THE ORPINGTONS 



41 



succeeding matings. As a rule the male will influence the 

 color and type more than the -female does, while the latter 

 influences the size. For this reason I would prefer a 

 smallish male of really good type to a tall gawky male 

 having nothing but size and color to recommend him. 



Among the first principles of color mating there are 

 a few points I wish to make most emphatic. Never, under 

 any circumstances, use extremes of color. Never use a 

 female in your best pens showing mealiness over the 

 wing-bows. Never use a reddish female with the web of 

 the feather very pronounced, or as we say, "shafty." 

 Never use a male with a red hackle, and, at the same 

 time white in under-oolor of hackle. Good buff color was 

 ■never produced by using birds indicated above, excepting 

 in an occasional chance 

 specimen. 



How to Obtain Color 



In rnating for color, I 

 ■first select the best colored 

 ■males I have available that 

 have no bad outs in other 

 sections. These birds I line 

 up, and carefully compare 

 their breeding possibilities 

 from a color stand-point, 

 taking the known qualities 

 of their direct ancestors 

 into consideration. After 

 selecting the most promis- 

 ing bird, I go through our 

 flock of females and select 

 <ven colored birds ranging 

 from the same shade as the 

 male to two tones darker. I 

 ■make color the first consid- 

 eration in selecting these 

 females, but also carefully 

 weigh their breeding, and 

 •choose only those that have 

 -the proper blood lines to 

 nick with the male, and that 

 are strong in the sections 

 where he is weakest. This in- 

 sures improvement all along 

 the line. This process is re- 

 peated with each one of my 

 selected males; in each case 

 using, females that are not 

 over two tones away from 

 the male in color. The light- 

 er males are mated with females that are absolutely sound 

 in under-color in every section. It is not necessary to mate 

 dark females with such a bird, as the lighter females that 

 are sound. under will have the necessary strength of color 

 pigment to mate with a male whose origin is known. The 

 -darker males are usually very sound in under-color, yet 

 the same rule applies, and females mated with them are 

 even and rich in color, with sound under-color. In all 

 selected females, I avoid absolutely all mealiness and 

 shafting when possible. Also give the preference to hens 

 that have moulted right, and to pullets that my experience 

 has taught me will make fine hens. 



Extreme matings containing dark birds of one sex 

 -and light birds of the other will never produce medium 

 shades. The result will be unattractive patchy pullets 

 with dark hackles, and uneven cockerels with dark hackles 



"CHAMPION" NB-W YORKER 



First prize Buff Orpington Cock at Madison Square Garden, 

 New York, 1909-10; also winner of cup for "Best Orpington Male, 

 all Varieties." Owned and bred by H. H. Kingston, Jr. 



and wing-bows. Cockerels from an extreme mating 

 usually average slightly better quality than do pullets. 

 The contrary is true of a proper mating as it is easier to 

 produce sound colored pullets in quantities than it is to 

 produce sound males. 



In correcting comb and eye defects I am careful in 

 every mating I make, whether primarily for shape, or for 

 color, to have good eyes and comb on either male or fe- 

 males. When possible, I avoid a decidedly bad comb in 

 either sex. I do not believe it practicable just now to 

 discard an otherwise fine male for a large, or unevenly, 

 serrated comb. This section will adjust itself with time 

 and should not be allowed undue prominence. We all 

 admire a five point comb that is perfectly serrated, but 



the longer we breed our fa- 

 vorites the more this sec- 

 tion seems to diminish in 

 relative importance. Never 

 breed from a bird having 

 side sprigs, or from one 

 having stubs on shanks. 



Leg color runs very 

 good in the breed. A small 

 percentage still show bluish 

 shanks, and a still smaller 

 number come with bright 

 yellow legs. Simply do not 

 breed from these birds no 

 matter how good they are 

 in other sections. Bright red 

 eyes on birds of extra good 

 color are not plentiful. Have 

 made decided progress this 

 year in this section, and a 

 few years will largely do 

 away with our greenish, 

 yellow, and fish eyes. As 

 I said before, if you use a 

 male with poor eyes, rec- 

 tify the defect in your fe- 

 males, and vice versa. 

 There are a fery few fan- 

 ciers of any breed that do 

 not admire a buflf bird of 

 the true golden shade, and 

 of even color. The writer 

 has bred over twenty va- 

 rieties since he began eigh- 

 teen years ago, and the buffs 

 have always been first in his 

 affection. My long exper- 

 ience in breeding Buff Rocks and Buff Wyandottes is ex- 

 tremely valuable in producing proper color on the Orping- 

 tons. Today, I am completely cured of my prejudice 

 against the white legs and skin of the Orpington and can 

 watch our Orpington and Rock chicks running side by 

 side with equal pleasure. It is a keen delight to note the 

 improvement in both varieties, and it is still an open 

 question which will produce the best colored bird this 

 year. That the Orpington stands a chance in such a com- 

 petition shows decided improvement, and we have cock- 

 srels and pullets of both varieties without a trace of 

 foreign color in wing or tail. 



The Buff variety has proven itself to be the best of 

 the Orpingtons, and has firmly established itself as one 

 of the six most popular varieties in America. Its intrinsic 

 merit will retain it in the proud position it has attained, 



