42 



RHODE ISLAND REDS 



which is black, the color must be so even or uniform from 

 hackle to saddle that when the various sections are com- 

 P9,red, the effect is harmonious. The undercolor needs less 

 attention and will in most cases be good where the surface 

 color is bred as above described. Poultrymen with prac- 

 tically not a single exception, have very decided views on 

 the matter of undercolor. All demand that it be a clean, 

 rich red and that is as it should be. 



When it comes to body shape, it is necessary to point 

 out the horizontal back, and the length and depth of the 

 body. Like understanding red color, it is only after careful 

 reading of the Standard with wide experience in observing 

 good specimens in the show room, that a clear conception of 

 Rhode Island Red shape can be acquired. The matter of 

 shape is by no means merely a fancier's hobby, or a breeder's 

 talking point. It is a characteristic of the breed that must 

 be bred and maintained if we expect the Red hen to hold her 

 enviable record as a great egg producer. It takes a certain 

 shaped body, in a cow, to make a good milker. A hen to 

 produce lots of eggs must have a framework adapted for that 

 purpose. It requires a body that is long and deep to produce 

 eggs and such a body we find in the Red hen. So while to 

 the laying Red hen this pecuharity of the body means great 

 egg producing capacity, to the exhibition Red it mea«is rare 

 physical grace and beauty. 



Improvement and changes in the breed in the past have 

 not been general and along the same lines; consequently 

 Rhode Island Reds do not possess the desired uniformity in 

 type and color. But with a better understanding of Stand- 

 ard color and shape, breeders will hereafter build up the breed 

 with practically one ideal in view. 



For the last two years we have directed our efforts to- 

 ward improvement of the comb in both male and female. 

 We have not done so at the expense of shape of the body 

 or color of the plumage. These always receive our first 

 consideration. We have not specialized on comb with the 

 idea that it is the only essential part of a chicken, but we 

 have learned that the comb is a very important section. 

 We have found that buyers of high-class breeders and of 

 exhibition birds invariably ask for good combs. We have 

 found also that whether a bird is used as a show fowl or is 

 sold with its score-card, it is a big loss to have the bird cut 

 from two to three or more points for a bad comb. The 

 truth is this significant section has been generally neglected 

 by the average breeder. ' 



When you look over the Rose Comb Rhode Island Red 

 class in the show room, where the best specimens raised are 

 to be seen, you will find that there is a great variety of 

 combs. You will find probably as many types of comb 

 as there are exhibitors. You will find broad combs, narrow 

 combs, smooth combs, combs covered with small points, 

 high combs, low combs, and when it comes to the spike and 

 the shape of the comb, there is also a great variance. This 

 great fault in Rose Comb Rhode Island Reds is very notice- 

 able when compared with some of the other Standard-bred 

 fowls, the White Wyandotte for instance. The combs in 

 this breed are apparently quite uniform. All appear to 

 have been bred after one model, and I have always admired 

 this feature of that breed. 



The modern poultry show is a great reformer. Compe- 

 tition there is weeding out the ugly comb and is opening the 

 eyes of breeders to the proper type of comb for Rose Comb 

 Rhode Island Reds. Good combs are not the result of chance, 

 but are produced by mating both males and females which 

 possess good combs. 



The type of comb that we admire and that we consider 

 Standard is a comb rather narrow and low, having the top 

 covered with small points. The smooth comb is quite popu- 

 lar and is very common, but strictly speaking it is not 



Standard. The surface on top should be covered with small 

 points. The top is oval in shape and tapers gradually to 

 a point or spike. The sides and top should be regular in 

 form, free from depressions, such as holes and other irregu- 

 larities. It is very essential that the comb and spike fit 

 nicely over the head, curving with the shape of the skull 

 and neck. A spike turning Up and away from the neck is 

 very objectionable, and we never use a bird with such a 

 comb as a breeder. 



The results of breeding for better combs for the past 

 two seasons have been beyond our expectations. Out of 

 over a thousand chicks raised this year we have a very small 

 per cent of birds with bad combs, and the number of really 

 good combs is large. Considering the value and beauty an 

 ideal comb adds to a bird otherwise good, we intend to take 

 still greater precaution the coming season to eliminate the 

 objectionable features of the comb. 



Our experience is tha-t very striking peculiarities of 

 comb are likely to be transmitted to the off-spring. We 

 have a hen with a large prominent comb. She transmits 

 her type of comb to both cockerels and pullets. Their 

 combs and the comb of their mother are identical. Last 

 year we used a cockerel having a large broad comb, and his 

 cockerels all inherited his type of comb, but the pullets 

 have combs like those of their mother. We had a male a 

 few years ago that for color could not be surpassed, but he . 

 had a very ugly comb. We mated him to females having 

 good combs. While occasionall}; a fair comb could be seen 

 in his chicks, most of them had combs that were as bad as 

 their sire's, and they were consequently valueless as fancy 

 birds. We have found that in order to make lasting and 

 substantial gains in the matter of breeding for better combs 

 it is necessary to start with a mating in which both the male 

 and females have good combs. 



Another section that we often find faulty in a large 

 numbpr of birds seen at poultry shows and birds used as 

 breeders, is the eye. Weak-colored eyes are quite common. 

 By strictly discarding all breeders with any but red eyes, 

 one can build up a strain with excellent colored eyes. 



A thing about Rhode Island Reds which we have not 

 seen mentioned in poultry journals, but which we consider 

 important, is the matter of the legs. We like a bird well 

 up on the legs. We do not want a leggy chicken, but we 

 do not regard a low-down, short-legged Rhode Island Red 

 as Standard. The Standard description and the Standard 

 illustrations give us a bird well up on the legs. We have 

 found breeders who disagree with us in this matter, and we 

 find not a few birds that we consider too low. But a long, 

 deep body on short legs looks unnatural. ' Grace and beauty 

 require more length in the legs. We believe the Standard 

 calls for that sort of a bird. 



As a show fowl the Rhode Island Reds are yet in their 

 infancy. Handsome as they are now, they are susceptible 

 of great improvement and progress. The lines of advance- 

 ment for some time will be not. a change from, but rather 

 an attainment of the present Standard. With imperfect 

 specimens to work with, the producer of exhibition Rhode 

 Island Reds will not attain the" desired improvements in a 

 single season; but if he loves his work and understands the 

 art of breeding, with a perfect Standard as a guide, he will 

 in due time perfect what promises to become the most 

 popula? breed of fowls in the world. 



Kaufmann & Wlndheim, New Jersey 



It is essential that a beginner who wishes to breed Reds 

 should start with a strain of birds from a breeder who ha.s 

 bred them in line for a number of years, so that he may be 

 sure the right kind of blood is back of them. It is useless 

 to try to mate a pen of Reds and expect good results if you 



