearing in feathers a^nd
destroying the desirable contrast of color. (See fig-
ure 11.)
Mottled. Marked on the surface with spots of
different colors or shades of color.
Nostrils,
Openings beginning at base of beak
and extending into the head.
Obtuse Angle. An angle greater than a right
angle, i. e., one containing more than ninety
degrees. (See figure 22.)
Parti-Colored. A term applied to feathers or
fowls having two or more colors.
Pen. (Exhibition) Amale and four females
of the same variety.
Penciling.
Small markings or stripes on a
feather. They may run straight across, as
in the Penciled Hamburgs, in which case
Figure 11. they frequently are called "bars," or may
Mossy (Defective) follow the outline of the feather, taking a
Feather.
crescentic form, as in Silver Penciled and
Partridge Wyandottes. (See figure 13.)
Peppered Peppering. Sprinkled with gray or black. (See
"Mealy."
20 AMKJUCAX I'OiLTUY A^S.suvIATWy
Scaly Leg. One with incrustations or deposits c e u c 1' o r m
(I.k'al).
t i
the variety."
Wattles. The pendant growth at the sides and
base of beak.
Web. Web of Feather The flat portion of a feather, made
:
"
Figure 19.
ap])lied to fowls' legs, beaks, etc.. a
Showing Wry-Tail, ricli. lemon-ycllow is meant.
(A Disqualification.)
Figure 20.
Rear View. Side \'iew.
After Removing Feathers. Before Removing Featiiers.
Rear View after Main-Tail Feathers and Large Sickles Have Been Removed,
Leaving Smaller Sickles and Tail-Coverts. (An Example of Faking for the Purpose
ofImproving Shape or to Destroy Evidences of Defective Color.)
SECTION II.
CHAPTER I.
quotient thus obtained, add the score of the male and this
sum shall be the score of the exhibition pen.
Dated Score Cards. All score cards made out by judges
applying the Standard are to be dated with ink, indelible pen-
cil or stamp on the date the specimens are judged.
Defective Score Card. It shall be considered irregular for
a judge to sign a score card unless the weight is considered,
regardless of the season.
Private Scoring. Private scoring of specimens is not ad-
visable and members of this Association are directed not to
lend their support to the practice as a selling method. Judges
are ordered to weigh each specimen and apply the proper cut
and to make proper cuts for the condition of the specimen
at the time the fowl is scored.
Ties. In case of ties between two or more specimens that
cannot be broken by any of the previous rules, the specimen
receiving the smallest total sum of cuts for shape shall be
awarded the prize. In case of ties on exhibition pens, when
the tying pens contain either all old or all young specimens,
28 A.MEIUCAX POVLTKY ASSOCIATIOX
the adult pen shall win when the tying pens are both adult
;
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CUTTING FOR DEFECTS.
Tl IKSE cuts should not be confused with nor take prece-
dence over the \aluation given each section in the Scale
(jf Points of all varieties.
Exhibitor
J 'aricty ..Sex
Symmetry
Weight or Size
Condition
Comb
Head
Beak
Eyes
Wattles and Ear-Lobes
Neck
Wings
Back
Tail
Breast
Body and Fluff
Legs and Toes
*Crest and Beard
f Shortness of Feather..
., Judge
, Secretary
Applies to Crested Breeds. fApplies to Oanus and Game Bantams.
SECTION III.
CHAPTER I.
STANDARD MEASUREMENTS.
THE term "Standard Measurements" refers to the rela-
tive size of the different parts of a fowl and not to any
definite mathematical statement of length, width or cir-
cumference, as no such definite standards have ever been es-
tablished. This may be done some time, but for the present
the breeders' sole guide in determining the correct measure-
ment of sections must be the eye, trained to observe correct
proportions between the diff'erent body parts. These propor-
tions are established by the American Standard of Perfection,
and the inexperienced beginner and the expert judge alike
must form their estimate of the degree to which a given sec-
tion of any individual fowl corresponds to the ideal by a care-
ful study of such sections in comparison with Standard ideal
illustrations and Standard descriptions of that breed and sex.
The person who is accustomed to thinking of animal meas-
urements as being determined by the use of tape, ruler or
calipers may find it a little difficult to accustom himself to
regarding the soft, pliable surface of a fowl's plumage as
forming the final outline of practically all its parts. For the
purpose of judging, however, such outlines are as distinct
and final as solid flesh, assuming, of course, that the plumage
is in its natural orderly arrangement.
It should be clearly understood that the use of the terms
"broad," "long," "moderately long." "short," etc., does not
in any case involve comparison with other breeds of fowls.
In all instances, they refer to comparisons between the dif-
ferent sections of the bird under consideration, and with the
Standard illustration of the ideal bird of the same breed
and sex.
For example, the head of the Standard Wyandotte male
is described as "short, round, broad." This does not mean
that it is short and broad as compared with the head of a
Leghorn, on the one hand, or a Brahma on the other, but it
34 AMKRICAX POULTRY ASSOCIATIOX
CHAPTER II.
COLOR TERMS.
Pnri/rm'MI'A' generally lia\e found it (|uite difficult to
agree upon exact sliadi's of color for different breeds
and \arieties of fowls and more or less confusion has al-
ways existed on this point. )ne reason for this is the great
(
SCALE OF POINTS
FOR JUDGING WYANDOTTES.
Silver Wyandottes
Golden Wyandottes
White Wyandottes
Buff Wyandottes
Silver-Penciled Wyandottes
Partridge Wyandottes
Columbian Wyandottes
Black Wyandottes
Symmetry 4
Weight 4
Condition 4
Comb 8
Head Shape Color 2
2, 4
Beak Shape Color 2
2, 4
Eyes Shape Color 2
2, 4
Wattles and Ear-lobes Shape Color 2
2, 4
Neck Shape 4,Color 6 10
Wings Shape Color 6
4, 10
Back Shape Color
5, 5 10
Tail Shape Color 5
5, 10
Breast Shape Color
5, 5 10
Body and Fluff Shape Color 3
5, 8
Legs and Toes Shape Color 3
3, 6
100
PART TWO
Successive Stages of Development in Domestic Fowls.
SECTION I.
SECTION II.
SECTION I.
CHAPTER I.
"To sum up, therefore, it may be taken that with the do-
mestic fowl, as with many other natural forms of life, we can
go so far back, but no further. The probability is that, as in
the case of dogs, all the varieties of fowls do not owe their
origin to any one species, at any rate of those now extant, and
that we must look to another progenitor than the G. ferru-
gineus (bankiva) for several of the later introduced races,
more especially those from China."
Incentives to Poultry Keeping. While we have fanciers
and breeders of Standard fowls among us by the thousands
that are engaged in this work purely for the pleasure that
they derive from it, the income therefrom or, more directly,
the food supply derived is the great incentive to poultry keep-
ing with a very large majority. Nevertheless, all of the avail-
able accounts of ancient literature indicate, and the probabil-
ities are that the love of sport first induced the natives of
India, in which country fowls were first found, to domesticate
wild fowls; and to obtain specimens better endowed physically
for cock fighting, a sport that has been the natives' leading
amusement until the present time, they bred fowls after their
own selection.
Introduced into Europe. Starting in India, the keeping of
fowls with civilization crept westward through Asia and
Europe into Italy, Spain, France, Belgium and England. Be-
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 41
SECTION II.
CHAPTER I.
purposes the question most positively becomes, will the best
male mated to the best female produce both the best males and
the best females? That is the vital question, for if the best
male mated to the best female would produce only the best
UTY l.mFART
^. Cjlleee
48 JUdERICAX POULTRY ASSOCIATION
that are traceable back to the bird or the pair of birds that laid
the foundation of the line depending entirely upon the number
of gcncratiiMis i)ru(luccd and the mode of breeding.
In-Breeding and Line-Breeding. The terms "line-breeding"
and "in-breeding" are often confused or misunderstood. From
the foregoing, it will be understood that line-breeding may be
in-breeding or may not. In case that the line is built upon
the foundation of the blood of one pair of birds, line-breeding
is in-breeding. Line-breeding may be practiced without in-
breeding in its broadest sense by using blood of the same lines
that is but distantly related.
In-brecding might be described, strictly, as the breeding of
related birds, or birds that trace back to a common ancestor,
but whether that is in effect in-breeding or not. depends en-
tirely upon the closeness of such relationship. In-breeding in
the mind of the average poultry breeder consists in mating the
parent with the progeny, or the j^rogeny of one common parent,
at least, together.
Injudicious In-breeding. There exists, without a chance
for denial, a tendency among poultrymen to inbreed as long as
the desired characteristics are maintained and, if the desired
;
CHAPTER II.
PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING.
FROM POULTRYMAN'S STANDPOINT.
WHATEVER
ment
progress has
races
of different
been made in the develop-
of fowls,and from the Jungle
Fowl to nearly one hundred and fifty distinct varie-
ties, all of which have distinguishable and distinct marks of
beauty, marks as great progress as has been accomplished in
any branch of animal breeding, has been the result of the appli-
cation of only a few elementary and fundamental principles.
"Like Begets Like." Upon this principle as a foundation
has rested the entire structure of standard-bred poultry breed-
ing. Coupled together with another principle quite as ele-
mentary and possibly quite as fundamental, namely, that
defects in one parent may be corrected by selecting for the
parent of the opposite sex one that excels in the same character
in which the first was defective, or one that fails in the same
character as the first, but in the opposite direction, it is re-
sponsible for the progress made thus far.
This amounts to the following precepts : When two birds
of the opposite sex having like characters are mated, the prog-
eny will be like the parents with respect to these like charac-
ters; when the characters are unlike in the parents, these
characters in the progeny will vary between the extremes ex-
emplified by the parents, with a tendency for the greater
number of the progeny to show a mean between these ex-
tremes. Together these simple rules account for the develop-
ment of the different breeds, the creation of the new varieties
of the same breed, and the improvement and development of
those varieties already established.
Why
Like Begets Like. Of this precept no fundamental
or scientific explanation can be offered. It is accepted as an
axiom to a certain extent, though to the full extent it does not,
perhaps, quite conform to modern theories. It is as funda-
mentally true in the breeding of all other forms of life as in
the breeding of poultry. One of the first facts that any student
of either plant or animal life observes is that every seed pro-
56 AMKlilCAX PUl LTHY AiilSOUIATIUN
duces after its kind. The maxim "like begets like," then, is
in a general way axiomatically proved. In animal breeding,
the reproducting sex cannot fertilize itself, hence the proof
of the maxim in its entirety cannot be expected. Breeders of
poultry go this far, however, when male and female alike in
certain particulars are mated together, that it is expected that
the progeny will be like the parents in these particulars. For
instance, when a male and female botii have a comb with five
points, a majority of the chicks from the pair would be ex-
pected to have five-pointed combs. What deviation did occur
would be attributed to the ancestry of one or the other, or
both, of the parents. Another example, specimens of the
four-toed variety mated together produce four-toed varieties
in all cases, while those of the five-toed variety when mated
together produce five-toed chicks in nearly all cases. The
same applies when two specimens of the opposite sex with
reddish-bay eyes are mated together. Deviation would be
accounted for b\- those of the ancestors that did not have
red eyes.
To Offset Defects. As an example of the second principle
in general use by poultry breeders everywhere, that of cor-
recting a defect by mating with specimens of the t)pposite sex
that fail in the opposite direction, a male with a four-point
comb, one point short of standard requirement, would be mated
with a female with six points on her comb, and vice versa.
If one of the mated pair had light eyes, it would be mated to a
specimen with very dark reddish-bay or even with deep red
eyes. A specimen of a breed which is required to have five
toes that has but four would be considered so faulty that it
would not be used as a breeder; it is a disqualified bird. (See
page 15 for definition.) It is just as serious a matter when
the specimen of the four-toed variety has five toes. It is dis-
carded for the same reason.
In many cases this principle is modified to the extent of
mating birds that are faulty in certain respects to the opposite
sex that are as near perfection as it is possible to obtain.
Faults may not be corrected as speedily in this way as by the
other, but the method is more secure in the long run, because
it is better that the fowls should inherit one excellent feature
points, while the female controls the shape of body, etc. But
it must be admitted that no tangible proof of these various
opinions can be secured.
Constitutional Vigor. That constitutional vigor is a vital
factor in allbranches of poultry husbandry will undoubtedly
have been inferred from several of the foregoing passages.
The necessity of that quality described by such terms as health,
vigor, stamina, hardiness, ruggedness and several more, per-
haps, is so generally understood and recognized that it requires
little more than passing notice here.
It is also thoroughly understood that this quality is just as
vitally essential in the yards of the most exclusive fancier, who
rears but a few choice birds each season, as on the farm of the
commercial breeder who raises his flock for the number of eggs
it produces or the number of pounds of flesh ; the first cannot
perpetuate his flock to reincarnate the ideals of his dreams,
the second cannot produce the eggs or the pounds of flesh
without fowls of rugged constitutions, which must prevail
in the stock. To maintain health in a flock and to hatch chicks
that inherit a strong vital force, weak birds must not be
admitted to the breeding yards. That is, to maintain constitu-
tional vigor in your flock, select as breeders those birds that
possess that essential quality.
The strongest constitutions may be undermined by injudi-
cious feeding, by undue exposures, poor sanitation and poor
management generally. These are topics taken up in a later
chapter in this work. (A. C. S.)
60 AMl-n{lCA\ Pt/l LTRY ASSOCIATIOS'
PLATE A.
Chapter I:
General Description of Wyandottes All Varieties.
Chapter II: History of the Origin and Development of Wyan-
dottes.
Chapter III: Changes in Type and Color Since 1884.
Chapter IV: Standard Requirements for Shape of All Varieties.
Chapter V: Common Defects and How to Overcome Them.
SECTION II. LACED WYANDOTTES.
Chapter I: Standard Requirements for Color of Silver Wyan-
dottes and Explanation of Laced Color.
Chapter II: Breeding Silver Wyandottes.
Chapter III: Origin of Golden Wyandottes.
Chapter IV: Standard Requirements for Color of Golden Wyan-
dottes.
Chapter V: Breeding Golden Wyandottes.
SECTION III. WHITE WYANDOTTES.
Chapter I: History of the Origin and Development.
Chapter II: Standard Requirements for Color.
Chapter III: Mating to Improve the Quality.
SECTION IV. BUFF WYANDOTTES.
Chapter I: History of the Origin and Development,
chapter II: Standard Requirements for Color.
Chapter III: Successful Methods of Breeding.
SECTION V. PARTRIDGE WYANDOTTES.
Chapter I: History of the Origin and Development.
Chapter II: Standard Requirements for Color.
Chapter III: Single and Double Mating.
SECTION I.
CHAPTER I.
WYANDOTTES
Till-". W'YANDO'I "I'l-'S arc of .\nuricaii origin and were
known in their early history by several names. Each
section of the country where they were found seems to
have had a name that was given by the 1)reeder who first in-
troduced them. They were known as Scbrights, Mooneys.
American Scbrights and 1)y a number of names which their
peculiar markings indicated. The name "Wyandotte" was not
applied until they were admitted to the Standard in 1883.
Just what breeds entered into the first Silver Wyandottes it
is impossible to say. That Dark Brahmas and Silver Spangled
Hamburgs were two of them has been proven, as a cross of
these two breeds produces fowls that resemble them, but fail
in shape and partly in color, showing that some other
known] cross was added. They have, since their admission
[un-
FIGURE 24.
