THE ORPINGTONS 



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broad and deep fowl with a moderate length; the inten- 

 tions of the breeders are to maintain 'the cobby appear- 

 ance. Is its head too long and narrow, or as some express 

 it, "snaky?" Is it caused by the beak being long and 

 straight instead of curved, or is it really the head? Is the 

 neck too long and scantily feathered, or as we hear it 

 expressed in the show room parlance, "not filled?" You 

 need not worry about the neck of an Orpington being too 

 short. 



If a male: Is the neck well arched and the hackle well 

 feathered so that it connects or flows onto the shoulders 

 or back in a graceful curve? Are the shoulders broad and 

 flat, or are they narrow and high? Has he a nice broad 

 saddle, well feathered, connecting with a tail that is well 

 spread at the base; or is it narrow and flat, giving the tail 

 a narrow, pinched appearance.' Is his breast full, broad, 

 round and deep, or is it narrow and flat? Are his legs 

 good, firm, stocky legs, well spread so that you can get the 

 width of your hand between them, or are they long, slim 

 and knock-kneed? You will soon get 

 so that you will notice these good and 

 bad points at a glance and make up 

 ) our mind in an instant whether the 

 specimen should be cut one-half or 

 one and one-half. A successful judge 

 must think and act quickly. The min- 

 ute you begin to hesitate as to a cut 

 you begin to fail. 



Remember this section is worth 

 four points and when you cut a bird 

 one for symmetry you mean it is one- 

 fourth or twenty-five per cent, to the 

 bad. There is no system that we 

 know of that can be successfully ap- 

 plied. The best way is to use your 

 own judgment. You know this section 

 is worth four points and when you 

 are judging symmetry, just forget 

 that there is any other section to the 

 bird; no matter if some exhibitor does 

 tell you that you are cutting twice. 

 Judge the bird as a whole and deduct 

 whatever you think is lacking from per- 

 fection. If four points represent one 

 hundred in this section, all right. If 

 the bird is in your judgment 25 per 

 cent, ofif, cut it one point for symmetry. 

 "It is like a two-edged sword, cutting both ways." One 

 for symmetry because the bird has a bad tail or a bad 

 breast, and then cutting these sections again for shape 

 when we come to them. That is not true. If symmetry is 

 worth four points and breast five points for shape, we are 

 not cutting twice. If you do not use this section of sym- 

 metry in scoring your specimen, then you should deduct 

 your total cuts from ninety-six instead of one hundred. 



Weight 



The Standard weights were given the diflferent breeds 

 because it was found that they were at their best as a 

 commercial product when at the weights specified in the 

 Standard. The weights on the Orpingtons were not 

 changed at the recent revision of the Standard. Neither 

 were the instructions which said that for every pound 

 under the Standard weight cut two points; one-fourth 

 pound to be the minimum. For example, if a fowl is one 

 pound underweight it should be cut one point, and if one- 

 fourth pound light it should be cut one-half point. One 



new ruling worthy of remembrance is that a fowl two or 

 more pounds under Standard weight will not be consid- 

 ered, or in other words will be disqualified. 



Disqualifications and Shape 



Up to this point you have not found it necessary to 

 take the specimen out of the cage. It might be well to 

 take notice of a few things before doing so and perhaps 

 save the extra work of handling the bird. Side sprigs on 

 the comb disqualify and may sometimes be noticed when 

 you glance at the bird in getting its symmetry cuts. 

 "Squirrel tails'' and "decidedly wry tails" also disqualify 

 and will be noticed before handling a specimen. In judg- 

 ing the symmetry and shape of a bird we believe that it 

 should be done in as quiet a manner as possible so as not 

 to disturb the fowl and get it in as natural a position as 

 possible. Walk up to the cage as quietly as possible and 

 without disturbing the bird at all, if it can he helped, get 

 your impression of the fowl's symmetry and shape cuts in 



H BUSHtU--DrtyiDOTY-ME0 



HBUSHEU OflviDCirr NEB 



They tell us: 



BUFF ORPINGTON WINNERS, 1900-01 



breast, back, tail, neck, legs and toes. If the bird is 

 standing or crowded into a corner or against the sides of 

 the cage so that it is otit of shape, reach in with your 

 stick, not to poke him, but gently crowd him out into the 

 center of the cage, smooth his neck and back with your 

 judging stick and it will, ninety-nine times out of one 

 hundred, with such treatment, act or pose in a natural 

 manner. Then its symmetry cuts can be gotten quickly. 



Cutting for Shape 



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

 ferent defects we proceed as follows: If we think the 

 neck is too long and "not filled," or in other words, full 

 of immature feathers, giving it a scrawny appearance, 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 at shoulders, etc., we cut 

 from one-half to three. If a crooked back is detected the 

 specimen is disqualified. Now look at the tail and see if 

 it is carried at a right angle. Is it well-spread and well 

 filled? For example, a female's tail should have seven 



