BREED TYPE 77 



throughout the body. If the head is rather long, there is every indi- 

 cation of weakness; and when the skull, lacking breadth, is long, the 

 bird is spoken of as "crow headed" or "snake headed." Such a speci- 

 men should be classed as useless for stock purposes. 



The eye gives expression to the intellect. If the bird is quick 

 and active, it has a bright eye, "as bright as a shoe button." Droop- 

 ing eyelids bespeak inactivity. The eye should be big and clear, so 

 that the bird may see everything that there is to eat and anything 

 that is going on. Too many Rhode Island Red females have over- 

 hanging eyelids. Such birds are often small, weak specimens and 

 even though they may occasionally win high prizes, the breeder 

 cannot depend on these drooping-eyelid pullets to breed the fine, big 

 richly furnished cockerels that win the premier honors in the cockerel 

 class. 



The face is the bare skin on the head over and below the eyes. 

 A chicken has a face, and a big open faced bird is considered stronger 

 than a small faced one. In a male, a big face is an indication of 

 masculinity. All of E. B. Thompson's Barred Rock males have big 

 faces, and it is a point that this breeder has not overlooked. 



The skin on the face, particularly of females, should be smooth 

 and of fine texture. Wrinkled faces reflect the Malay and Aseel blood 

 that runs in the blood of some varieties, particularly Reds, and these 

 wrinkled 'faced hens can be depended upon to be big, heavy boned, 

 heavy muscled specimens, but they are shy on egg yield. A truly 

 fine pullet has a smooth face. 



The ear lobe is the fold of bare skin just below the ear socket. 

 A fine texture skin on face and a large face usually are associated 

 with well developed ear lobes. A very long or very short lobe 

 spoils the symmetry of the face in the American breeds. 



The wattles are the pendant fleshy growths that hang below the 

 face and beak. They should not be coarse in texture or so long a^ 

 to hang in wrinkles, but should be nicely rounded, of equal length 

 and smooth texture. Folds are minor faults. Very short wattles, 

 like very short lobes, fail to give the desired strength to the face. 



The beak, including an upper and lower mandible, is the horny 

 projecting mouth part. A chicken has no hands and uses its beak 

 to pick and break up food. It is important that the beak should 

 be well formed, straight out, and the upper bill be properly curved. 

 A crooked beak should disqualify; in fact, such a specimen is so 

 deprived of food that its growth is slower than other chicks in the 

 flock, its development is soon arrested and it becomes the easy prey 

 of disease. A stout regularly curved beak is always desirable and 

 important. 



A good way to measure the length of the head is to gauge the 

 distance from the center of the eye to the tip end of the beak. A 

 long headed bird may have a long back, but a length of body is of 