AMERICAN SEBRIGHTS.
This illustration, executed by B. N. Pierce in 1874, was the first to
present the completed type of the new breed which finally became known
as the Wyandotte.
:
CHAPTER II.
county, where I then Hved, bred them, and at that time I made an eflfort
to trace their origin, and every line that I followed became obliterated
before I found its source. The last man always said: 'I don't know
anything about it.' And this is the experience of EVERY ONE of the
many who have tried to solve the problem.
"I have spent considerable time on this question, not only in years
long past, but recently, and it is safe to say that this supposed origin of
the Wyandotte has not a shadow of foundation in fact. No one knows
anything about it except what he sees in the makeup of the birds."
SEBRIGHT COCH I X S
P. CotHixs. Br.xhmas .\xn Bronze Turkeys.
L.WHITTAKER. Xo. Adams. Mich.
"The breed was presented to the American Poultry .^s.sociation for
admission to the Standard, while the .Association was in session at Buffalo
in 1876. The Association recognized the promising qualities of the breed,
:
FIGURE 25.
SEBRIGHT COCHINS.
The male and female illustrated above present the earliest type of
the W'yandottes, or Sebright Cochins.
were perfectly hardy and feather-up much earlier than the Brahmas.
Mr. R. Writes as follows
: ;
Sebright Bantam male, and as to the yellow Cliittagong. I never saw the
fowl. Neither did I name my new lireed of fowls Sebright Cochins. That
honor belongs to William M. Lewis, who compiled the 'People's Practical
Poultry Book' and was for some years poultry editor of 'The American
Rural Home.'
"Second 'Others who became interested (among whom were the
Rev. A. S. Baker and Mr. Benson") produced the same kind of fowl.
These three persons became so interested with their newly formed fowls
that one of them bad them illustrated in the agricultural press during
1872.' In regard to this statement and in explanation of the reason the
names of Messrs. Baker and Benson, were exploited in connection with
this matter, let me say that they were Methodist clergymen. Soon after
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 69
I started out to develop this new breed, I wanted a Silver Sebright male
bird to cross on my new blood line, and wrote one of these gentlemen
making inquiry for such a bird. He replied on the same sheet on which
I had written him, and referred me to the other. Neither of these
gentlemen could furnish me with a bird. This letter was preserved by
mere accident, and was not seen for several years. Its only value con-
sisted in showing the early date in which I was making an effort to
create a new breed. These men kept a few Silver Sebrights (not bantams,
but a fowl as large as the Wyandotte), while mine carried a Chittagong
cross (black and yellow fowl). I never heard of these men again. I do
not know that six months after that they had a chick or that any bird
ever owned by them figures in the makeup of the Wyandotte. Does Mr.
McGrew? At this period the Silver Sebright was being kept about Sandy
Hill, Washington County, N. Y., and by the late H. M. Doubleday of
Victor, N. Y., and others in his vicinity, and William R. Pitts, Honeoye,
N. Y. Still, we have no knowledge that any of this blood enters into
the Wyandotte, save that from Mr. Doubleday's flock.
"Third 'Both Silver Spangled Hamburgs and Dark Brahmas were
crossed upon the Sebright Cochin. Silver Spangled Hamburgs and Bufif
Cochins were bred together, and the best of all these crosses were
merged into what were called Eurekas also Excelsiors, Ambrights,
;
having Dark Brahma or Hamburg cross, and do not l)elieve that they
had such crosses, as I never saw a l)lue leg or vulture hock among
them, which must have appeared had they possessed these bloods.
I recall selling you a pair of chicks (your selection) in the fall of
1872. I was well acf|uainted with the Chittagongs, which were essentially
the Golden Wyandottes of today, and wiiich constituted the cross of which
you made the Wyandotte. Hoping that some day the public will accredit
you with the honor which is due you of originating the Wyandotte breed,
I am,
Sinccrelv,
H. M. DOUBLKD.KY."
:
FIGURE 26.
Stock that for some time had been (|uite well established. When
asked to describe some of the principal defects or character-
istics which he did not like in the early American Sebrights,
afterward Wyandottes, Mr. Whittaker replied: "Single combs,
white in ear-lobes, shawl-necks and smoky shanks". Besides
the single coml)s. a few combs developed without spikes at
rear and scjmetimes were low in the center. The strawberry-
shaped comb appeared on a few males with longer necks and
longer legs than ordinary.
A few of the cockerels, especially those that developed the
longest tails, had considerable white at the root, noticeable
on the u])per web of the main sickles. Mr. Whittaker did not
experience much difficulty with frosting on the black lacing
until he made some crosses with New luigland stock. In the
80's he exchanged with a party at Seneca Falls. N. Y.. and
mated a male of this new stock to females of his own strain,
but the chicks resulting showed reversions to Dark Brahma
blood, and were very mossy. This was the first time such a
reversion to the Dark Brahma had been seen by Mr. Whit-
taker.
The wing-bar color of the male, as described in the first
Standard for \\'yandottes was unknown in the Whittaker line
of blood, that strain being laced on the wing coverts; white on
upper edge of tail of males Mr. Whittaker considered a defect
difficult to breed out and shawl-neck he described as: "The
neck of male bird (on wliich it was most conspicuous) was
silvery-white down to ihv fullness (meaning the arch, or full
portion of the neck), then it was a kind of mixed, smoky moss
of dark color."
The "Big lien" had the first clear-strii)e(l neck that he
produced on a bird of her type and proved of great value for ;
ehe lived nine or ten years and was no doubt a potent factor
in developing the popular type for the strain, and was the
mother of a goodly number of the best in the foundation stock
of W'yandottes.
Refused Admission to Standard in 1877. Mr. Whittaker
failedin the atteni])! to have his .Vnicrican Sebrights ad-
mitted to the Standard of Excellence in 1877, for reasons set
forth in the following statement by I. K. h\'lch. who was
present at the .\nierican Poultry Association meeting of that
year:
"Whittaker in 1877 offered his birds to the .American Pouhry .Asso-
ciation as American Sebrights. At the same meeting the Kidder faction
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 75
wanted them accepted with peacombs and feathered legs as Eurekas. The
American Poultry Association refused, and recommended that the breed-
ers come together and agree on some one thing. * * * * There is no
disputing the fact that Ray, Baker and Rev. Benson were lireeding them
as Sebright Cochins, that the first cross was a large Sebright Bantam
cock with a Buff Cochin hen that this was subsequently top-crossed by
;
Hamburgs that Kidder did introduce Dark Brahma blood and then the
;
Silver-Spangled Hamburg male. All this came out at that Buffalo meet-
ing in 1877. I have Ray's letters dated 1871, with an endorsement on the
back in 1886 by A. S. Baker, that show the first cross was as early as
1864 to 1866. Ray was one of two or three breeding these birds in 1867,
but the fact that he was hunting for crosses to breed to his, shows that
there were others at it, too. Between 1877 and 1883, there was another
top-cross and the blood of the French Breda and the Hamburg was
added also light colored specimens of Dark Brahmas. Ray, Baker and
Benson were the starters, but these other crosses were added before they
went in to the Standard in 188v3."
The
"Silver Sebrights" (?) mentioned by Mr. Doubleday
were referred to by liini as "a foreign or imported bird" and
the supposition is that the Breda are also known to have been
such, several colors being found aomng them, such as black,
white and silver-laced. We are, however, most inclined to put
our faith in the Lancashire Mooney" as the "imported bird"
mentioned by Mr. Doubleday, for we believe this old English
breed to have played an important part in the history of the
Wyandotte fowl. The pronounced Hamburg-type of rose
comb of the Mooney not infrequently made its appearance in
both Wyandotte males and females, long after they were made
a Standard breed. One of the finest cockerels we owed in the
early 80's sported a rose comb which would have been con-
sidered an ideal one for a Hamburg male, but a misfit on a
Wyandotte.
Lancashire Mooneys. The illustration depicts a pair of
Lancashire Mooneys. This is a reproduction from an old Eng-
lish print, executed by W. and H. Ward. The wing-bars of
the male bird in this picture fit the description given by Mr.
Doubleday when he wrote to Mr. Ray in 1898 "The cocks :
FIGURE 27.
LANCASHIRE "MOONEYS."
I'Vom /ood-cut print, redrawn by the Eiit,'lisli artist, J.
Ludlow.
FIGURE 28.
"CHITTAGONG" HEN.
The above is reproduced from an
illustration old. wood-cut printed in
1850. This hen weighed thirteen pounds.
acteristics has been found that we arc aware of. certainly not
the fifth toe whicli is a distinguishing feature of the Dorking
breed.
Although always exist some doubt as to absolute
thcrt' will
reliability of theclaims made by early breeders of American
Scbrights or Sebright Cochins, regarding the component i)arts
which made up the new ])reed, we are reasonably safe in trac-
ing back the blood lines of the following four distinct breeds,
viz.. llamburgs. Malays. Cochins or .*^hanghaes. and Dorkings.
(I.ll.D.)
FIGURE 29.
CHAPTER III.
prize winning- chicks reaching 95^ and 93^. The awards went to G. D.
Millington, North Bennington, Vermont, first and second for breeding
:
pens, first for fowls first and second for chicks to H. D. Macumber,
;
Truxton, N. Y. second for fowls, third for chicks, to Kate G. Ash, Lima,
;
Pa. Both breeding pens were sold before the show closed, the first going
to one of the Harper Brothers, the second to Philip Timson."
FIGURE 30.
Javas, Hamburgs and Cochins, it meant a good deal for him to say of
the W'yandottes at that time, 1884 'There does not exist today a better
:
fowl for all purposes. They lay a large egg and many of them for table
;
and white, a part of the white having a yellowish shade.' This yellowish
or straw-colored shade was more commonly noticed at that time than
later, when fanciers selected and bred to obtain the silvery white, and culled
out those specimens showing the yellowish tinge. The illustration shows
the tvpe that Dr. ^^'eston then most fancied and with which he won at
Chicago in 1882-1883 and 1884.
FIGURE 31.
"As I recall my visit to the doctor's home place, where quite a number
of his choicest pens were housed, I was shown three breeding pens of
Wyandottes. Two of these pens very closely resembled the illustration
shown here from his old catalogue issued about the time of the above
last date. One of the pens contained a few females of the coarser,
fluffier, more cochiny-type. I rememl^er asking his man who was showing
me through which type was most preferred, and he said that the closer,
smoother-plumaged type was finest and that on this type the lacing came
most distinct and clearest. On meeting Dr. Weston lately in Chicago, he
described the Wyandotte with smooth-surface plumage as much preferred
in the early 80's to the more cochiny-shapcd specimens.
"Critical comparison of this illustration, made for Dr. E. B. Weston
liy the engraver, B. X. Pierce, shows the type then bred as more slender,
more delicately modeled than ideals of the breed today. The head is not
so broad and the throat looks more cut out. The tail is considerably
developed, the sickles and hangers of greater length than present-day
models, and the sickles extending beyond the tail proper. The 'double
curve of the back, so much admired on the Wyandotte for many years,
is quite conspicuous. The comb shows narrower at its base, not so firmly
FIGURE 32.
...->^'
K^^^" -3 '
a^OASKjo.
feathered type. She was of good size, of fluffy under plumage and
appeared unusually large." The sketch on the right represents the accepted
male type of the same period.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 85
seton the head as the type later selected and the spike extends back and
upwards forming a moderately-sized leader, more like the Ham-
slightly
burg comb."
FIGURE 33.
toes, combs so i.^rge as to obstruct the sight, solid white breast.' The
word 'permanent' was substituted for 'solid' in connection with white or
yellow in ear lobes, and the words, 'covering more than one-third the
surface' added. 'Wry tails' became 'decidedly wry.' The words 'birds not
matching in the show pen, and 'twisted feathers in wings' were cut out.
"In tlie description of the male tlic word 'dark' was added to the
color of the l)eak and it was decided that the entire coml) and spike
'must curve slightly to conform to the shape of the skull.' The words
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 91
'breast bone straight' were omitted from description of breast but the
words 'keel bone straight' were added to the description of the body.
"The description of the wings was made to read as follows : 'Of
medium size, wellfolded :
Primaries, black, with lower or outer web
edged with white: Secondaries, black, with the lower or outer half of
the lower web white : WING
and SHOULDER COVERTS, under-color
dark slate, web white, heavily laced with black, the black lacing growing
wider over the wing-bow.'
"The LESSER TAIL COVERTS should be 'black, or black with
white centers.' The soft feathers on THIGHS were described as 'black,
or black powdered with gray.'
"In the description of the female the word 'dark' was also added to
color of beak, the color of hackle was to be 'silvery white,' the back
'slightly cushioned, plumage abundant, web of feather black with small
white centers and free from outside while lacing.' The only change in
plumage of body was the insertion of the words 'or black' before the
words 'frosted with white near the thighs.'
"The description of the wings was changed to the following:
'PRIMARIES, black with lower or outer web edged with white: SEC-
ONDARIES, black with the lower or outer half of the lower web white:
FIGURE 35.
Standard the ear-lol)e must now show more than one-third white. This
is as it should be. A white, or half white, car-lobe is decidedly bad. The
breast is a section l)y itself, and it is valued at ten point.s body and fluff
being combined with a value of eight points. This makes a cut in breast
count certainly two points more than formerly. Breast is ten points, five
for color and five for shape. Solid black breasts are not disqualified
hereafter. Agood full breast in a Wyandotte is of the greatest conse-
quence. A narrow or flat I)reast is bad. The breed, handsome as it is,
claims utility a twin feature. It is a table fowl when well bred equal to
the best. A good tal)le fowl shouhl have a large full Itreast. and nothing
brings out the fine and beautiful lacing of a Wyandotte l)etter than such a
breast. The wings of the Wyandotte retain the same luimber of points,
four for color and four for shape. Over fifty per cent of the Wyandottes
bred have too small wings and carry them too liigh. A large wing, show-
ing the secondaries well developed, would add l)eauty and utility to the
bird. A large-winged bird is apt to have good breast development.'
"Another point xcr tinsh to call attention, to is the li'ing-bar. It is of
the same description as in the old Standard, and compels the judge to
score the feathers that make the bar as spangled feathers. Having handled
many Wyandottes in the past. 7iv find the best males for breeding have
heavily laced feathers timt muke a handsome bar. The Zinng fronts and
even under-zvings have nicely laced feathers. They are u'hat some call
'pullet' breeders. So -u-hy should it be required that just one set of feathers
that have but a color value of one or two points be spangled, zvhen all
other feathers are to be laced/
"The back receives more attention, and no penciling is admissible,
but white edging is made a severe cut. This is an imi)rovement. but we
hope our judges will cut this penciling or moss-l)ack plumage severely.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 93
It has been the weak point of the Wyandottes, but has been treated with
too much leniency by our judges. We have been trying to breed it out
and have not succeeded in doing so. Other breeders have done the same
with more or less success. It must be done, but how? A friend who has
had much experience and given much thought to the subject never bred
from pullets, but only from hens that moulted out clean and as free as
possible from penciling. This reduced his flock to a minimum, but he
made a step forward, when a new difficulty presented itself, viz., he could
not breed too close and wanted new blood. He wrote to us for a cockerel
that would breed clean and well, and we could not find such a bird. Every
male bird that we examined that year in our own and other flocks, no
matter how well he looked on the surface, had under the saddle feathers
plenty of feathers that showed unmistakable penciling. Thus we see the
vital importance of establishing a line of male birds that are to a certain
extent free from this taint.
