POULTRY CULTURE 



FIG. 523. Silver-Penciled Plymouth Rock 

 cock. (Photograph by Graham) 



FIG. 524. Silver-Penciled Plymouth 

 Rock hen. (Photograph by Graham) 



varieties and flocks, and difficult 

 to get it in individuals. The 

 rigidity of the Standard only 

 serves to unify the ideals of 

 breeders, and to prevent the 

 breaking up of varieties into 

 subvarieties, as when Buff Co- 

 chins were bred in three color 

 subvarieties. 



While commonly classed by 

 fanciers with black and white as 

 a " solid color," 1 and handicapped 

 with them in sweepstakes com- 

 petitions, buff and red shades 

 are the most uncertain of all in 

 transmission and the most un- 

 stable in the individual. With 

 both red and black present in 

 considerable amounts, there is a 

 constant tendency for these pig- 

 ments to separate and arrange 

 themselves as in the black-red 

 type. The black tends to go to 

 the wing and tail feathers, the 

 red to the feathers of the hackle and 

 the back. Hardly more than one bird in 

 a thousand in any variety will meet the 

 Standard requirement for uniformity 

 of surface color and hold that color until 

 and through the first adult molt. For 

 this reason an old buff or red bird that 

 is sound in color is even more valuable 

 as a breeder (compared with a similar 

 young bird) than an old bird of other 

 color types. 



The general rule in mating buff and 

 red birds is to use birds of both sexes 

 as near the Standard shade of color as 

 possible and uniform in color. The 

 second specification is as important as 

 the first. A bird that is uniform but a 

 little lighter or darker than desirable 

 may not show as well among birds of 

 the stylish shade as one that, with the 



1 Strictly the term describes the pattern rather than the quality of the color. 



