BUFF ORPINGTONS. 



297 



over and over again that even if the best 

 cockerel of one strain is mated with the best 

 pullets of another the result is very dis- 

 appointing, as they invariably throw back. 



" Each feather on the bird should be the 

 same even shade and be buff to the skin. 

 There should be no mealiness, and the shaft 

 of the feather should not be lighter in colour. 

 There should be no light lacing or fringing 

 in the feathers, and the wider the feathers are 

 the better. A good many cockerels show an 

 unevenness in the feathers on their backs which 

 is known as rustiness and is very objection- 

 able, and those birds generally breed pullets 

 with dark lacing on their backs. 



" If the feathers of a hen are closely ex- 

 amined, especially on the hackle and back, 

 it will be seen that the very edge is hard and 

 shiny, resembling the ends of the hackle 

 feathers of the cocks, and I find that the edge 

 of the feather does not fade in the same way 

 as the rest of it, therefore the feathers of a 

 partly faded bird look laced. The comb, 

 wattles and ear-lobe should be bright red, 

 the comb medium, evenly serrated and straight, 

 and the eye should be red. 



" Exhibition hens and pullets should be as 

 massive as possible and short on the leg, but 

 not stumpy, and their colour should be an 

 even golden orange, free from any meal, 

 which is about the worst fault in the hen's 

 plumage. They should be the same shade on 

 the breast as they are on the back, and should 

 not appear to have lacing on the feathers, 

 either dark or light. They should have neat 

 heads and small combs, evenly serrated and 

 straight, free from side spikes, and the eye 

 should be red. They should show plenty of 

 bone in their feet and legs, and the toes 

 should be well spread out and straight in 

 shape. They should resemble the Black 

 Orpington as much as possible and be free 

 from the objectionable ball cushion of the 

 Cochin, and the legs should not be blue, as 

 this is a bad fault." 



Writing in our last edition, Mr. Percy 

 Thorniley said : — 



" In selecting birds for stock, I proceed as 

 follows : first examine all birds for colour ; 

 then for type ; and lastly for size, especially 

 in the female. My experience is that you 

 cannot breed big chickens from small hens, no 

 matter how big the cock is. Of course, the 

 minor points must be taken into consideration, 

 too, according to their degree of imperfection, 

 for if you once get one of these minor points 

 established in your strain you will find it most 



difficult to get rid of; such, for instance, as 

 a badly-formed comb, or a white ear-lobe. 



" For exhibition purposes the buff is a most 

 difficult colour to keep sound, and to ensure 

 this it is most essential that the birds have 

 complete shade and protection from the sun 

 and rain, such as a run in a wood or shrub- 

 bery. Where this is not possible other means, 

 must be devised. The suggestion has been 

 made to me of planting artichokes in the 

 runs a short distance apart. But however 

 much shade you give your birds through the 

 summer and during the moult, they will be 

 much lighter in colour the second year than 

 the first. The tendency is, from the time they 

 are hatched until they assume their adult 

 plumage, to go darker and more even ; after 

 that they go to lighter again. This is why 

 it is such a difficult matter to advise which 

 chickens it will pay to keep, and which to put 

 in the pot. The chickens are very hardy and 

 easily reared." 



Reference may also be made to what was 

 laid down respecting the breeding of buff 

 poultry generally, on page 245 ; and Mr. 

 Cromack, in a lecture to which we acknowledge 

 indebtedness, related experience which is a 

 very practical commentary upon the advice 

 there and above given. Out of the first 

 seven pullets with which he was successful 

 (and which he had picked up in Surrey, after 

 failing with the first stock he secured), 

 there were different shades of plumage, two 

 only being buff to the skin, while the others 

 were white under-colour, though buff on the 

 surface. By the advice of a friend he mated 

 up the white under-colour, and not one of 

 the produce was worth exhibition. Next 

 season he bred from the all-buff birds ; and 

 out of one brood eight realised nearly ;£^30. 

 The white legs and skin require all the greater 

 care in selecting sound buff plumage. 



In Sussex, and Surrey, and doubtless other 

 localities, the white shanks are more easily 

 preserved than in others, owing probably to 

 effects of soil. But the greatest difficulty in 

 keeping up this point arises from the different 

 origin of various strains, as already alluded 

 to. It is still attempted in some quarters to 

 attribute the occurrence of yellow shanks to 

 " crossing with the Lincolnshire Buff," and 

 there are no doubt plenty of these birds, of 

 the rougher type, which would have such an 

 effect, while there are strains of Buff Orping- 

 tons which rarely breed a yellow-legged 

 chicken. But there are also strains of Lincoln- 

 shire blood which for generations have done 

 the same ; and the result of our own inquiries 