"But, Wyandotte lireeders, he careful to breed good hens also. The
old law that color comes from tlie male principally is not always applicable
to Wyandottes. That the latter are improving, no one questions, but the
time is still a little distant when male birds get to ninety-five and females
to ninety-six points. The two best male birds we saw this season scored
ninety-three and one-half points each. The best female was a hen that
should have scored ninety-five points had she been up to weight. The
best pullet scored ninety-five points. This is under the old Standard.
We are aware that birds have been scored higher than this, but it showed
undue leniency on the part of the judge toward a breed that needs severe
cutting to teach breeders the defects and to remedy them. In conclusion
we will say to Wyandotte fanciers, carefully select well developed birds
and do not breed narrow-breasted, long-backed specimens, as under the
new Standard such birds will suffer severely if honestly judged.
"Under-color is important, and should be a slate as the new Standard
requires ; the tail proper is a solid black. White in sickle feathers, if
under the surface, should not be cut severely. Some of the best birds
will show some white in the sickles. // all these little details are re-
garded. U'e believe, with careful management and mating, the Silver
Wyandotte will attain the great perfection of the Silver Sebright Bantam.
A good dark pullet of the latter, with a solid black tail, ci'tues 2'ery near
being a perfect Wyandotte color."
the widtii of the feather and that this nronortion may be secured with
I)erfect safetv to the other markings, while larger centers would bring with
them the evils mentioned."
some fanciers hreed in that line and get the surface color all right, and
I really think if they were white under-color instead of slate, we would
:
get less of the brassiness when they come to be exposed to the sun. How-
ever, it is just about as easy to breed them with the slate as with the
white. I should not discard a good bird if white that is the idea I wish
;
ity" being added after the word "feather." This gave a better
idea of the surface striping of the saddle feathers. The dia-
mond-shaped centers are partially covered, and do not show
on the surface, except in some sj)ecimens having exceptionally
large and long white centers, a virtue rather than a fault.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 105
centers, feathers laced with white." This brings out the im-
portant color point in the coverts in an unmistakable manner.
Legs and toes were also given an overhauling, and de-
scribed as follows: "Web of feather, white, laced with nar-
row, lustrous greenish-black, sharply defined lacing, to con-
form to edge of feather; under-color, slate." This applies to
the color of the thighs, a much clearer and more advanced
definition than the "black or dark slate, powdered with gray,
laced feathers desirable," which appeared in the previous
Standard. Shanks and toes were described as "yellow," with
the clause, "red showing at outer sides, back of scales, not a
defect," added. It seems that some judges have cut this red-
dish pigment on yellow-shanked fowls as a defect, when in
reality it is a most desirable quality, and usually accompanies
rich, yellow legs in fowls.
The Silver Wyandotte female received similar treatment in
the laced sections as the male, the description of a laced feather
being the same in both. The color of neck was changed some-
what, the shafts of feathers being described as "white" instead
of "may be white," which corresponds with the description of
the male neck feathers.
The description of tail was changed to read "Black the
: ;
upper sides of the two top feathers edged with white greater
;
FIGURE 36.
FIGURE 37.
CHAPTER IV.
STANDARD WEIGHTS.
Cock 8K' lbs. Hen 6>^ lbs.
Cockerel 7^ lbs. Pullet 5'/. lbs.
SHAPE OF MALE.
Head. Short, round, broad.
Beak. Short, well curved.
Eyes. Full, oval.
Comb. Rose, low, firm on head top, free from hollow center,
;
shoulders.
Wings. Medium in not carried loo closely to body;
size,
sides, well rounded.
Back. Short, broad, shoulders; saddle, broad,
flat at full, ris-
ing with concave sweep to saddle feathers, abundant.
tail ;
Legs and Toes. Thighs, short, stout, showing outlines when
viewed sideways, well covered with short feathers shanks,
;
SHAPE OF FEMALE.
Head. Short, round cown, br oad.
;
coverts, abundant.
Breast. Broad, deep, round.
Body and Fluff. Body moderately short, deep, round flufif, ;
toes, straight.
PLATE 1.
PLATE 3.
PLATE 4.
CHAPTER V.
PL.^TE 5.
PLATE 6.
White in Lobes. White in ear-lobe is an old fault of the
breed, now practically eradicated from the males, but oc-
casionally seen in the females. Some males show a paleness
in lobes that is not enamel white and such weakness of color
;
PLATE 7.
PL.\TE 8.
PLATE 9.
symmetry of the l>ir(l. W hen the male is viewed from the side,
his wattles should rest against the swell of a flowing neck
hackle. 'JMic best exhibition males not only have the back of
their hackle nicely arched from head to cape, but the hackle
is also well rounded at the sides, swelling out immediately
below the ears.
The bone and meat of the neck is a slender i)art of the
body, and the entire outward ajjpearance of this section de-
pends upon the plumage. The fullness of the back, the length
and furnish of the tail, in fact the general outline of the bird is
likewise de])endent ui)on the plumage.
Plumage Quality. Anything that retards or arrests the de-
vel(>])nient of the feathers, such as dirty quarters, crowding,
lack of animal food or greens, is equally as important as breed-
ing. While good care will not transform a poorly bred bird
into a prize \vinner, the lack of care will ruin the finest chick
ever bred.
It is not alone a matter of the right (|uantity and distribu-
tion of plumage. Plumage has texture. Where there is a
connection of filaments, or threads, as in a woven fabric, there
is texture. This feature of the i)lumage may very in diflferent
birds, also in dift'erent strains and varieties, and this gives
rise to different qualities of feather. The highest type of show
Wyandotte has a decidedly smooth surface or te.xture to its
plumage. This is developed to the finest point in some White
and some Black Wyandotte females.
A certain amount of hardness of feather is necessary if this
smooth surface is to be obtained. Aloose, profusely feathered
bird has a softer, flufTier character of feather. To produce
the smooth surface, look w-ell to the male, selecting a lustrous
plumage bird whose breast feathers are hard and smooth, the
same being secured by each individual feather being well
webbed together clear to its outer edges. Such a male should
carry a considerable quantity of webbed feathers in fluff of
body.
A number of Wyandotte females carry too much fluff for
show purposes. The male described above is a good mate to
correct this fault and produce the neater lined pullet with
smootH surfaced plumage. The hock of the female should
show when the bird is viewed from the side. If the body
feathers are long and profuse, covering u\) the hock line, the
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 125
PLATE 10.
^ .
^' )P
'S=-
Pi ^-5
< 1^
^ 'pi
O o -"-^
Q ^^
-^
1- c
^ rt
o 8^1^
o M_ 2 ^
-2 .i;
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 127
o +^
P-I
128 AMEJUCAN POL LTUY AS^OCIATIOS
PLATE 13.
^
'ji-^^Srl^m, ~'^^=.^^4JL^-
female is loo imu-li afti-r the fashion of a ("oehin witli its alnnul-
ance of rtuff.
Males are often of jxior shai)e becatise they ha\e not the
proper plumage. 'J'he back may be fiat because the plumage
of the saddle does not l)uild up a concave sweep to tail. This
defect may be overcome by breeding- from the blocky, well
cushioned female, and this is where the full feathered type of
female becomes valuable in the breeding yard.
A high tail in the male may be counteracted by breeding
from low tailed females with well spread main tail feathers.
A Wyandotte male tail poorly furnished with coverts is not
representative of the best. Mate to such a specimen a female
whose two to]) main tail feathers are long and who lias an
abundance of tail coverts which extend well out toward the
end of her main tail feathers.
A fault of some males is long legs. This is a serious de-
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 129
PLATE 14.
PL.\TE 15.
PLATE 16.
CO
"Co
a
COfe^
rtO .
o ^
rt O^
CS i) o
^ -rt
bcCQ c
.-2
^ .
^"5 o
^ 1^ I- o
H '^ ^ o
2
- 1 rt
'5(
134 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
A
Bird of Curves. Every line of the Wyandotte should be
a curve, so that when all the concave and convex lines are
brought together we have a bird that is round in every sec-
tion. This does not api)ly to the profile alone. The sides
of the bird should be rounded also.
The surface of the bird, especially llu- kinale, should be
smooth. Wing points that ])inch in below the cushi(jn destroy
the smooth surface.
A Wyandotte's wings should not be composed of long
flight feathers. these primaries and secondaries are long
If
the bird will be correspondingly long bodied, and the Wyan-
dotte will approach the I'lymouth Rock in type. The bow of
the Wyandotte wing should be well rounded, and the fronts of
the wings well covered with the sides of the breast plumage.
The wing points of the male should not show, for they
should be well covered by the saddle feathers. Some males,
however, especially cockerels, do not hold their wings uj) but
drop the points down like a ])air of swords. This spoils the
side view of the bird for tlie underliiu- of the wings should be
almost horizontal.
These defects are mentioned that the breeder may consider
them and try to select those birds for breeding that will cor-
rect existing faults and thus produce birds that will more
nearly meet the requirements of the Standard. b\ L. IV
(
)
1
PLATE B.
'_ -
136 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATTOX
SECTION II
CHAPTER I.
Disqualifications.
COLOR OF MALI-:.
Head.
Plumage, silvery white, each feather ha\ing a black
stripe tapering to a fine point near its extremity.
Beak. Dark horn, shading to yellow at point.
Eyes. Reddi.sh-l^iy.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
Neck. Hackle, web of feather lustrous greenish-black with
narrow edging of silvery white, imiform in width, extend-
a
ing around point of feather; shaft of feather, white; plum-
age in front of hackle same as breast.
Wings. Bows, silvery white; coverts, white with narrow lus-
trous greenish-black lacings, conforming to the shape of
feathers, forming a double bar of laced feathers acros.;
wings; primaries, black, lower edges, white; secondaries,
black, lower half of outer webs, white with narrow black
edgings wider at the tips, upper webs, edged with white.
Back. Silvery white; saddle, silvery white in appearance, a
black stripe through each feather, laced with white, con-
forming to shape of center; the black having a K)ng dia-
mond-shaped center of white.
Tail.
Black; sickles and coverts, lustrous greenish-black;
smaller coverts, black, with diamond-shaped white centers,
feathers laced with wliite.
Breast. Web of each feather, white, laced with a narrow, lus-
trous greenish-black, sharply defined lacing, conforming to
edge of feather.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 137
gray.
Legs and Toes.
Thighs, web of each feather, white, laced
with a narrow, lustrous greenish-black, sharply defined
lacing, conforming to edge of feather; shanks and toes,
yellow.
Under-Color of All Sections. Slate.
COLOR OF FEMALE.
Head. Plumage, silvery gray.
Beak. Dark horn, shading to yellow at point.
Eyes. Reddish-bay.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
Neck. Silvery white appearance, with a black
in center
through each feather, laced with white shafts of feathers,
;
Wings. Shoulders, bows and coverts, each feather white,
laced with a narrow, lustrous greenish-black, sharply de-
fined lacing conforming to edge of feather; primaries, black,
lower edges white secondaries, black, lower half of outer
;
centers.
Breast.
Each feather white, laced with a narrow, lustrous
greenish-black, sharply defined lacing to conform to edge
of feather.
Body and Fluff. Body, each feather white, laced with a nar-
row, lustrous greenish-black, sharply defined lacing to con-
form to edge of feather fluff", slate powdered with gray.
;
Legs and Toes. Thighs, each feather white, laced with a nar-
row, lustrous greenish-black, sharply defined lacing, to con-
form to edge of feather shanks and toes yellow.
;
LACED WYANDOTTES.
COLOR REQUIREMENTS EXPLAINED.
Sihcr Wyanduttes arc among
Tilthe color markinj^s
I-',
most
of the
ones to be found on domesticated
l)eautiful
races of poultry and at the same time they are among
the most difficult ones for the breeder to produce and for
the judge to properly value when adjudicating in the show
room. Judges, as well as breeders, must have fi.xed ideals in
their minds of Silver Wyandotte color markings, which must
be based upon the Standard descriptions for color, by which
all si^ecimens handled by them are measured.
These ideals have undergone many changes in the past
thirty or more years, the Wyandottcs of the early eighties
as will be seen by the illustrations in the History of the Origin
chapter in this book appearing to be a distinctive race from
the present Silver Wyandottes in color markings, the narrow,
white centers of the heavily laced feathers of the females and
solid black wing-bars of the males of the original type being
supplanted by the larger centered, or Sebright, type of lacing
in the males and females of today. But breeders and judges
must follow the ideals of today, no matter what lingering
thoughts of adniirati(jn they may still cherish of the line ])oints
of the older types.
The Silver Wyandotte male, described and illustrated in
the American Standard of Perfection of V)\5 {Plate 1).
does not exist in the fiesh, but is the ideal to be worked for by
the breeder. Cocks and cockerels have been bred and ex-
hibited which a])proximated closely in one or more sections to
this Standard color marking, but not in all, and probably none
ever will. But with hens and pullets, the Standard ideal in
color is more- noticeably approached, in fact some nearly equal
it in beautiful lacing, albeit not in type. The Standard illus-
tration of the female Silver Wyandotte (Plate 2) conveys
the advanced and accepted ideal in color markings, exhibiting
Note. As the Golden Wyandotte has the same system of lacing as the
Silver, except that the white of the Silver variety is replaced by golden
bay in the Gulden variety, the description of Silver Wyandottes alone is
given here.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 139
PLATK 19.
face or top color, except near the root of the tail where the
shorter saddle feathers and lesser tail coverts should be more
distinct in their markings. The wing-bar must consist of a
double row of laced feathers and if an upper or third row
PLATE 20.
PLATR 21.
CHAPTER II.
PLATE 22.
Top row. Ixjyinning at left, the feathers are taken from the following
sections: Neck, shoulder, side of breast. Lower, from left to right, top
of cushion or hack, second bar of wing and body.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 145
PLATE 23.
PL.XTl-: 24.
PLATE 25.
IM.ATI-: 26.
PLATE 27.
PLATE 28.
PLATE M.
HEN FEATHERED SILVER WYANDOTTl-: MALE.
1 Breast. 2 Wing-bow. 3 Saddle. 4 Tail covert. 5 Body fluff.
PLATE 29.
2. 3. .
PLATE 31.
type. The present Standard calls for a "long, diamond shaped center of
white," but the average exhibition male is not as open laced as is shown in
these feathers. These feathers are of only average quality, as they seem
to lack density of color in the black stripe.
PLATE 32.
PLATE 33.
PLATE 34.
PLATK 35.
PLATE 36.
PULLET BREEDING
CHARACTERISTICS.
On Plate 36 is shown a pullet
breeding Silver Wyandotte male.
Note the open white centers on
the saddle near its juncture with
the tail. The feathers of these
males are usually very pointed and
narrow at their ends and the body
of the feather is wide and round
in the center, showing the white
open center. Much of these white
centers lie under the surface of
the plumage as shown in the photo.
There is considerable brown and
brassiness on the shoulders and
back of this male, which is char-
acteristic of males from extreme
pullet matings.
PLATE 37.
