326 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



See that these females have good combs, and 

 decent coloured legs, with plenty of bone, and, 

 moreover, a good Wyandotte shape. The neck- 

 hackle is perhaps the most important point ; 

 see that these possess a good stripe, with an 

 equally good orange edge. As we do not 

 require pencillings in cocks, we should not 

 look for it in his mates, and, indeed, we con- 

 sider females without pencilling more likely to 

 breed good exhibition cockerels. The ground- 

 colour must, however, be of the desired brown 

 shade. With the above mating we should get 

 exhibition cockerels, but the pullets would only 

 be suitable for again mating up to produce 

 cockerels in their turn. 



" The pullet's beak, eye, comb, and leg colour 

 should be e.xactly as in the male, but of course 

 harmonising with her sex. The ground colour 

 all over her body should be a rich light brown, 

 not red, or it will be termed foxy ; neither do 

 we want it to err on the other side, or it will be 

 termed grey or clayey. Each feather should be 

 pencilled with a darker shade, the pencilling 

 to follow the shape of the feather, as in the best 

 Cochin hens. The pencilling should extend 

 well up to the throat and right back to the tail, 

 and with as much pencilling as possible on the 

 thighs — in fact, pencilled all over except tail, 

 which should be black, and hackle, which should 

 be orange striped with black. Pullets with good 

 yellow legs are few as yet, but breeders must 

 strive for this important point. 



" To produce exhibition pullets we require a 

 different mating from that for cockerels. The 

 females must be as near the e.xhibition type as 

 possible, and the male required is one that has 

 been ' pullet-bred.' He will generally be one 

 with tipping on breast and thighs, but here lies 

 a great danger. You must know for a certainty 

 that he is 'pullet bred,' because faulty e.xhibition 

 cockerels are sometimes sold as such, and such 

 a male upsets all the mating. 



" One thing which makes these birds valu- 

 able from an e.Khibition point of view is the 

 fact that their exhibition career is not over in 

 a couple of months, like many breeds. The 

 pullets moult year by year sharper and more 

 distinct in pencilling, whilst the cockerels have 

 generally a brighter top colour after their first 

 moult." 



It will be observed that the breeding of this 

 colour in Wyandottes is precisely the same as in 

 Partridge Cochins, and reference may be made 

 with advantage to the details of the breeding of 

 those birds as described in Chapter XV. The 

 close and tight plumage seems to suit this mark- 

 ing especially well, and many think Partridges 

 the most attractive of all the W'yandotte colours. 



Later varieties to be added to the family 

 of Wyandottes are the Silver Pencilled and 

 Columbians, and these bear the same relation 

 to Dark and Light Brahmas that the Part- 

 ridges do to Partridge Cochins. The former 

 were originated by Mr. George H. 

 Pencuied Brackenbury, the well-known Ameri- 

 and can fancier and judge already men- 



wyand'o'tws. tioned in connection with Partridges, 

 and were fashioned, as might be 

 supposed, by mating the existing Partridge 

 Wyandottes with selected Dark Brahmas, care- 

 fully selecting and " line-breeding" the produce. 

 The first consignment received in England were 

 two trios imported by Mr. Wharton in January, 

 1901. The three varieties are remarkable as 

 presenting the beautiful Partridge and Brahma 

 colours, with more moderate size, and freedom 

 from leg-feather and fluff; thereby retaining 

 the closer feather which the Brahma has now 

 unfortunately lost, and with it the quality of 

 heav)' laying. 



Both the name of Silver Pencilled, and con- 

 trast with the Partridge colour, have determined 

 the choice of the whitest or paper-ground pen- 

 cilling for these birds, and it must be bred in. 

 the same way as that type of Brahma. For 

 details of this reference may be made to p. 272, 

 and different pens will be required for breeding 

 cockerels and pullets. To produce cockerels a 

 bird must be chosen as good in show points as 

 possible, and especially as clear as possible in 

 white, as dense in the black, and with good 

 striping in hackle. Want of clearness in white 

 is the chief fault at the present stage. His 

 hens must be of the same strain, and have 

 solidly striped hackles and neat heads ; their 

 body colour may differ in various strains, but is 

 generally rather dark ; the blood is the main 

 point. For pullet-breeding, on the other hand^ 

 we want hens or pullets with pencilling and 

 show points as perfect as possible, and a 

 cockerel of the same strain. He must have 

 clear silvery and broadly striped hackles, and 

 his breast will have either white ticks, or a 

 laced edge at the tip of each feather, and on 

 the fluff. If there be a narrow lacing of white 

 in the tail or largest coverts, all the better. 

 But again blood is the main thing, as a cock- 

 breeding pen may also throw ticked or laced 

 birds, which are, however, valueless for pullet- 

 breeding. If the first year's breeding fails, 

 breeding back to the se.x the pen is selected for 

 will usually succeed, if those birds are really 

 good. 



Columbians were first produced by breeding 

 White Wyandottes to Barred Rocks, and the 

 early birds were much wanting in striping of 



