STANDARD-BRED BRONZE TURKEYS. 



An Illustrated, Detailed Description of What the Standard of Perfection Reoulres In Bronze Turkeys— Male and 



Female— With Instructions on Judging by the Score Card. 



By Mr. Theo. Hewes. Breeder and Judge, with Special Charts by Mr. Sewell. 



N THE breeding, care and management o£ tur- 

 keys, many excellent articles are written every 

 season. Relia'ble information from our most 

 prominent breeders has given the beginner a 

 good general idea as to the fancy and commer- 

 cial value of this the greatest of American 

 fowls, but the points that go to make up a fancy show speci- 

 men have never been so fully described that an amateur may, 

 with a reasonable degree of certainty, select the best speci- 

 mens from his flock. There is alwtys a doubt in the minds of 

 readers as to whether they understand aright from a written 

 description, but a chart showing perfection in markings can 

 be referred to at any time and this will give the amateur a 

 degree of confidence he can obtain in no other way. With 

 this idea in mind we present herewith two charts showing 

 the correct markings and shape of Bronze turkeys, male 

 and female. These charts hereinafter will be referred to 

 as Figs. 1 and 3 in our description. 



We shall give the reader our idea of defects, placing the 

 same valuation on them that we would were we discounting 

 them in the show room. In a description of this kind there 

 is more or less repetition and the old breeders will find that 

 we are telling that which they already knew, but we trust 

 they will recall the time when they were beginners and bear 

 in mind that this article is intended more for amateur than 

 for professional breeders. 



In describing and considering the Bronze Turkey we will 

 follow the same plan we have in former articles on other 

 breeds, remembering always that the standard is the proper 

 guide. Our aim is to give the reader a correct impression 

 of the standard's meaning, and to call attention to any 

 errors that in our judgment have crept in and become a part 

 of standard law. Let us now take up the Bronze turkey male, 

 section by section, scoring him the same as we would if we 

 had a live specimen before us, using chart Fig. 1 as our 

 model. 



SYMMETRY OR TYPICAL CARRIAGE. 

 "Typical Carriage," is the wording of the present stand- 

 ard. We maintain now as we have from the start that the 

 wording is wrong. "Symmetry" is proper and should be 

 used instead of "Typical Carriage." As we understand it, 

 "Typical Carriage" may mean any carriage that the bird is 

 accustomed to, but "Symmetry" means the harmonious join- 

 ing together of all sections so that we may have an ideal 

 outline, strictly typical of the breed it represents. All sec- 

 tions of a breed may be perfect in themselves and still be so 

 joined together that the symmetry or typical outline will be 

 wholly lacking. As we look at the matter, symmetry, prop- 

 erly understood, is the most important section in the stand- 

 ard and if we were purchasing a bird from a score card, and 

 were acquainted with the judge, we would pay more atten- 

 tion to the cuts for lack of symmetry than to all other shape 

 cuts combined. 



Judges B. N. Pierce and F. W. Hitchcock are perhaps 

 the best posted American judges on the section of symmetry, 

 and if we were to see at score card by either of these judges 



on a specimen we were intending to purchase, we state em- 

 phatically that their cut on symmetry would decide the pur- 

 chase price. We are writing considerable on this section, as 

 we wish to impress on the mind of the amateur that the 

 proper interpretation of symmetry is of more importance 

 than any other one section, and if you get this fact fixed in 

 your mind yovi will have the shape problem solved. 



Judges themselves do not give this section as close at- 

 tention as they should, some judges even ignoring it alto- 

 gether. This has brought the section into disrepute and 

 quite often we hear the statement made that it should be 

 dropped from the standard; but when as reliable a system 

 of discounting symmetry is used uniformly as the one em- 

 ployed by Messrs. Pierce and Hitchcock, symmetry will be- 

 come the most important section and should be retained 

 always. Judges who are ignoring this section, or who make 

 light of it as is done in some instances, will realize their 

 mistake in time, for poultry associations will refuse to em- 

 ploy them as experts. 



We now ask the reader to make a careful inspection of 

 the chart, Fig. 1. Here we have an ideal Bronze turkey 

 male, representing a bird over a year old or one that would 

 be classed as a cock. In him we see the perfectly rounded 

 outline, symmetrical and pleasing to the eye, together with 

 the massive body that goes to make up the forty-five and 

 forty-eight pound males, and it is just such birds as this 

 that we must breed if we are to reach the fifty-pound 

 weight limit, which seems to be the aim and object of a 

 number of prominent breeders. The symmetry of a show 

 specimen is hard to determine unless the birds are shown 

 in large, roomy exhibition pens so the one under inspection 

 can move about and assume natural positions without being 

 cramped in any way. If two or more birds are cooped to- 

 gether, as is often the case at small shows, it is next to 

 impossible to get them to stand as they would naturally, 

 and the judging of symmetry under these conditions is more 

 or less in the form of guesswork. The judges should refuse 

 to make out a score card until all but one of the specimens 

 are removed, so that he can get a proper idea of the outline 

 of the one for which he is making out the card. See repro- 

 duction of score card herewith. 



The only criticism we would make on symmetry of the 

 Bronze male represented in Fig. 1 is in the body section. 

 The outline should be a trifle deeper back of the thighs. 

 Nearly all specimens are more or less defective in this sec- 

 tion. While it is necessary that we have a well rounded 

 breast, at the same time we do not want to overlook the fact 

 that we want something back of the legs to balance this, 

 otherwise it will make the bird look as though it were brac- 

 ing on its toes instead of standing squarely on its feet as it 

 should. 



In discounting for lack of symmetry we will call up some 

 of the numerous defects that we find in scoring, taking one 

 show with another. Where neck is too long or too straight, 

 one-half out; back too narrow or too straight, failing to 

 show the nice curve so much desired, one-half to one out; 