The al)ove lien was imported into tliis country from Australia and was
remarkal)lc for licr round, regular lacing. Practically no diamond i)oints
are noticealile in her plumage. Slie was used for pullet breeding and pro-
duced a few excellent specimens before she died in 1916, when she was
six or eight years old.
Tile male is a good illustration of a hen feathered pullet breeder.
This cockerel is from a strain that ha not been bred to extreines for
.
cockerel and pullet matings. Specimer. of this sort Iiave sported from
this strain and have been used to produce exhibition pullets.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 159
PLATE 39.
i?
aoo
2. 3.
E,^.
u: j= c
coo
._ I-
U 1- r-
^2^
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 161
111
ra a;
162 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
Many
importations were made by American breeders of
Wyandottes in the past twenty years, one noted Silver
Silver
Wyandotte breeder importing his first English stock in 1897
from Cornwall, England, which improved the lacing and
brought out the first laced wing-bar seen at the Boston show.
Pullets from these English-American bred strains produced
winning pullets a few years after and at the Boston show
cockerels of the same blood won first and second over some of
the best pure-bred American birds.
The Silver Wyandotte, a native of America, when exported
to England, returned with an entirely new set of feathers and
more beautiful than American breeders have been a])le to
produce. The typical form or shape of the breed, in most in-
stances, was destroyed, l)Ut in more recent years it is being
PLATE 43.
PLATE 44.
Top row, back and saddle feathers. Bottom row, breast feathers.
Females having plumage marked like the above feathers, when mated
to exhibition males of this particular line, have produced winning males at
New York and Boston repeatedly. This line of breeding is producing
clear top-colored males showing no mossiness on back. The hackles are
clean and well striped. While the back, cushion and wing-bow of the
cockerel breeding female are full of color and too dark, the breast is very
light ; in fact the feathers shown here are simply spangled on the ends.
This characteristic is claimed by breeders of this line to produce open
lacings in the breast and body fiufif of the males.
:
"I have bred English stock since 1896. but never gave up
my old native line and never crossed the two lines excepting
for the production of females and to imprt)ve shape. I claim
now and always have that open and uniform lacing on females
and freedom from white edging cannot be ])ro(luced from a
Standard colored male.
"'IMicn whv not divorce the t\\<i Hnes. breed from the hiLjIi
PLATE 45.
PLATE 46.
PLATE 47.
class silver top-color males for exhibition males and use the
less pretentious male for pullet-breeding, provided he is laced
on back, saddle and wings, with a breast as free from edging
as possible and a hackle lacking a distinct black stripe. Such a
male will produce uniform lacing and clean backs on females.
"Keep both lines separate, do not cross over and in a few
years the breeder will find himself in the middle of the road."
The above advice on breeding Silver Wvandottes, especial-
ly where it refers to the h'nglish method of selection of breed-
ers, given by a past master in the art of breeding exhibition
Silver \\^yandottes in this country, briefly points out the road
to success for the intelligent and careful breeder to follow.
Ij. H.D.)
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 169
PLATE 48.
*!^*
f
170 AMERICAS POULTRY ASSOCIATION
CHAPTER III.
" 'A few years prior to the time I began to breed the Golden
tion. As compared with the Silvers, they seem from the start
to have rather more than held their own in the esteem of
breeders as regards both superficial and practical qualities.
Whether the Silvers in turn borrowed a new stock of these
traits from the Goldens does not appear from any published
accounts of crossing for such i)uri)ose. The (iolden variety
had a certain advantage as regards facility of plumage perfec-
tion which has escaped attention. A pattern of i)lumage is
more feasibly evolved when the black and red pigments are
working conjointly. According to the accredited accounts of
their origin, it was in this order that the Sebright bantams
were i)roduced. the Silver following the (Jolden variety, and
derived from it."
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 173
CHAPTER IV.
COLOR OF MALE.
Head. Plumage, golden-bay, each feather having a black
stripe,tapering to a point near
fine extremity.
its
Beak. Dark horn, shading to yellow at point.
Eyes. Reddish-bay.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
Neck. Hackle, web of feather, lustrous greenish-l^lack, with a
narrow edging of golden-bay, uniform in width, extending
around point of feather shaft of feather, golden-bay plu-
;
;
with golden-bay.
174 AMERICAN POVLTRY ASSOCIATION
COLOR OF FEMALE.
Head. Plumage, golden-bay.
Beak. Dark horn, shading to yellctw at point.
Eyes. Reddish-bay.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. liright red.
Neck. lolden-hay in appearance, with a black center through
(
CHAPTER V.
PLATE 49.
PLATE 50.
A%
178 AMEliICA\ POLLTRY AtiSOUIATlUX
1 Upperbreast.
2 Lower breast.
3 Wing-bar. 4 \\ int'-l)ar.
5 Center of back. 6 Saddle. 7 Tail covert. 8 Body fluff.
The above feathers are from one of Ira C. Keller's males bred from
a strain of Golden Wyandottes that liavc been bred for I)road, open laced
feathers. As in the Silvers, these males do not take on full hen feathered
plumage until the second and third years. They are used to produce
exhibition pullets.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 179
PLATE 51.
PLATE 52.
1
Wing-bow. -Back. 3
Top of saddle. 4 Sad( tail.
5 Side of saddle.
Tiiese Ciolden Wyandotte feathers arc regarded as exliiliition male
color and comply with Standard requirements, hut are more open centered
than those of the average Silver male. That is why rioldeii Wyandotte
males having this quality breed better show pullets tlian the Silver males
with similar markings.
PLATE 53.
PLATE 54.
PLATE 55.
Winning Golden Wyandottes from 1909 to 1915. Upper left, 1st cock at New
York, 1909-10. Upper right, 1st hen New York, 1909-10. Lower left, winning
cockerel at New York, 1915. Lower right, winning pullet at New York, 1915.
184 AMERICAN FOULTHY ASt;oClATI(t.\
SECTION III
CHAPTER I.
WHITE WYANDOTTES.
HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT.
ond (the same owner) and a really pretty pair.' I don't think
anyone who then saw the birds staged, not even their strong-
est supporter and enthusiast, would have predicted such a
future for the breed."
White Wyandottes from 1896 to 1910. The first really
White Wyandottes at the Madison Square
large classes of
PLATE 56.
Twenty
years' development in W'liite W'yandottcs sec Plates 57, 58
and 59. Above, winning types of 1895. Below, 1st cockerel Philadelphia,
1900, and 1st cock New York, 1901, also 1st hen Boston, 1900.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 191
PLATE 57.
PLATK 58.
Twenty years' development in White Wyandottes see Plates 56, 57
and 59. Upper left, 1st cock Chicago Coliseum, 1914. Upper right, 1st
cock, Crystal Palace, N. V., 1915. Lower left, 1st cock Boston, 1916.
Lower right, 1st cock Boston, 1914.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 193
PLATE 59.
Twenty years' development in White Wyandottes see Plates 56, 57
and 58. Upper left, 1st hen Boston, 1912. Upper right, 1st hen Boston,
1915. Lower left, 1st pullet Boston, 1915. Lower right, winning hen
Buffalo, 1915.
194 ^^[^:^^'rcA\ povi.try A^socfATioN
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER HI.
i^^ jm^-^
PLATE 62.
1st pen cockerel Hagerstown and N. Y. State Fair, 1915, and 1st hen
Hagerstown and N. Y. State Fair, 1915.
202 .l.l//;/,'/r.i \ l-oll/lin ASSitciATloX
SECTION IV.
CHAPTER I.
BUFF WYANDOTTES.
rose combs. A
cockerel from this early mating proved to
be the progenitor of many high class exhibition specimens,
especially under the skillful handling of Frank J. Butcher,
Hopedale, Mass.
The Brackenbury-Dutcher strain was a Buff Cochin-White
and Golden Wyandotte blend, while the Buffington strain was
the result of a Rhode Island Red and Silver Wyandotte cross.
F. L. Mattison, South Shaftesbury, Vermont, started breed-
ing Buff Wyandottes with birds exhibited at New York in
1892, which Mr. Mattison purchased from Messrs. Aldrich
and Buffington, who were the exhibitors of this new variety
that year. Regarding the foundation of the Mattison strain,
C. S. Mattison in the Poultry Monthly, November, 1899, wrote
as follows
"The year previous to their coming into my possession, my
brother wrote Mr. Dutcher, who had then purchased the en-
tire strain of Mr. Brackenbury, that unless he could spare him
a male or two, he would procure a sparsely feathered legged
Buff Cochin male. This was necessary from the fact that the
Rhode Island Red Buff's could not hold their own in competi-
tion with the Cochin-made Buffs, which are larger, better col-
ored and had more of the Wyandotte shape. Mr. Dutcher sent
him an old bird that came direct from Mr. Brackenbury and a
son of this bird, which have helped this strain of Buffs a
great deal.
"I think it is a fact that there is very little of what is
termed Rhode Island Red blood in any flock of Buff Wyan-
dottes that are prominent in the show-room today, and how
much the present Buffs owe to the past R. I. Red blood is
difficult to estimate. It has been equally as difficult to clean
up the black in one as the white in the other (Buff Cochin
strain). The feathered legs are equally as easily got rid of as
the green or willow legs. In the R. I. Reds, the slaty under-
color offsets the light under-color of the Cochin-made Buffs,
and it strikes me that the Cochin-made Buffs come in for size
and color that has made the Buff Wyandotte and Plymouth
Rock of the present time. I presume my experience and ob-
servation have been as extensive as any, and I feel like taking
off my hat to Mr. Brackenbury, and giving him the credit he
deserves in originating one of the best (if not the best) strains
of Buff Wyandottes extant."
Origin of Other Strains. Mr. Brackenbury in the Poultry
Monthly, February, 1899, states that W. H. Nicholoy founded
:
of one.'
"A question is what shade of buff to breed from. , I asked
Jos. Winglewitch a few daysand he said Tn breeding
since,
from the darker buff pullets, the tendency is to throw chicks
with black tails, and in breeding from light pullets you will get
white feathers and a light under-color. So in mating use a
standard male with both shades of color in the pullets.' "
F. W. Proctor, in the chapter on Buff Wyandottes (The
Wyandottes, 1909 edition, Reliable Poultry Journal Publish-
ing Co.) sums up the blood relationship of the various strains
as follows "Theoretically, the Golden Wyandotte had with-
:
PLATE 63.
CHAPTER 11.
COLOR OF MALE.
Beak. Yellow.
Eyes. Reddish-bay.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
Shanks and Toes. Rich yellow.
Plumage. Surface throughout, an even shade of rich, golden
buff, free from shafting or mealy appearance the head,
;
COLOR OF FEMALE.
Beak. Yellow.
Eyes. Reddish-bay.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
Shanks and Toes. Rich yellow.
Plumage. Surface throughout, an even shade of rich, golden
bufif, from shafting or mealy appearance the head and
free ;
CHAPTER III.
PL.\TE 66.
BufF Wyandotte male of the c)I(l ^tyle plumage, showing most pro-
nouncedly tlie too dark shoulder and wing l)o\v. In the early days of the
variety, a most common example of unevenness of color.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 213
PLATE 67.
PLATE 68.
PLATE 69.
PLATE 70.
V
PLATE 71.
PLATE 72.
PLATE 73.
and wing bows of the male, for the structure of the feathers
of these sections of the male is favorable to lustre. The neck
is the only section of the female in which the feather con-
struction is like that of the male. Therefore, one of the requi-
sites of the female, to produce the charming quality of buff
color admired in the male, is a rightly colored hackle.
PLATE 74.
PLATE 75.
-
H _5 .
n I K
c-a be
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 223
224 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATIOX
the female's back, for the back and breast plumage of the pul-
lets may be anticipated by the color of the male's breast
plumage.
The back of the female may show some sheen, but this
quality is usually limited to pullets. These females commonly
fade in color of back and breast with the first moult. The
undercolor will often remain good if it was good when the
bird was a pullet and this strength of under-color is an indica-
;
PLATE 78.
PLATE 79.
1st hen Boston, 1899. and 1st cock Boston. 1905. It will be noted that
the male shown above approached in many respects the Standard require-
ments for shape of the present period. The female is far too long to
even approach the present requirements. See Plate 80.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 227
PLATE
SECTION V.
CHAPTER I.
PARTRIDGE WYANDOTTES.
HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT.
PARTRIDGE WYANDOTES were produced about the
same time in The color mark-
the East as in the West.
ings in the Eastern and Western strains were the same,
the Partridge Cochin furnishing color patterns in both, but the
crosses with other varieties were different. There is nothing
vague or secret about the origin of this new variety, as re-
liable data exists which, coming from the originators, is sub-
stantial evidence of the true origin of the Partridge
Wyandotte.
Origin of the Eastern Strain. George H. Brackenbury,
Auburn, N. Y.. originated the Eastern strain of Partridge
Wyandottes, and his storv of its origin appeared in the Poultry
Monthly for August, 1891. under the caption "Golden Pen-
ciled Wyandottes." as Mr. Brackenbury called the new va-
riety at that time, as follows:
"A Golden Wyandotte male of Daggett strain which pro-
duced a few pullets with inner lacing or penciling similar to
a Partridge Cochin was bred back on his own pullets. We
also have just procured two hens, one-half Golden Wvandotte
and one-half peacomb Partridge Cochin, penciled on wings and
breast, with a few webless feathers peeping from beneath the
scales on legs. These we mated to the Das^crett Golden Wyan-
dotte cock and expect to bring out something peculiar in the
way of markings, and will, if they turn out well, give descrip-
tion of the chicks in the Fall."
Later, in some poultrv journal. Mr. Brackenbury claimed
the first pullet of Partridge markings to have been produced
from a peacomb Partridge Cochin hen, and remarked: "She
had a rose comb and almost clean legs. This pullet was the
starting point of the strain of Golden Penciled fPartridge")
Wyandottes that we have originated." In the Poultry Month-
ly, November, 1894, Mr. Brackenbury stated: "We continued
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 229
Mr. Thiem took back with him a Winnebago hen, a gift from
Mr. McKeen. The history of the Winnebagos shows it to be
one of the foundation crosses in the origin of the Golden
Wyandotte, and they resembled the Rhode Island Red of to-
day. Mr. Thiem's own story of the "Evolution of the Part-
ridge Wyandotte" as related by him in "The Wyandottes"
(Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Co. 1919) is as follows:
"The following Spring (1889) I mated this Winnabago hen,
also two others, a Cornish Indian, and a (lolden Wyandotte,
to a peacomb Partridge Cochin male. The Golden Wyandotte
cross came all with feathered legs and good necks, about one-
half having rose combs. The Cornish Indian cross excelled
the others in size, were very dark, especially in the neck, but
cleanly striped, and had yellow legs. The Winnebago cross
was the finest of all, with a beautiful penciling on the females,
the males having a rich lustre upon the black of breast, wing
coverts and tail. In 1890, I bred a male of the Golden Wyan-
dotte cross to females of the other crosses; and later in the
season mated to cross-bred females the Partridge Cochin male.
At the same time I bred Partridge Cochin hens to a Golden
Wyandotte male. Mr. McKeen used Partridge Cochin hens
with Winnebago and Golden Wyandotte males. These con-
stituted the original crosses and from that time on we ex-
changed birds, aiming to retain as large a proportion of Cochin
blood as possible and still work for clean shanks.
