THE LEGHORNS 



As the Leghorns have no weight section, no Standard 

 weights being applied to them; they come under the sec- 

 tion Hsted as size. This section has also been reduced in 

 valuation from eight to four points inasmuch as any fowl 

 having a weight clause that is two pounds under Standard 

 weight is not to be considered, or in otTier words, disqual- 

 ified. There are many judges who never cut a Leghorn 

 for size claiming that they have no given size. In our 

 opinion, this is a grave mistake and results in many di- 

 minutive specimens winning a prize that ought not be- 

 cause they will never be 

 lai ge enough to become good 

 bl-eeding specimens. We be- 

 lieve that these small "ban- 

 tam" Leghorns should be cut 

 from one to two points in 

 order to discourage the breed- 

 ing of such specimens. We 

 do not want a coarse, over- 

 grown specimen looking 

 more like a Minorca or Ply- 

 mouth Rock in shape, but we 

 do believe in having them 

 large enough to be good 

 sprightly business birds. 



Disqualifications and General 

 Shape 



Up to this point we have 

 not found it necessary to 

 take the bird out of the cage. 

 It might be well to take no- 

 tice of a few things before 

 doing so and perhaps be 

 saved the extra work of 

 handling the specimen. 



If it is a single comb 

 male and you may be able to 

 note any side sprigs, if it has 

 them, and as side sprigs dis- 

 qualify, it is well to look for 

 them now as well as when 

 handling the specimen. A 

 Icpped comb, lopped over far 

 enough to disqualify would 

 also show at a glance. In 

 order to disqualify it must fall 

 to come below the horizontal 1 

 to lop. Understand this only applies to the single comb 

 male. Squirrel tails, that is those that are carried in front 

 of an imaginary perpendicular line from the base of the 

 tail, one that points more toward the head than the rear, 

 disqualifies. 



Feathers or down on shanks or toes now disqualify 

 and can sometimes be noticed before handling the bird. 

 Side 'sprigs on single comb females disqualify but cannot 

 always be seen until a specimen is handled on account of 

 '.he comb which should droop to one side. In the rose 

 :omb varieties a lopped comb, to disqualify, must fall 

 jver to one side far enough to touch the fowl's head. A 

 comb that is so large as to obstruct the sight also dis- 

 qualifies. That means that if you hold a fowl so that 

 you can look right at the point of its beak and cannot 

 then see the fowl's eye on account of the large or "beefy" 

 condition of the comb, it disqualifies. 



After taking the specimen out of the cage you will 

 c:-a"-ine for crooked back which can be detected instantly 



►•er to one side so far as 

 : where the comb begins 



by passing the hand down the fowl's back. -V crooked 

 back, also deformed beaks disqualify. The color disquali- 

 fications will be taken up under the different varieties as 

 they are explained herein. 



In getting the shape of a fowl and cutting the differ- 

 ent defects we proceed as follows; If we think the neck 

 looks too long, or if in poultry show parlance, it is "not 

 filled," that is, full of undeveloped feathers, giving it a 

 scrawny appearance mentioned under symmetry, the cut 

 is from one-half to one. If the back, which is worth five 

 points for shape, is too long, too narrow, too flat, saddle 

 "not filled," too narrow, or 

 too flat at the shoulders, etc., 

 cut from one-half to two as 

 in degree. 



Xow look at the tail and 

 see if it is carried at the right 

 angle. Is it well spread and 

 well developed? Remember 

 the instructions under de- 

 scription of "The Female 

 in regard to a .well- 

 spread tail. Should there 

 be an angle at the base of 

 and in front of the tail, it is 

 probably carried too high 

 and should be cut from one- 

 half to two and one-half. The 

 breast on a Leghorn should 

 be "full and well-rounded;" 

 should it show undeveloped 

 and narrow the cut should be 

 one-half to one and one-half. 

 If a female's breast is unde- 

 veloped yet has the large 

 pendulous crop as is some- 

 times seen in hens the cut 

 should be one-half to two. 

 The body is "moderately long 

 and fairly straight from point 

 to rear;" should it be too 

 deep, bagged or "down be- 

 hind," or too loosely feath- 

 ered, the cut should be from 

 one-half to one. If the bird's 

 legs are too short, cut one- 

 half to one. Knock-knees 

 should be cut from one-half 

 t from one-half to one. Crooked 

 It each. Absence of spur on cock 



too k 



toes are cut one-half poi 



bird is generally cut one-half point each. 



In looking at wings it is best to hold your cuts for 

 shape until you have the fowl in your hand as there may 

 be some broken or missing flight feathers. You should, 

 however, see that the wings are carried in a proper posi- 

 tion and not slipped. By slipped wings we mean one 

 where the primaries fall or hang down and are not "tucked 

 up" under the secondaries as they should be. This is 

 caused sometimes by a feather or two being missing 

 where the primaries and secondaries are connected and 

 sometimes by a muscular weakness. It should be cut from 

 one to three points, depending upon whether it is one or 

 both wings that are slipped. This defect will transmit or 

 reproduce and really should, in our opinion, be made a 

 disqualification; therefore it should be cut hard enough to 

 throw the specimen out of the ribbons and discourage the 

 breeding of such specimens. Now we are ready to take 

 the specimen out of the cage and examine it for color and 

 other defects. Do not reach in and grab it by one leg and 



