THE LEGHORNS 



latter Red P}Ie Leghorns are the most popular, especially 

 in England, where they have been bred for quite a num- 

 ber of years. Of the 



Origin of Red Pyle Leghorns 



Mr. Hcsford, in his book, "Leghorns of All Varieties," 

 presents the following authentic data: 



Pyle Leghorns, unlike the varieties before mentioned, 

 owe their origin to the skill of an English breeder. 

 Browns, Whites, Blacks, Cuckoos, Bufifs, and even Mottles 

 are "foreigners," but the gorgeous. "Pyle" is of home man- 

 ufacture. This is, or should be, a point in its favor with 

 patriots; but perhaps more stress might be laid upon its 

 claim to Leghorn purity. Bred, as we know from the 

 originator's story, from Leghorns exclusively, it cannot 

 be dubbed a "mongrel," although how far this purity is 

 sustained, now it is kept and exhibited by rnany in addi- 

 tion to its originator, is a somewhat moot point. 



W'e have already spoken of accidents that have led 

 to great discoveries, and we firmly believe that the Pyle 

 Leghorn is a "discovery" that owes much to accident. It 

 must not be thought that we in any way wish to disparage 

 the skill which was shown in putting before the public in 

 1886 a new variety which could, from an exhibitor's point 

 of view, justly claim to be described, both in color shape — • 

 viz., Pyle Leghorn. Nevertheless, knowing how quickly 

 the introduction of a White Leghorn cock amongst a pen 

 of hens of Black-red type, or even of a reddish-buff type, 

 will result in progeny passably "Pyle" in color of plumage, 

 it requires no very great stretch of imagination to think 

 that the "tip" was originally given by an accidental stray- 

 ing of either a "White" cock into a "Brown" pen, or vice 

 versa. Be this as it may. Mr. G. Payne can certainly 

 claim to have followed his idea, whatever its inception, 

 to a definite and valuable conclusion, and the Pyle Leg- 

 horn now stands as one of the best of the newer varie- 

 ties. 



The full history of its manufacture' is stated to be as 

 follows: In 1882 Mr. Payne mated a Brown Leghorn hen, 

 which had two white feathers in each wing, with a White 

 Leghorn cock. Twelve eggs only frorn this mating were 

 set, and of the ten chicks hatched, six died; of the remain- 

 ing four, three were pullets slightly ting:ed on breast, but 

 otherwise fairly white. In the following year a good 

 Standard Brown cock was penned with the three pullets, 

 and fifty chicks bred from them. Unfortunately, it was 

 found that there was too much color, and in the wrong 

 places. Most of the pullets were sandy-buff in color, with 

 ashen-grey tails, while the cockerels had a few orange- 

 colored feathers on back, wings and thighs. 



In 1884 the largest and 'arkest of the 1883 pullets 

 were mated with" a White cock, in order, as Mr. Payne 

 states, to banish body color. The result was not very en- 

 couraging, for out of seventy chicks no cockerels of any 

 merit were discovered; there being only seven pullets, 

 moreover, clear on back and tail. These latter, however, 

 were not dark enough in breast. 



In 1885 a Brown cock was mated with six 1884 pullets 

 and ten 1883 hens of the lightest shade. Of the one hun- 

 dred and fifty chicks hatched, one cockerel alone was 

 saved, and he a very poor specimen; while of the pullets, 

 two, as well as the cockerel, were shown at the Leghorn, 

 Plymouth Rock and y\ndalusian Club Show, held at Al- 

 bert Palace. January, 1886. The cockerel scored nothing, 

 but the pullets were awarded second and third, the first 

 prize going to a Cuckoo. 



In 1886 the Pyle cockerel was mated with three Pyle 

 bred Brown pullets of a bluish slate color, two others of 

 the Pyle color (but too much of it), and two winning Al- 

 bert Palace pullets. From this mating there resulted a 

 fairly large percentage of well-marked birds. 



In ISSr the chicks were principally bred from the 1886 

 cock (winner of first Dairy) and another winning cock 

 and ten hens. 



The above is a somewhat condensed form of Mr. 

 Payne's description of his labors down to 1887, since 

 which time the breed has been fostered by many others, 

 with the result that now "like begets like." 