"Speaking from our experience, the originating of new
types is not accomplished without endless labor. If it is a
question of a new breed, years of experiment are necessary be-
fore such can be successfully evolved out of the chaos that
naturally follows the mixing of dissimilar breeds. Even the
making of a new variety, substituting one color for another,
while retaining the breed's characteristics if accomplished,
as in this instance by the wholesale mixing of breeds, is so
serious a task that none should enter upon it without feeling
assured that there is an opening for such a production. The
growing favor that this breed meets shows that the making of
the Partridge Wyandotte was well advised. Its color has been
greatly admired in the Cochin, but the outs of that breed had
discouraged all but a handful of breeders. The best penciling
refused to appear upon the specimens with the fullest plum-
age, and the best marked females would so often be those too
small to be typical Asiatics. The substitution of a Wyandotte
type of body removed these objections.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 231
CHAPTER II.
COLOR OF MALE.
Head. Plumage, bright-red.
Beak. Dark horn, shading to yellow at point.
Eyes. Reddish-bay.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
Neck. Hackle, web of feather, lustrous
solid, greenish-black
with a narrow edging of rich, brilliant red, uniform in width,
extending around point of feather; shaft, black; plumage
in front of hackle, black.
Wings. Fronts, black; bows, rich, brilliant red; coverts, lus-
trous greenish-black, forming a well defined bar of this
color across wings when folded primaries, black, lower
;
brilliant red.
Breast. Lustrous black.
Body and Fluff. Body, black; fluff, black slightly tinged with
red.
Legs and Toes. Thighs, black ; shanks and toes, yellow.
Under-Color of All Sections. Slate,
COLOR OF FEMALE.
Dark horn, shading to yellow at point.
Beak.
Reddish-bay.
Eyes.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
;
235
236 AMEIilCAX POULTRY Ai^^OCIATION
CHAPTER III.
TI i IC
male of
widely (livcrg-cnt shades found on
variety, to which attention has already been
tills
tlie male and fe-
PLATE 83.
PLATE 84.
PL.M'K 85.
PLATE
PLATE
PLATE 88
PLATE 89.
PLATE 90.
these female sections, the more apt are the corresponding sec-
tions on the sires and l)rothers to show red or brown.
PLATE 91.
PLATE 92.
PLATE 95.
PLATE 96.
I t
the old rule so often repeated, to use the best male available,
that is, the one that most nearly conforms to the Standard re-
quirements, other qualities, particular lines of breeding and
length of the breeding lines, being on par.
The females selected would, of course, as far as the color
is considered, be of those which had particularly rich, red
color and strength of black striping in the neck. In making
selections for richness of color, do not overlook the short,
small feathers under the throat. A
rich color of medium to
rather rich shade is very desirable for females that are to be
used for breeding exhibition males exclusively. (A. C. S.)
PLATE 97.
PLATE 98.
SECTION VI.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
COLOR OF MALE.
Head. Plumage, silvery white.
Beak. Yellow or dusky yellow.
Eyes. Reddish-bay.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
Neck. Hackle, wel) of feather, lustrous greenish-black
solid,
with a narrow edging of silvery white, uniform in width,
extending around point of feather shafts, black plumage
;
;
COLOR OF FEMALE.
Head. Plumage, silvery gray.
Beak. Yellow or dusky yellow.
Eyes. Reddish-bay.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
Neck. Silvery white, center portion of feathers, black slightly
penciled with gray ; feathers in front of neck same as
breast.
Wings.
Shoulders, bows and coverts, gray with distinct dark
pencilings, outlines of which conform to shape of feathers
primaries, black with a narrow edge of gray penciling on
lower webs secondaries, upper webs, black, lower webs,
;
shafting.
Tail.- Black, except the two top feathers, which are penciled
on upper edge coverts, gray with distinct dark pencilings,
;
shade.
Legs and Toes. Thighs, gray with distinct pencilings;
shanks and toes, yellow or dusky yellow.
Under-Color of All Sections. Slate.
Note. Each feather in back, breast, body, wing-bows and
thighs to have three or more distinct pencilings.
CHAPTER III.
THEWyandottes
laws governing the breeding of Silver Penciled
to produce the highest Standard color
markings in exhibition males and females are practi-
cally the same as those which govern the breeding of Partridge
Wyandottes, the striping in saddle and hackle feathers of the
male and the penciling of the feathers of the female being of
similar pattern, the only difference being in the colors read
carefully the Standard description. Silver Penciled Wyan-
dottes when properly selected and mated, will breed a large
per centage of both males and females which will run true to
form, or in other words, possess the characteristic Wyan-
dotte type, for they have not been subjected to out-crossing
in order to obtain color improvements. So far as type or
shape is concerned, breeders of Silver Penciled Wyandottes
will experience little or no difficulty in maintaining the Stand-
ard shape of the breed. Reasonable care must be exercised
in the selection of breeding males and females. Males should
possess close fitting body plumage, deep bodies, full breasts,
good length of back, strongly arched necks with abundance
of hackle, broad V-shaped tail, not carried too high, smooth,
straight shanks of medium length, capped by strong well-
rounded hocks, that are well defined below the body line.
With such a male, who preferably should be a little under
rather than over Standard weight, mate strong, large, well
matured dams, possessing good standard shape.
The color markings of the Standard Silver Penciled Wyan-
dotte male and female being the same as those found on the
Standard Dark Brahma male and female, the matings to pro-
duce the highest type of exhibition cockerels and pullets would
also be the same. Dark Brahmas were bred to a very high
state of perfection in color markings several years ago and
to one of the most noted and most successful breeders of this
old variety, Newton Adams, we are indebted for the follow-
ing rules governing the mating of breeds or varieties possess-
ing the color markings of the Dark Brahma
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 259
PL.\TE 99.
SILVER-PENCILED WYANDOTTES.
NECK FEATHERS OF FEMALES.
Solid, for producing best exhi Penciled, as seen on females,
bition males. for producing females with best
penciled body sections.
of. Imust know that his dam and his sire's dam are of the
best possible. In show points he is not much of a looker as a
rule, hackle and saddle badly broken, plenty of white on
breast, thighs and fluff, which of course gives him a light
colored appearance. The striping of hackle and saddle should
PLATE 100.
Di
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 263
264 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
W H
= ^4
Q I
I
S 2
w ^ I
d -
00 p b
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 265
PLATE 105.
PLATE 106.
SECTION VII.
CHAPTER I.
COLUMBIAN WYANDOTTES.
HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT.
in 1893 in l:)oth the East and the West, but sold no stock until
1894.
The first Columbian Wyandottes to be exhibited were
shown by Mr. Briggs at the Providence, Rhode Island, Show,
December, 1894. In 1896 he exhibited five birds at the Boston
Show and in September of that year disposed of his entire
stock; but five years later again took up the Columbian Wyan-
dotte, securing birds from his original line.
In a letter to the American Fancier, April 25, 1896, the
originator stated: "Many fanciers have seemed to doubt the
declaration that they Columbian Wyandottes) contain no
{
CHAPTER II.
COLOR OF MALE.
Head. Plumage, white.
Beak. Yellow, with dark stripe down upper mandible.
Eyes. Reddish-bay.
Comb, Face, Wattles and Ear-Lobes. Bright red.
Neck. Hackle, web of feather, lustrous greenish-black,
solid,
with a narrow edging of white, uniform in width, extend-
ing around point of feather; greater portion of shaft, black;
plumage in front of hackle, white.
Wings. Bows and coverts, white, except fronts, which may
be partly black primaries, black, with white edging on
;
Back. Surface color, white cape, black and white saddle,
; ;
may
be bkiish-white fluff, white.
;
Legs and Toes. Thighs, white shanks and toes, yellow.
;
Wings. Bows and coverts, white primaries, black with white
;
Back. White cape, black and white.
;
Tail. Black, except the two top feathers, which are laced
with white coverts, black, with a narrow lacing of white.
;
Legs and Toes. Thighs, white shanks and toes, yellow.
;
CHAPTER III.
PLATE 109.
PLATE 110.
Strength of Color Necessary. Strength of color is very
necessary in breeding Columbians. When the late Mr. Her-
bert N. Rollins was asked about mating, he replied: "I tell
you it takes color to breed the necks, wings and tails we want
now-a-days, so give me a male with good solid under-color
and some striping in saddle for a breeder and the same for a
show bird."
black in both sexes, the mating should
If there is a lack of
not be expected to produce good color. Weakness of color
was a fault of the early Columbians, and the originator, in
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 279
writing of the defects of his early stock, set first "Too light a
:
color in hackle."
The striped hackle is one of the distinguishing features of
the variety and this section, when it closely approaches per-
PLATE 111.
PLATE 112.
PLATE 113.
PLATE 114.
PLATE lis.
PLATE 116.
PLATE 118.
PLATE 119.
PLATE 120.
PLATE 121.
face color and almost perfect shape, but was little off in wing.
However, there was more or less criticism or at least difference
of opinion when Judge Andruss did not place her first. Now
this year she has gone back. Not so sharp in hackle, rather
mottled tail coverts, a faded appearing wing and nowhere near
so good a bird as the others. The other two pullets won first
and second at Rochester this year as hens with the same sharp
coloring that they had as pullets, and the first Rochester pul-
let of a year ago won first hen, shape, special, silver cup for
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 289
PLATE 122.
the two top feathers. To get solid black main tail and sickles
in the males and have the color hold, do not trust to a female
whose top main tail feathers are edged with white. This
means giving the preference to females whose tails are darker
than the Standard calls for.
Heavily laced coverts, with weak black centers, are found
on the females that are weak in hackle and wing and have a
whitish under-color. This section cannot be improved by
breeding with such females, white saddled males themselves
weak in laced tail coverts. Laced coverts in the male are. from
the breeding standpoint, reciprocally related to the same sec-
tion in the female.
PLATE 123.
PLATE 124.
PLATE 125.
the rough." Even at this time, pullets may show some black
in back and clear up later. To determine whether the surface
of the back plumage will eventually be white, pick up the birds
and look underneath their feathers and observe closely the
new plumage that is growing. A young bird grows about
three sets of feathers between the time it is hatched and its
first winter, and the new plumage that April hatched pullets
begin to grow in September is the plumage that they will carry
at the opening of the winter shows. (F. L. P.)
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 293
PLATE 126.
PLATE 127.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 295
PLATE 128.
296 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
SECTION VIII.
CHAPTER I.
BLACK WYANDOTTES.
him, and thus introduced new blood into his stock. Said he
"I then began to advertise them and sell a few eggs, and so the
thing moved along. I bred them for some seven years. In my
experience I rarely got anything but solid black females, but
got a good many males that were off in color. The white in
under-color of neck was hard to get rid of. In all, however, I
think that they bred true to color, shape and markings much
sooner than most new breeds, from the fact that they were
true sports and not made by crosses."
The Clemens Line. It was also in 1885 that Mr. Clemens
possessed two black pullets that had sported out of Silver stock,
and a cockerel similarly bred that had black body color but a
silvery hackle. The Silver Wyandotte had been admitted to
the Standard just two years previous, and interest was taken
in new varieties of what promised to prove a very popular
l^reed. Accordingly, Mr. Clemens bred from the trio, and, as
he stated: "Built up a true breeding strain of Blacks, which
are credited with being the foundation of those we now have."
The chicks from Mr. Clemens' first mating "Were almost
solid black, only a few showing the hackle markings of the
sire. The fixing of the color was not very difficult, the main
problem arising from the dearth of fresh blood with which to
keep up their stamina. This was overcome by securing, a little
later on, several pure black pullets, sports from the yards of
Silver Wyandotte breeders, and also in the following manner
About 1890, a friend who owned an exceptionally fine stock of
Barred Plymouth Rocks obtained from me a well-marked
Black Wyandotte cockerel and mated him to his Barred Rock
females. The result of the cross was peculiar. Every cockerel
was true Barred Rock in color, while every pullet was a true
Black Wyandotte in color, comD and shape, but with superior
size and stamina, and with increased ability as an egg pro-
ducer. I was so impressed with the size and beauty of these
pullets that I selected a few of the best and mated them to a
pure Black Wyandotte male. The product was, of course,
three-fourths Black Wyandotte, and not one showed any
Plymouth Rock markings, but the large size and splendid egg-
producing qualities continued. I think that to fusion with this
blood is partially due the superior size and vigor of the pres-
ent-day Black Wyandotte." (Quotation from a letter written
by Mr. P. M. Clemens to Mr. F. W. Proctor and printed in
"The Wyandottes." published by Reliable Poultry Journal
Publishing Co.) Mr. Clemens continued to breed Black Wyan-
298 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
METHODS OF BREEDING.
THE black variety of Wyandottes is particularly suited to
poultry keepers who reside in the industrial districts of
cities or towns where the coal soot makes a white, buff
or light colored fowl appear dirty. There is some preju-
dice against a black plumage, especially because dark pin-
feathers may show in the dressed carcass however, epicures
;
PLATE 129.
ularity that they attained was due to their merits for the vari-
ety has never been promoted through heavy advertising- in
American poultry papers.
The future of the variety would seem to depend not upon
its making up for some defficiency, but upon the ability of
breeders to meet the present Standard's requirements with a
success that will give them not only a few select show birds,
but a satisfactory surplus of salable stock.
English Methods.^ We must refer to the English breeders
for advice on mating, for they have devoted much time and
study to it. On the mating of Black Wyandottes, Mr. Kings-
ley Willet, Honorary Secretary of the Black Wyandotte Club
of England, has set down the following method as good prac-
tice :
bred from pullets having dusky legs with a lot of yellow pig-
ment showing underneath, especially if the birds have been
bred from good-legged birds. Care must be taken to select
pullets with as good a green sheen as possible, avoiding those
the shaft of whose feathers is light in color, and also those with
purple colorings on back and wings. Another point to avoid
in the pullets is white in flights, a disfiguring and hereditary
defect. The cock to head this pen must be pullet-bred that is
;
bred right you will breed good pullets from him. See that he
has a full, well-rounded breast, and avoid a cut-away breast.
"I have only touched on the general principles of mating;
for other points, such as good combs, eyes and beaks, birds
must be selected as good in these points as possible, but don't
mate birds together that have the same defect. Avoid light
eyes and white in lobe these defects spoil the best bird."
;
Under-Color Versus Surface Color. After all, it is the old
question of under-color vs. surface color. The evidence is
invariably and definitely favorable to the possibility of com-
bining pure yellow shanks with black surface color of plu-
mage it is when the black of the feathers is carried down to
;
the skin that the shanks are dark. Let the breeder, therefore,
remember and be encouraged by the fact that Black Wyan-
dottes in America may now have slate under-color. "Slate" is
defined by the lexicographer of this text as "synonymous with
gray," and gray is a color between white and black. And
lastly, the breeder, instead of taking up old prejudices of the
fancy, should consider the wild birds, those marvels of nature,
whose surface plumage is painted with the brush of a master
hand, and whose under-color comes as it will. In natural
selection the color of the underplumage has no place, for it can
exert no direct influence on the instinct and preference of the
species, and therefore Nature is able to concentrate her efforts
on the production of a beautiful and harmonious surface color.
