490 EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 



The decimal score card is so designed as to give to each part 

 its proportionate rank, the specimen being divided into ten com- 

 ponent parts, each of the same value. 



In using the standard score card, parts which fall below the 

 requirements are deducted from the perfection value in propor- 

 tion to the ratio in which they drop below the standard. When 

 the scoring is complete, the cuts are added, and the amount 

 subtracted from 100, which gives the total score of the bird. 



The score card, when completely filled out, should be dated, 

 signed by the judge and countersigned by the secretary. 



The standard score card sets so much value on color mark- 

 ings that its use inclines one, if not careful, to overlook those 

 factors of body shape and apparent vitality which make up the 

 utility or commercial value of the birds. It is, however, true 

 that purity of breeding — hence of color pattern — to a certain 

 extent promotes uniformity. It is also true that by studying 

 color pattern the breeder of standard poultry is led to a closer 

 study of the conformation of the body. 



The tendency is, and has been, to sacrifice shape and size for 

 fine feathering, which in the end lowers the commercial value of 

 the breed or strain. Hence if greater stress were laid, in the stand- 

 ard score card, upon conformation of the body, with the view of 

 increasing the utilitarian value of the breed, it would increase the 

 production of standard-bred birds by the general farmer or small 

 poultryman, who must get his living by selling his birds for market 

 purposes. 



The perfect bird of any breed is the one which shows perfection 

 in feathering. The utility and standard-bred white Leghorns are 

 good examples of this divergence of values. The fancy Leghorn 

 is a rather small, dainty bird, with small comb and wattles and 

 rather short body; while the Leghorn which yields the highest 

 profits from the sale of eggs is a larger bird, of heavier and coarser 

 development, with long body and larger comb. Such a divergence 

 should not exist; standard-bred birds, to rank as such, should have 

 the typical shape and size developed to their highest degree. 



Score Card for Egg Type of Live Poultry. — This score card is 

 of use to the breeder of poultry who wishes to breed for maximum 

 egg yield. It fixes in his mind the external characteristics of 

 the bird which are significant of the egg producer. The values 

 given the component parts signify the relative importance of each 

 part in selecting the layers and nonlayers. 



