504 



POULTRY CULTURE 



FIG. 503. Pekin drake four months old, weighing 



nine pounds, owned by H. B. Robinson, Reading, 



Massachusetts 



FIG. 504. Pekin duck, owned by H . B. Robinson 



weak or a little too long 

 to look well, if the back 

 is a little crooked and 

 the tail carried too high 

 or too low to look well, 

 or carried awry, or if 

 the head and neck ap- 

 pear a little too fine; 

 but if the bird is to be 

 used for breeding, all 

 such faults should be 

 carefully avoided. The 

 color of the plumage 

 in table poultry is of 

 importance only as it 

 affects ease of dressing, 

 and here it is of most 

 importance when stock 

 is to be marketed while 

 immature. 



Selection for shape 

 points in mating stand- 

 ard poultry. In se- 

 lecting for exhibition 

 Standard shape the type as 

 a whole must be considered. 

 This requires particular at- 

 tention to the head and its 

 appurtenances, and to the 

 neck, tail, and legs ; for it is 

 these parts and their adjust- 

 ment to the body that chiefly 

 distinguish different breeds of 

 the same general type or class. 

 A bird that carries both head 

 and tail high will appear 

 shorter, one that carries head 

 and tail low longer, than it is, 

 because the carriage of the 

 head and tail makes a differ- 

 ence in the apparent length 

 of the back. In market poul- 

 try this is not a material point, 

 for in selecting for breeders the 

 length of keel, as ascertained 