The quality of the surface color may vary greatly. The
Standard calls for a "lustrous greenish-black," and the sheen
and its brilliancy is the principal beauty of a black fowl. It is
rarely, however, that the deep green sheen is found without
some blue or purple, which takes the form of barring across
the feathers. This is a serious although common defect, and is
penalized, when the bird is scored, from one-half to two points,
in each section where found. Sometimes the tail of the male
has a bronze hue. A brownish cast is occasionally found in
females, due to an insufficient quantity of green sheen.
Breeding for Color. The quality of black color is equally
as important as the shade of bufif or the purity of white, and
is even more difficult to determine in the show room because
the light is often poor. In a good light, the sheen, or the pur-
ple bars, or the bronze, each show distinctly.
:
two birds was exactlv the same shade of green. You could not
pick the male from the female in regard to color. This proved
to me that nature never intended that a high green sheen male
should be mated to a dull black female, but that the plumage
of the male and female should be of the same shade. T have
never yet found purple barring on crows' feathers. This also
proves that the purple barring does not come from mating a
high sheen male to a high sheen female. If it did, I would have
found barring in the plumage of the crows.
"Then I went to work and experimented on the different
methods of caring and feeding and T proved to my own satis-
faction that 75 per cent of the purple barring in black plumage
is caused by improper care and feeding, which causes a stunt
of feather growth."
Where green birds of both sexes cannot be secured, see to
it that the surface of the male is green, for the male exerts the
most influence on the color of the progeny. (F. L. P.)
PART FOUR.
SECTION I.
Points in Brahmas,
Size 3
Color 4
Head and Comb 1
Flufif 1
Symmetry 2
Condition 2
15
:
Comb 2
Face and Ear-lobe 3
Purity of Plumage 3
Size 3
Symmetry 2
Condition 2
100
: :
Symmetry 8
Weight 6
Condition 6
Head Shape 3, Color 3 6
Comb 8
Wattles and Ear- Lobes 6
Neck Shape 4, Color 6 10
Back Shape 4, Color 4 8
Breast Shape 5, Color 5 10
Body and Fluff Shape 5, Color 3 8
Wings Shape 4, Color 4 8
Tail Shape 4, Color 4 8
Legs and Toes 8
100
Symmetry 4
Weight 4
Condition 4
Comb 8
Head Shape 2, Color 2 4
Beak Shape 2, Color 2 4
: :
Eyes
Shape 2, Color 2 4
Wattles and Ear-Lobes Shape 2, Color 3 5
Neck Shape 3, Color 5 8
Wings Shape 4, Color 5 9
Back Shape 6, Color 5 11
Tail Shape 5, Color 5 10
Breast Shape 6, Color 5 11
Body and Fluff Shape 5, Color 3 8
Legs and Toes Shape 3, Color 3 6
100
INSTRUCTIONS TO JUDGES.
Under the above heading, on page 35 of the American
Standard of Perfection, the following paragraph instructs
judges, as well as breeders and exhibitors, how to apply the
"Scale of Points"
"Merit: The merit of specimens shall be determined by a
careful examination of all sections in the "Scale of Points,"
beginning with symmetry and continuing through the list, de-
ducting from the full value of each section of a perfect bird
for such defects as are found in the specimen. Judges must
familiarize themselves with the scale of points of each breed
they are to pass upon, to intelligently award prizes. And it
must be understood that no more and no less value can be
placed on any section than is provided for in the "Scale of
Points." And it shall be further understood that this system
must be applied whether judged by score card or comparison.
The minimum cut for any section shall be one-fourth of one
point."
On page 41, under "Cutting for Defects," the Standard
reads
"These cuts should not be confused with nor take prece-
dence over the valuation given each section in the Scale of
Points of all varieties."
Owing to the fact that all of the largest shows are judged
by comparison today, the above paragraph is of greater im-
CHAPTER II.
and judge that stick to the Standard, obey its laws and require-
ments, who will win out in the short or long run always.
The Standard Is the Judge's Guide. The American Stand-
ard of Perfection describes the shape and color sections in each
variety of all recognized breeds of poultry, gives the general
and specific disqualifications for which exhibition specimens
are to be disqualified by the judges, defines under "Instruc-
tions to Judges" the most important laws which govern the
selection of prize winners, while under "Cutting for Defects"
and "In Applying the Comparison System," rules are laid
down for the judge's guidance when examining and adjudi-
cating all specimens in whatever classes they may be as-
signed to.
The foundation of American poultry culture rests upon the
American Standard of Perfection and every poultry judge
at the shows as the judge himself, and some may know even
better the strong points of the best birds. Such exhibitors
are not kickers, as a rule, and it benefits a judge to associate
with them after the show is over.
First Impressions Are Best.- First impressions of any
specimen are usually the most reliable, and other things being
equal will govern final decisions of the thoroughly competent
judge, one who is thoroughly "up" on the breeds or varieties
he is and no other should ever be engaged.
called to adjudicate
The real judge is one who
plus training and experience-
has a natural instinct for discerning the best, which a noted
English authority claims is a quality given to but few men
and fewer women, adding: "Well do I remember many years
ago one such man, though there have been several others, but I
mention him because he seldom acted as judge, although one
of the best I ever knew. Put before him a dozen birds or
animals of any breed, even though he had never seen the like
before, and he would assuredly pick the winners, placing them
in correct order. He had the instinctive capacity which en-
abled him to gauge the type and idealize it."
This bears out the adage "Judges are born not made,"
:
but which does not imply that training and experience are
not required, for without these valuable assets, no man should
accept the position of judge of important classes at any exhi-
bition of poultry.
It is the experienced eye of the judge that selects, often
at first glance, the bird which stands out among all the rest
and this one and the others must be measured by the Standard
ideal as it exists in the mind of the judge, provided on closer
inspection no serious defects discovered, which would
are
debar them from winning. We
attention to this because
call
some good breeders, who have attempted to pass judgment
on poultry in the show room, have failed to look at the good
points of the fowl but have started right ofif hunting for
defects. They wanted all that was bad and overlooked all
that was good in the birds.
As an illustration, we will cite the case of an old and noted
breeder who did not think the judge placed his Bufif Leghorn
cockerels correctly, contending that the second and third prize
birds were better than his first, just because the latter had a
tinge of bluish-gray in the undercolor of the back. Yet this
cockerel was far superior in surface color and shape to the
other two. All the owner could see was one little hidden
320 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
CHAPTER III.
JUDGING WYANDOTTES.
SECTION II.
The First Step. Selection is dependent upon examination,
casual at first and superficial, necessarily, as it is the superficial
attractiveness of a bird that must first catch the eye. An ex-
ceptionally good comb, stylish carriage, symmetrical form,
strikingly handsome markings, or brilliant colors, are super-
ficial qualities that please and win the specimen possessing
them almost instantly a first consideration.
"Catchy Quality." This "catchy quality" should figure
largely in the selection of show specimens when not accom-
panied by too serious faults as it means beauty, and beauty
coupled with utility is the keynote of the Standard.
To explain the phrase "catchy qualities" would be difificult,
though to define it would be easy. It simply means beauty or
attractiveness. To state exactly of what it consists is prac-
tically impossible. However, it is a quality recognized by both
the professional and the amateur and must always be reckoned
with. Many birds with the catchy quality lack in certain
qualities and they become what is known as "fillers."
"Fillers." -Fillers are used, however, in the keenest com-
petition and one expects to take chances with a few of good
quality if they have characteristics to which the judge is
known to be partial. Fillers are, in general, birds of three
classes, first birds of no more than average merit but one
:
novice and the expert; that of the latter for only a limited
period, however, and that period comparative to the degree of
his proficiency.
Comparison of Candidates. During this process many
things must be taken into consideration besides comparing
one section with another for shape, for color, or for both.
These are: The condition of the bird, the health, development
in regard to shape, in regard to plumage, weight, time of
show, or length of time available for process of conditioning.
When the time for the final consideration of the different
candidates with these requisites in mind draws near, much de-
pends on whether the show is to be judged by score cards or
comparison. For one thing, when the score card system is
to be used, weight becomes of much importance. A bird that
is a pound underweight loses according to standard rules two
points, and the ones which are so handicapped must excel one-
half of one point in four sections to get on even terms with
one not thus handicapped. This statement give.= the re?der an
idea of the handicap of underweight, yet it is iiOt unu ual to
see specimens on exhibition more than a pound underweight,
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 335
CHAPTER II.
ties, the necessary weight, the health and vigor that gives a
bright eye, glowing face, slick appearance and gloss of plum-
age. The shape that a specimen displays in an exhibition cage
depends upon condition, for without good poise no specimen
appears to good advantage and poise is in most every instance
dependent upon condition. Condition of exhibition specimens
consists of perfect health, full developed form and plumage,
but not over-development in either, the required smoothness
and hardness or looseness of feather, the acquired tempera-
ment and docility to assume and maintain perfect poise, or
correct carriage without which no specimen can create the
impression of form.
In the acquiring of good or perfect condition, two principles
become involved and must receive consideration. The first
is that
Winning Quality Is Hereditary. Good showing qualities
and aptness for good condition are just as surely transmitted
from generation to generation as any characteristics of the
species. You have often observed, if you are an exhibitor,
that some birds condition easily while it is almost impossible
to make others acquire the smoothness of feather and the
style or poise that gives them the winning quality. Both of
these characteristics, sleek plumage and poise, are hereditary
in fowls just as much as good combs, strong undercolor or
straight barring. A Wyandotte male that lacks a certain
338 AMERICAX POULTRY ASSOCIATION
finement and the season of the year rob it of. Added to these,
there are some artificial methods that are simple and harmless
that we shall speak of later.
Food and Exercise. Take the case of a young male bird
that is to be conditioned for winter shows under the usual
conditions when protection from the weather is necessary and
confinement unavoidable. Growth must be promoted and
health of the most vigorous kind maintained. The quarters
are the first essential. He should be penned by himself, with
one female, or some younger cockerels. In general the larger
the pen, the better, but one eight feet by nine, and even
smaller, will answer in most instances.
The floor should be of dry, clean sand if possible to obtain
it at a reasonable amount of expense or trouble, covered with
a litter of dry straw. The straw need not be cut, as the birds,
if properly trained, will break it up in a short while. This
litter should be from two to four inches deep, varying with
the size of the birds the larger the birds the deeper the litter.
;
The Feeding Method. In the morning throw in a small
handful of scratch feed, scattering it well. After an hour of
brisk exercise, give some warm mash but do not allow them
too much, because if not hungry, the birds will not exercise.
A heaping teaspoonful or two is about all that the average
bird will consume without becoming inactive, and unless he
eats this eagerly and rapidly, it is too much. An hour or two
later scatter more scratch feed and set them to work again.
If the birds are immature and you wish to force them a little,
feed another small amount of mash at noon. An hour later
a few kernels of small grains will induce more exercise, while
for the evening meal, a generous supply of good grain should
be allowed.
It should be kept constantly in mind that rapid growth de-
pends upon the amount of food the bird can consume and
assimilate, and that exercise stimulates the appetite, aids
digestion and increases assimilation of the foods consumed,
:
with cornmeal and a little bran. This may be fed once a day,
but not in such quantities that the bird is forced off his feet.
This bird should be kept scratching as the others, but he may,
if hearty, be fed more heavy grains. A good variety will force
a bird along faster than a limited diet.
A very appetizing meal is made of broken crackers and
cornmeal and bran. The birds like this, especially if the
342 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
crackers are the sweet kind, and if not, they can be sweetened
with sugar or molasses. The value of the food as a weight
producer may be further enhanced by mixing with scalded
milk. It should not be forgotten that these birds must be
growing feathers and that it is sometimes necessary to aid
them in this. Nothing that I know of is any better for aiding
feather development than dessicated fish. A little may be
added to one of the mashes each day.
The Best Forcing Menu.- To make myself plain, the best
forcing feed consists of the broken scratch feeds, the sweet
cracker mash and the beef and meal mash with wheat or
mixed grains for the hearty meal at night. In very cold
weather a few kernels of whole corn might be thrown the
birds, after the evening meal and the last thing before they
go to roost. A very little buckwheat may be added to the
grain mixture.
Feeding for Color. -With reference to feeding, two classes
of birds might be considered, as each class must be fed in a
different manner. They may be divided into white birds and
others. The methods of feeding each differ, but the methods
that have already been described are tolerably well suited to
either class. These methods can be modified somewhat and
are then better adapted to each of the special classes.
Feeding White Birds. By white birds, I refer to those that
have white in their plumage, not necessarily only the solid
white varieties. Silver, Silver Penciled, and Columbian
Wyandottes, for instance, should be fed precisely as pure
white birds are.
It is a generally recognized principle that clear white color,
often described as pearl white, chalk white, or dead white,
cannot be obtained in its clearness and purity when allowing
these white birds oily foods. Therefore yellow corn, meat
scraps, meat fats, or any foods of an oily nature are excluded
from their diet. Those who wish to feed meat and are still
very cautious, may boil fresh beef, allow the liquor to stand
and cool, when the fat may be skimmed off. The meat and
broth may be reboiled and stirred into the mash, which has
already been thoroughly mixed. Cut green bone should be
treated in the same manner, if fed to white or partially white
birds. After boiling both lean meat and green cut bone, you
will find an amount of fat that will surprise you.
Foods That Develop Gloss. For the varieties which re-
quire a glossy plumage, the fats and oils are a great help if
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 343
vantage that a bird that will pose while the judge is in front of
344 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
the cage and handling it, has over one that gets all out of
shape the moment the judge touches it, is obvious. While
continuous cooping of any fowl is a crime against good condi-
tion and even against good sense, a half-hour a day or so is
necessary for all candidates for show honors. The bird may
be tamed quickly while cooped by offering tid-bits such as
meat and kernels of whole corn from the hand. By stroking
with the hand, the bird can be taught the correct pose for the
show coop.
Washing
the White Fowls. In these days of strong com-
an unwashed white bird is practically debarred
petition, from
winning. An unwashed bird, be it ever so white, looks very
cheap beside a well washed one of much inferior color. This
is a branch of the industry in which a certain few have
become so proficient that it is practically impossible for
anyone not an expert in this line to defeat them. There are
many soaps and preparations used for washing white fowls,
but Ivory soap and soap-bark are the most generally used.
The best washers thoroughly lather the birds to the skin, and
use two rinse waters. The last water contains a very little
blueing. This will show in the feathers if too much is used
and beginners are almost sure to use too much. If not thor-
oughly rinsed, so that all the soapy water is removed, the
feathers will curl and crinkle.
In late years much is hinted at concerning the use of
bleaching agents that bleach a creamy or yellow bird, other-
wise fine, so that it becomes a winner. No doubt, hydrogen
peroxide, the active agent of which is a free atom of oxygen,
is used to a certain extent. So is ammonia and other cleaning
agents. Their value lies more in their power to remove stains
and dirt than in any real bleaching process that takes place.
The process of drying is very important and is in itself an
art. The most effective method of whitening a bird is to
repeat the washings. Persistency in this counts as in every-
thing else.
The best treatment for the comb, face and wattles of a
perfectly healthy bird is to wash in soap and water, dry and
let alone. When the face does not show good color, massage
and treat with a very small amount of vaseline. To keep the
color in the face, repeat the massage with a small bit of
vaseline. This treatment is simple and will bring more color
than would be supposed. There are many lotions and draw-
ing, burning liquids that are applied, but they are all at best
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 345
to give explicit directions for blueing, for the reason that water
from different sources requires different amounts of blueing to
produce the best results, and the different blueings that are
sold throughout the country differ very materially in strength
and composition. So, if you adopt this practice, you will have
to experiment beforehand as to the amount of blueing you will
use. The amount that produces good results in the laundry is
generally also about right for birds.