It will be seen that Leghorns, and Leghorns only, 

 were used in the manufacturing process; but the length 

 of leg and general hardness of feathers seen in some of 

 the recent winning pullets suggests a cross of Pyle Game, 



and we have distinct recollections of profusely-feathered 

 legs on a cockerel exhibited at the Palace Show of 1894. 

 It will be instructive now to closely compare our color 

 theories with the progress and result of the matings re- 

 corded above from 1882 to 1887, in order to see in what 

 way the record of experience justifies our conclusions, 

 and how far our conclusions may appear antagonistic to 

 the statements of "the originator." 



The "mother of the race," it appears, had white feath- 

 ers in each wing. This, as we have seen, at once pro- 

 claims lack of pigment; in other words, a pronounced ten- 

 dency to "albinism." A White cock is mated with her, 

 thus intensifying the tendency. Result— chicks almost 

 white: red pigment reduced, but not destroyed, on breast. 

 The following year sees an infusion of red and black 

 pigment by using a Brown cock with these "light Pyle" 

 pullets. Result should be — cockerels with reddish hackles, 

 back and wings; splashed breast, underparts, and tail. 

 Pullets, very patchy and ruddy everywhere except tails, 

 which should be a dirty ashen grey. 



The following year fairly good cockerels and pullets 

 should be easily bred by (as was done) the use of a White 

 cock. The originator, it will be noted, -says the White 

 cock was used to banish body color, a process which we 

 have shov/n to be inevitable if a good "Albino" is utilized. 

 But here we are somewhat checked, for it appears that 

 no good cockerels were bred, and the pullets were again 

 too "light in breast. It may be that the undercolor of the 

 Brown cock used in 1883 was not as dense as it might 

 have been; but we cannot but think that, with care in se- 

 lection, the time in which Pyles were produced might have 

 been considerably reduced. 



The successive stages, however, all conform to our 

 theories; and it may be instanced how pertinacious the 

 red pigment in the hackles, both of cocks and hens, is, 

 even though the black pigment is, with the exception of 

 a few ticks in tail, almost entirely destroyed. Examine 

 the neck hackle of both sexes, and observe that the black 

 stripe in the hackles of Browns has given place to white; 

 while the fringing of light golden yellow and of orange 

 red in the hackles respectively of Pyle hens and cocks is 

 always found though varying in tint. Observe further, 

 that where the rusty red feathers appear on the wings of 

 Brown hens, in a similar position will they be found on 

 many Pyle hens, causing the birds to be described as 

 "rosy-winged." 



Needless to say, the amalgamation of two different 

 strains, viz.. Whites and Browns, made their progeny very 

 hardy and strong. Pyle Leghorns, however, do not ma- 

 ture quite so early as the other varieties. They are sur- 

 prisingly docile, are excellent layers, and make fairly good 

 table birds. 



Origin of Dominique Leghorns 



Dominique, or Cuckoo Leghorns, started in on the 

 Leghorn wave of popularity, being recognized as a Stand- 

 ard variety as early as 1874. But they never became pop- 

 ular and eventually, in 1898, were dropped from the Amer- 

 ican Standard of Perfection, and are rarely seen at Amer- , 

 ican shows today. In England they are still recognized 

 and bred as Cuckoo Leghorns'. Those that we saw years 

 ago were coarser in comb, smaller in body, and less grace- 

 ful in shape, than the other varieties, the plumage also 

 being anything but attractive — the dark gray and white 

 barring being very irregular, and white feathers on tail 

 and wings being serious defects. That they might have 

 been developed into a nicely barred Leghorn, there can 

 be no doubt of, but breeders somehow had eyes for just 

 one barred plumaged breed; namely, the Barred Ply- 

 mouth Rock; so other breeds of similar color of plumage 

 fell by the wayside, including the once very popular and 

 useful American Dominique. 



The origin of the Dominique or Cuckoo Leghorn is 

 shrouded in mystery. Mr. Ayres referred to them as the 

 progenitors of the Black Leghorns — not at all improbable 

 or impossible — but how, where and when these Quaker 

 garbed Mediterranean fowls came, no reliable data is 

 available. 