Drying. After the bird is washed and rinsed, put him
into a coop similar to those used in the show room and if
;
proper procedure.
Drying Long Tails. In
washing a Leghorn or any bird
that has long sickles, well to fan his tail out after he has
it is
been drying about an hour, or just as the feathers begin to
web. Let one person hold the bird, and an assistant fan the
tail for about fifteen minutes. Otherwise the sickles are liable
to dry twisted or to come with a poor finish on the edge.
Impossible Specimens. Some birds have a type of feather-
ing that does not improve by washing. Anyone who has
washed many birds can detect this at a glance, as a thinness
of the fabric of the feather, as we express it. This style of
feathering seems to go to pieces during the washing and dry-
348 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
to get the very best results. The reason for this is that wash-
ing and drying takes a good deal of the natural oil out of the
feathers, which causes them to become brittle and they will
begin to break up, and eventually to lose the natural sheen on
the feathers which makes them look so attractive. However,
any bird that is to be used for breeding should not be shown
more than once because, in conditioning, washing, and show-
;
ing the bird, getting him home and rested, etc., and ready to go
into the breeding pen, will occupy three weeks or a month.
During this time the bird has been inside in a warm tempera-
ture, and it is something of a shock to his system to go back in-
to a breeding pen in what may possibly be zero weather. Still
a strong, vital bird will generally stand this for one trip but,
;
when you keep repeating this for show after show, the bird
becomes softened and loses his natural resistance to cold, with
the result that he contracts a cold or in some way gets out of
condition. So, for this more vital reason, birds that are valu-
able as breeders really should be shown but once in a sea-
son. It is hard and cruel to keep a bird on the jump from
one show to another from August until late in February.
This practice is generally the result of greed or ignorance.
However, such a practice brings its own penalty; because,
after such treatment, your fine bird will not breed you the
sound, vigorous stock that he otherwise would.
To Remove Stains. If you should find a grease spot on
one of your birds that did not come out in the wash, you can
remove it by using gasoline but you must exercise great care
;
in doing this. Take the bird into the open air, and do not
use more than is necessary. It is possible that you might
just pick some birds off inside.
Feeding. After the birds are dry, feed nothing but hard
corn until after they are judged. Be sure that you have suit-
able shipping coops.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 349
CHAPTER III.
SHIPPING TO SHOWS.
need not and probably will not if you are present to use gentle
suasion. Safe and sane stacking is another comfort that your
birds will enjoy if you travel with them, and comfort is neces-
sary for a highly conditioned show bird if it is to remain
highly conditioned. While it is usually against the rules of
express companies, the writer has often been permitted by
the messengers to remain in the. car to feed, water and in
354 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
CHAPTER IV.
social duties.
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 355
the night. This not only keeps the birds warmer but darkens
the cages besides, and the birds rest better. This plan may
be carried farther and the front of the cage covered if the
temperature is so low that it seems advisable. With birds
of nervous temperament this scheme assists materially in keep-
ing them in good condition.
Feeds and Feeding. In a large show individual attention
cannot be expected of the regular show attendants, and in small
shows they are not likely to accord it. For this reason owners
or caretakers should take to themselves the duties of feeding
as well as other cares. First, because the ordinary feeds of the
show room lack variety. Second, it is by no means certain
that feeds will be given at the proper time. Third, feeds are
not always of a suitable nature, and fourth, not given in the
right amounts.
Variety is Necessary. Show room feeding often consists of
giving a supply of whole or mixed grains, usuallv cracked or
whole corn, wheat or oats, perhaps a mixture of all these or of
any two, twice a day. Very often this is the entire bill of
fare. There is, consequently, a lack of meat, greens, grit, shell
and mash, all of which are necessities for a continuance of
normal digestion. With a restricted ration, the digestive or-
gans soon become abnormal, a condition that may soon severe-
ly affect the e-ood appearance of the specimen.
Meat and Greens in the Show Room. As a rule feeding in
the show room should not differ materially from feeding at
home. If the birds have been accustomed to greens and meat
at home, greens and meat should be fed in the show room,
though not necessarily in the same form. Substitutes of the
same general nature will be relished for the sake of variety.
No fowl will object to a little Hamburg steak or fresh meat
in preference to beef scraps, or to cabbage as a substitute for
alfalfa or clover. There may be a slight objection to making
such substitutions on account of expense and because the
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 357
CHAPTER V.
Feeding for the Return Journey. Grit, or shell, or both
should be there in small quantities, and wholesome grains in a
sufficient quantity for the needs of the birds during the jour-
ney. All of the above could have been put in the coop before
it left home, unless the journey was a very long one. A lib-
eral supply of succulents must not be forgotten. Besides their
value as an aid to indigestion, they are very palatable and the
fowls enjoy them. Like a good meal on a diner, they serve to
"kill time" and induce the birds to forget their confinf.ment
and discomfort.
As in the case when shipping to shows certain advantages
such as more careful handling, quicker transfers if transfers
are necessary, better positions and more careful stacking in
the car accrue from traveling along with the birds.
Home Delivery. Arrangements should have already been
made for the delivery of the birds immediately after their ar-
rival at the home express office. In large cities deliveries are
sometimes slow on account of the distance of the exhibitor's
poultry yards from the express receiving station, and often
many deliveries have to be made before the yards are reached.
When such conditions prevail and the express company's of-
ficials are obdurate and cannot be induced to make a special
delivery, as they generally can be, however, when a reasonably
large shipment is involved, it pays, if the birds are valuable,
to employ a truck for the special purpose of obtaining a
prompt and direct delivery. (A. C. S.)
CHAPTER VI.
CARE OF THE BIRDS AFTER THE SHOW.
Changed Conditions.
Gradual Changes. Manifestly, the birds should not feel
the full force of these changed conditions at once. But as a
;
SECTION I.
HOW TO START.
WELL KNOWN American humorist
A
no
way to start is
once said, "The
to begin", and that applies as well to
poultry keeping as to any other enterprise. There is
rule or set of rules for starting in this business which, if
followed, will guarantee success, or which, if neglected, is sure
to be followed by failure. How
well one applies himself to
the details of the work and how well he understands the busi-
ness is far more important and necessary to his success than
that he start at any particular time or according to any particu-
lar plan or system.
Selecting the Breed, Undoubtedly the first thing to do is
to decide on a variety which has a special appeal to the person
about to take up the work of breeding standard-bred fowls.
If he decides to breed Wyandottes, he has his choice of all
the varieties of that breed which are described in this vol-
ume and all of these will give perfect satisfaction if properly
bred, housed and cared for. As all varieties are required to
have the same shape, the matter of choice is merely one of
color. As it is a generally accepted fact that a breeder will do
best with the kind he likes best, it is by all means advisable to
select the variety of Wyandotte which appeals most to him
on account of its plumage, bearing in mind that in selling
eggs and stock for breeding purposes, and stock for exhibition,
there is more demand for the popular varieties than those that
are not so popular.
While many contend that the first thing to do is to build
and properly equip quarters for fowls or chicks, it is true that
there is no real poultry keeping or poultry breeding until one
possesses the chicks or fowls. Many a poultry breeder who
now occupies a prominent position in the poultry world started
by buying a setting of eggs at a time when he possessed no
*nore equipment than a sitting hen and a box in which to make
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 365
of Wyandottes which will sell for high prices from any ex-
cept a line,or family, of healthy fowls.
Buy
of a Specialist. It is very satisfactory to see the stock
from which one buys eggs if it is convenient to do so, but al-
most all of the buying of eggs is done by mail and breeders
with reputations to sustain can be depended on to deal justly
with those who send to them for eggs for hatching. It is al-
ways best to buy of a breeder who has a good reputation, be-
cause it is difficult to build up such a reputation except by
breeding good stock and giving good value when filling or-
ders. Almost invariably the specialist is the best one to buy
from, for the specialist has more and better stock of his breed
or variety than one who attempts to breed or handle and sell
a great many different varieties. This is not intended to cast
reflections on the reputable and successful breeder who handles
two, three, or even half a dozen varieties and who has suc-
ceeded with all of them. Our readers will understand, how-
ever, why it is impossible for any man, or associated group of
men, to successfully breed, raise and sell high quality stock
of many different varieties.
Prices of Hatching Eggs. Prices should be made a minor
consideration. The main point is to get good eggs from good
stock and while a few dollars more in the price of the eggs
amounts to but little, the difference in the value of the chickens
366 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
properly and rears the chicks with such good judgment that
they grow and develop well, he may be sure of good results
the first season. Whether best to buy young stock, if it
it is
a fact that the best results are usually obtained when the egg-s
are bought after the breeding stock has had a chance to get
outdoors and exercise in the open air, because chicks from
such eggs come out at the time Nature intended they should
and when they have the fresh, green, warm earth to run on,
and all Nature is favorable to them. For this reason, it is
best to defer the purchase of the eggs which are to produce
next season's breeders until the latter part of April or the first
part of May in northern latitudes, and hatch as soon as the
grass begins to get green in southern latitudes.
The average beginner buys stock when his interest is
highest, that is, generally during the show season, immediately
after the show season, or directly preceding the opening of the
breeding season, which begins about March first. At this
time of the year prices of breeding stock are generally at the
highest point because the poultryman has been to the expense
of keeping it through the winter and because there is more
demand for it. There is an advantage in buying at this time
because the stock is usually in good condition for breeding, if
supplied by a successful breeder, and the beginner can go right
to work increasing his flock. Again he secures his stock in
time to hatch chicks early in the season.
One of the best times to buy old stock is in the summer,
when breeders are offering lower prices on the stock which
they used the season before, and which they do not require for
the season following. Young stock can be bought most rea-
sonably in the fall, at about the time when the breeder must
put it in winter quarters but it should not be bought at this
;
CHAPTER II.
THERE
ing
are interesting possibilities connected witli keep-
breeding a pen in the back yard, or, if the back
yard is big enough, keeping two breeding pens or per-
haps more. Limited room is no bar to success if the poultry
keeper does his part. The smaller the area to be devtjted to a
flock of fowls, the more care that flock needs, for the things
that the fowls could do for themselves if they had a wide range
must be done for them by the owner when they are confined
within narrow limits. Naturally, none but standard-bred
flocks should be kept, for these not only can be made profitable
for eggs and meat, but there may be an added profit from
the sale of eggs for hatching and stock for breeding and ex-
hibition, if the breeder has the inclination and ability to
breed high class stock. Some of the winners in our largest
shows are from flocks that are kept in back yards, where there
is room for only a small house and a small yard. If it happens
that an owner can place his chicks on a farm where they will
receive good care and where they can have the advantage of
free range during their growth, he can raise more chicks, and
in many cases better chicks, than if obliged to do all the rear-
ing in his small back yard.
Advantages Poultry Keeping Brings Health. Back yard
poultry keeping is not only capable of making good profits,
but it ofifers recreation of the most healthful kind. Many a
man or woman has found improved health by spending, every
day, the time needed to care for one of these small flocks, be-
cause in doing so that man or woman was compelled to take
outdoor exercise.
The boys and girls can frequently be interested in the back
yard flock and thereby be induced to spend more time at home
in a useful pursuit than they otherwise would. Instances are
known where boys and girls have made the profit from a small
flock the nucleus of a splendid bank account, which afforded
them the means of obtaining an advanced education or a start
in business life.
370 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATIOX
Feeding. The back yard poultry breeder has one decided
advantage. He has enough table and kitchen waste to make up
perhaps half the ration for his flock, which reduces the cost of
feeding his fowls and adds to his profits. These table and
kitchen sciaps can be mixed with a little corn meal and bran
and that part of one ration, therefore, costs but little. If pre-
ferred, these scraps can be fed separately in a trough, for a
lunch at midday. Usually, however, there is more of this
material, which is usually excellent for the purpose, than can
be fed for lunch only. (H. A. N.)
St.
A
^ -TvM^^T^ If '
CHAPTER III.
not Strike the fowls on the floor. These cloth covered frames
permit the air to enter and leave the house slowly and provide
ventilation when the windows are closed to keep out the wind.
In higher houses than we have described, a loft is built in the
top of the structure by placing boards an inch a part, high
enough to clear the head of the caretaker and covered with
a thick bed of straw or hay. Openings are made in the walls
of the house above this straw or hay and the air enters and
escapes from the house by slowly passing up and down
through this material.
No system of flues and pipes will work satisfactorily unless
artificialheat is applied to create a draft in them. In warm
parts of the country v/here the buildings have one side en-
tirely open, except perhaps for a wire screen to keep the hens
in and other animals out. the ventilation takes care of itself,
though frequently it js necessary to have open spaces in other
sides of the house to keep it comfortable in the hottest
weather.
Other types of poultry buildings, including those with the
roof divided into two equal pitches and those with the roof
divided into two unequal pitches, can readily be adapted to
suit the back yard poultry keeper's needs, if they seem to
better suit his convenience and fancy.
Whatever the type of the house, it should be so constructed
that it will be dry. If it is on a damp location, or one which
is not well drained and likely to be damp at any season of
the year, a floor is necessary. If, however, it is on a dry loca-
tion, the floor may be made by filling in with gravel and sand
to a height a few inches above the ground level. The last
named method makes the most healthful and the warmest
floor.
Interior Equipment. The equipment of the back yard
poultry keeper's hen house should be very simple. The roost
platform should be placed two feet above the floor, so that
the hens can use the floor space under it, against the north
wall of the house and the roosts should be set from six to
eight inches above the platform. These roosts may be made
of small dimension stuff that is not more than two inches wide
on its upper surface, with the corners rounded, or of round
pieces not more than three inches in diameter. It should be
remembered that when the hen sits down on the roost her
toes automatically curl and for that reason the upper surface
of the roost must be rounded. If more than one roost is used,
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 375
all should be on the same level and far enough apart so that
the fowls will not be crowded when the roosts are full.
Nests may be made of ordinary boxes, large enough so
that a hen can sit down in them comfortably, and hung on
the walls, or they may be made to look better by any special
construction and the use of good lumber. Grit and shell
boxes, feed hoppers, etc., may be hung on the walls at con-
venient places and high enough so that the dirt will not be
scratched into them by the fowls. (H. A. N.)
CHAPTER IV.
SANITATION.
THE average poultry-keeper pays too little attention to
the practice of the principles of sanitation, though it is
of the greatest importance that these principles should
be thoroughly applied in both the poultry houses and yards,
because sanitary measures must be practiced assiduously in
order to maintain normal health among the fowls.
Every condition that promotes the possibility of disease
may be classed as insanitary and the elimination of such con-
ditions must be accomplished as quickly after discovery as
possible, in order that the flock may be kept in perfect health,
without which the best results in any of the different branches
of poultry culture, as the production and hatchability of eggs,
and the livability and growth of young stock, can not be ob-
tained.
Cleanliness. This is the most potent agency in promoting
sanitation. The vital importance of cleanliness must be ac-
cepted as a first principle in the successful management of a
poultry establishment, large or small. Manifestly, it is more
difficult and laborious to maintain cleanliness when large num-
bers of fowls or chicks are kept in small houses and runs, than
when the reverse is the practice. But, in that case, the neces-
sity is in a proportionate measure more urgent, and in all cases
cleanliness, not as a theory but as a condition, must be estab-
lished and maintained in all parts of the house, including
floors, walls, roosts, roost platforms and nests and, particu-
larly, in all watering and feeding devices. Cleanliness pre-
vents disease by removing the germs of disease and the accum-
ulation of filth which is conducive to their increase and de-
velopment.
376 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
The Use of Disinfectants. The intelligent use of disin-
fectants is also effective as a method of destroying germs of
disease. There are numbers of these that can be relied upon
to do the work desired if the directions furnished are followed,
but while they serve their purpose nicely, it should be under-
stood that the necessity for their use is reduced or increased
as cleanliness is practiced or neglected. When a tolerable
degree of cleanliness is constantly maintained, the frequent
use of disinfectants will not be necessary, except when disease
is prevalent, or unless it is to destroy or prevent the intrusion
of lice or mites. Cleanliness of all parts of the house to a
degree that insures against ordinary dangers of disease can
be acquired by the common mechanical process of cleaning,
except in cases of feeding and drinking appliances, which
should be scalded or washed in disinfectants occasionally.
Roost platforms should be cleaned at least twice a week,
or daily if convenient, and with the roosts should be treated
copiously with a liquid disinfectant which is an insecticide
as well as a germicide once a month, and at least twice as often
during hot weather. The floor litter should be removed and
renewed as often as necessary, which is readily determined by
inspection.
Care of Grounds. The sanitation of the small poultry yard
is often a serious problem. When the fowls are kept on the
same ground for a considerable length of time, disease germs
multiply so rapidly in the filth which accumulates, that the
ground becomes so contaminated as to become a menace to
health. Where the yards are exceptionally small, poultry-
keepers sometimes remove the surface of the soil for fertilizer
and replace it with new earth. It is also a common practice
to spade up the earth, turning the surface under and bringing
fresh soil to the top but even when this is done, the ground
;
has obtained a good start, that yard may again be used by the
fowls, and greens planted in the yard first used. By this
process the ground can be kept in good condition and a cer-
tain amount of green food constantly furnished the fowls in
season. (H. A. N.)
CHAPTER V.
Outdoor Exercise. When the weather is warm enough to
permit, some breeders allow their fowls to get a part of their
exercise by scratching in straw which is placed on the ground
in front of the house. In some cases the snow is shoveled
away for that purpose. (H. A. N.)
380 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
CHAPTER VI.
and care are as they should be, the fowls will weaken sooner
or later, and succeeding generations will have less and less
vigor as time goes on.
The House. A healthful house is of the first importance
and a house which furnishes the requirements for health is
likewise a comfortable house, and a comfortable house is the
most profitable house to use. A
sufficient amount of venti-
lation to keep the air reasonably pure, protection from drafts
and severe cold, provision for plenty of sunlight in every part
of the house, at least during the part of the day, are the prin-
cipal requirements. Under such conditions fowls that are
properly fed and cared for will maintain their vitality.
Feeding. Good feeding is another requisite and good feed-
ing must include sufficient variety of the right kinds of food,
comprising whole and cracked grains, ground grains, meat
food, green food, grit, charcoal and oyster shells. The grain
must be fed in deep litter to encourage exercise, for without
exercise no fowls remain healthy. Feeding at regular hours
helps to keep the digestive organs of the fowls in good con-
dition and hens that have good digestion are likely to have
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 381
concerned.
Management.^ ^Good care is of the utmost importance, and
good care includes not only careful methods of supplying
feed but careful methods of adjusting ventilation, cleaning
and disinfecting the house, etc. Closing the house up too
tightly in moderate weather and allowing it to remain too
open in severe weather is a prolific source of trouble colds ;
SECTION II.
during the first day so that the hen will brood the chicks
frequently and conserve their strength. Unless the weather
is warm the brood coop should not be placed outdoors, but
should be given a place in a well lighted building which is
clean and which has been thoroughly disinfected if neces-
sary. In warm weather the little chicks can be moved to a
coop on the warm ground immediately, and should always
be given fresh green grassy runs. They should not be put
where older broods or fowls have been running earlier in
the season.
Feeding the Baby Chick. The first feed may be stale but
not musty or mouldy bread, moistened with milk and then
squeezed quite dry, with a httle grit and a little finely granu-
lated charcoal sprinkled on it; johnny cake baked hard, crum-
bled and fed dry; hard boiled egg chopped fine and mixed
half and half with bread crumbs; steel cut oatmeal, or any of
the numerous, satisfactory rations given to little chicks by
successful poultry-keepers. Sometimes the chicks are started
from the very first on prepared chick feeds, made from finely
^^|!#i^
WHITE WYANDOTTE CHICKS, SHOWING GRAY COLOR.
The little chicks which show considerable gray color when young
often make the whitest fowls when mature.
386 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION
CHAPTER II.
youngsters.
When the brooder chicks are ready to be put out on the
range, that is, when they no longer need the protection of the
brooder or colony house in which the brooder is operated,
WYANDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 387
they are usually put into the roosting- coops which are dis-
tributed over the range. The same procedure is followed in
the case of hen-brooded chicks.
Rearing in Restricted Quarters. The back yard poultry
keeper faces a serious situation when attempting to rear
chicks, yet good results can be obtained on a small area. If
one has no more room than is necessary for the fowls, it is
useless to try to raise chicks in his back yard, because chicks
cannot occupy the same ground as the fowls and do well;
nor can they occupy ground that has been fouled to any ex-
tent. Under such conditions, arrangements must be made
to have the chicks grown away from home, and care should
be taken to get them into the right hands and to be sure that
they have suitable quarters and proper feed. If the home
quarters are of a fair size, it is possible to grow very good
chickens by giving them extra care. The same method of
cooping should be followed as if they were on range and the
outdoor runs should be frequently spaded over. The location
of the coop and yard should be changed every few days if
possible, and some small grain which sprouts quickly planted
in each spot as soon as it is vacated. As the chick can not
develop muscle and will not be healthy or strong without
exercise, they must be made to scratch vigorously in litter
for the dry grain part of their ration.
Cleanliness is absolutely necessary in all cases, and the
coop must be cleaned at frequent intervals and occasionally
disinfected, especially the floor. If, as the chicks grow, they
fill the coop to a point where it becomes crowded, the flocks
CHAPTER HI.
SECTION I.
cal rather than a fanciful aspect. Both aspects have been im-
proved. That our American breeds, including all varieties of
Wyandottes, have improved in appearance, everyone' inter-
ested is aware, but that they have impro\ed in usefulness
and productiveness some may not be disposed to admit, yet all
available records, both public and private, show such an enor-
mous advance in these respects as to be almost incredible, not
only to those skeptically inclined but to all, except the com-
paratively small number who because of business or other
interests follow the results of such tests most closely.
It should not be concluded from the foregoing statement
that fowls should be bred to improve in one particular alone ;
CHAPTER II.
age and when eight to twelve weeks old (the broiler age) it
carries a nice amount of meat and attains good size. For the
smaller, or "squab," broilers the Wyandotte is equally good,
for at any time after it is large enough to eat it is well fleshed
if properly fed and cared for. For the production of roasting
chickens, weighing from four to five pounds each, it is ex-
cellent, and when allowed to attain maturity and is dressed
and sold as a fowl the same plumpness recommends it to all
consumers. In many markets medium sized fowls are pre-
ferred, especially when catering to the needs of small fam-
ilies.
The length and depth of body is sufficient to give the egg
producing organs an opportunity to be profitably active when
the proper food is provided. The Wyandotte will lay equally
well when confined to a small house and yard on the city lot,
when kept on the village half-acre and when on the broad
range of the farm, provided reasonable care is taken to supply
394 AMERICAX POULTRY ASSOCIATION
the necessary feeds from which the fowl can obtain the ele-
ments necessary to make eggs.
In addition to their usefulness for market purposes, the
attractive shape and beautiful color of each variety make them
especially desirable to keep for pleasure, and when well-bred
there is an added enjoyment to be obtained by showing them,
for those who desire to do so, and an additional profit to
be made by selling specimens for exhibition and breeding and
eggs for hatching. (H. A. N.)
WYAXDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 395
CHAPTER III.
SECTION II.
chicks came out between the latter part of May and the mid-
dle of June. I had twenty Wyandotte pullets and also forty
Rock pullets hatched in May. Both lots had equal care, but
the Wyandotte pullets outlaid the Rock pullets, two to one.
After a repetition of this the following winter, I decided that
the Wyandotte was the fowl for me. Of course, it might be
argued that this was an exceptional case and that the question
of strain might largely account for the difference. At the
same time, the laying contests held in America and also in
other parts of the world, extending over many years, led us to
conclude that the Wyandotte has no superior among the heavy
breeds and when it comes to the White Leghorn, it is simply a
matter of strain. In other words, there is very little choice
between a good laying strain of Wyandottes and a good lay-
ing strain of Leghorns. However, in view of the fact that the
Wyandotte excels as a winter layer and the Leghorn as a sum-
mer layer, it makes the value of the eggs laid by the Wyan-
dotte considerably higher for the year.
To illustrate my point, I wish to quote the following table
taken from page 232 of Bulletin 87, issued by the Storrs Agri-
cultural Experiment Station, Storrs, Conn., describing the
Fourth Annual Laying Contest
A'^alue of Return Above
Breed Eggs Eggs Feed Cost
Wyandottes 1.650 $45.99 $26.19
White Leghorns 1.581 $41.21 $24.53
Rhode Island Reds 1,558 $42.00 $22.12
Plymouth Rocks 1,463 $38.76 $19.00
Miscellaneous 1.258 ^32.33 $15.85
"
R. C. Reds 153
"
Anconas 151
Barred Rocks "
146
"
White Orpingtons 135
CHAPTER II.
Fayetteville, Ark.
^ ^ %
A pen of White W'yandottes which produced 1,226 eggs in one year,
an average of over 245 eggs each, at the Sixtii National Laying Contest,
at Mountain Grove, Mo.
est individuals produced 294, 289, 286, 281, 274, 274, 267, 267,
265, 265 eggs each. The ten highest pens, with five hens each,
produced 1305, 1226, 1180, 1143, 1132, 1130, 1120, 1094, 1089,
1074 eggs per pen.
The following data was not given in each report but the
averages were made from the ones reported. The average
weight of each for the first or pullet year was 4}^ pounds. The
eggs averaged 24.1 ounces per dozen. Each pullet consumed
72 pounds of feed during the year. The average broodiness
was 3.75 times each. The mortality was 9 per cent during the
year.
The performance of Wyandottes in the egg laying contests
may be summed up and stated briefly as follows
The average Wyandotte during her first year's production
averaged 4^4 pounds in weight, she consumed 72 pounds of
feed and produced 152.4 eggs which weighed 24.1 ounces per
dozen, which is approximatey 23 pounds, or more than five
times her weight in eggs. She went broody 3^ times and nine
out of every one hundred died during the year; one out of
five passed the 200 egg mark. Plainly the Wyandotte is cap-
able of reaching the 300 egg class. (C. T. P.)
nopERTT LmnAur
WYAXDOTTE STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 403
INDEX
Page
American Standard of Perfection, Introduction to tlie 1915 Revised
Edition 3
Authors, List of 9
Backyard Flock^ A 369
Advantages 369
Feeding 370
Breeding Domestic Fow^ls 43
Inbreeding 49
Injudicious Breeding 52
Like Begets Like 55
Line-Breeding 51
Mendelism 54
Offset Defects 56
Out Crossing 50
Principles of Breeding 55
Resting Males S3
Strain Building 51
Uniformity 57
Care of Grov^ing Stock 386
Rearing in Restricted Quarters 387
Roosting Coops 386
Color Terms, Explanation of 34
Comparison System, Applying the ... 28
Comparison of Types, Female Ill
Comparison of Types, Male 110
Constitutional Vigor 59
Copyright 2
Cutting for Defects 30
Defects, Common, and How to Overcome Them 118
Combs, Defective, Illustrated 118
Heads, Female, Defective, Illustrated 121
Heads, Male Defective, Illustrated 119
Head Points 118
Legs and Toes, Perfect and Defective, Illustrated 131
Plumage Quality 124
Shape, Female, Defective, Illustrated 128. 129, 130. 133
Shape, Male, Defective. Illustrated 122, 123, 125, 127
Wattles, Defective, Illustrated 118
Disposition, Individual 53
Disqualifications for Wyandotte, General 29
Double Matings 45
English Wyandotte Winners, Illustrated 135
Exhibiting
"Catchy Quality" 332
Close Examination 332
Comparison of Candidates 334
TBOPERTY LlBRAKl
N r o^x. A. If
404 AMERICAX POULTRY ASSOCIATION
Page
Comparison Svstem 335
Fillers '
332
First Step 332
Prime Requisites Overlooked 334
Process of Selection 331
Care After the Show 360
Compel Exercise 362
Condiments and Laxatives 362
Feed Lightly 362
Gradual Changes 360
Prevent Diseases of Head 361
Prevent Intestinal Disorders 361
Removing from Shipping Coops 361
Care in the Show Room 354
Bedding 355
Changes in Temperature 356
Clean Cages Important 355
Deliver}- 355
Drafts. Protection Against 355
Drink Dishes 355
Feeds and Feeding 356
Intensive Caging 357
Meat and Greens 356
Overfeeding and Underfeeding 357
Conditioning for Exhibition 336
Art of Conditioning 338
Condition All-important 336
Condition Examined 337
Feeding for Color 342
Feeding Method, The 340
Feeding White Birds 342
Food and Exercise 340
Forcing Immature Birds 341
Fresh Plumaged Birds Win 33'!^
Prepotency 57
Sanitation 375
Care of Grounds 376
Cleanliness 375
Disinfectants 376
Scale of Points, Official 37
First Scale of Points. American 310
First Scale of Points, American Class 311
Scale of Points, 1910 313
Score Card, Official 32
Sex Control of Characters 58
Shape, Standard Requirements for Wyandottes, 11 \'aricties . . . . 112, 113
Shape, Standard Requirements for Wyandottes. Illustrated 114, 115
Sitigle Matings 44
Starting in the Poultry Business 364
Breed, Selecting the 364
Breeding Stock 366
Hatching Eggs, Prices of 365
Quality, Health. Vigor 365
Specialists 365
When to Start 367
Strain Building 51
Stud Matings 52
Technical Terms, Definitions of 14
Weight, Standard for Wyandottes. All \'arieties 112
Wyandottes, Black
Breeding 302
Origin 296
Standard Requirements for Color 302
408 AM E NIC AX POULTRY ASSOCIATION
Pagk
\\yaxdottes, Bufif
Breeding 212
Development Illustrated 226, 217
Ideal Female. Illustrated 211
Ideal Male, Illustrated 210
Origin 202
Standard Requirements for Color 209
W'vAXDOTTES, Columbian
Breeding 277
Development. Illustrated 294, 295
Ideal Female. Illustrated 275
Ideal Male. Illustrated 274
Origin 269
Standard Requirements for Color 273
Wyandottes for Eggs 397
Wyandottes. Golden
Breeding 175
Development, Illustrated 182, 183
Origin 170
Standard Requirements for Color 173. 174