JUDGING AND SCORING RHODE ISLAND REDS 



ScTIo\^"?hI v''A?fnm''n.7.° ^''^'''^^ '^^ '■ ^^I^S- VALUATION OF EACH AND EVERY 

 Jr aTt V rrTx Vhp- ITt f'^^'^^CTS FOUND IN EACH SECTION AND WHAT THEY ARE GEN- 

 QXAMn^pn TX /.^"-^^^^^ VALUATIONS AND CUTS ARE BASED UPON THE LATEST 

 STANDARD OF PERFECTION WHICH WILL BE IN EFFECT 1911-1915 INCLUSIVE 



D. E, HALE 



IN PRESENTING this article to our many Rhode Island 

 Red friends we wish first to thank the Rhode Island 

 Red Club of America for permission to use the draw- 

 ings of the Standard models drawn by Artist A. O. 

 Schilling and which appear in "Red Hen Tales" of 1909. 



In writing an instructive article upon judging R. I. 

 Reds we cannot help but feel that there is not a harder breed 

 in the Standard upon which to write such an article, owing 

 to the fact that nine out of ten breeders of Reds, after they 

 have bred them a year or so, claim to be judges. We do 

 not claim any laurels for being "The Real Red Judge," or 

 anything of that kind, but we think that a good deal of the 

 trouble with our Red judges, especially with some of our 

 specialists, is that they either have some particular hobby 

 which overbalances their otherwise good judgment, or they 

 judge every Red by the standard of a breeding specimen 

 and not by the standard of an exhibition specimen. We 

 make this latter statement as there is so much ignorance, or 

 disregard, shown in regard to the valuations of the various 

 sections. 



When asked why such and such a bird won, we are al- 

 most invariably met with the reply, "He is the better breed- 

 er." We do not, or should not judge, or select, the best 

 breeders, but the best exhibition specimens — those which 

 come the nearest to complying with the Standard require- 

 ments. Many of our winners do not make good breeders, 

 but as long as we recognize the American Poultry Associa- 

 tion and judge according to its Standard, we must select our 

 winners by this Standard and not because we think the bird 

 will make the best breeder. Use your best breeders to pro- 

 duce the winner but it will not always follow that you should 

 bring them into the show room. 



We believe that a judge should study the Standard 

 requirements and valuation of each section as given in the 

 scale of points; study how much each section is worth and 

 get an idea of about how much each defect is worth and how 

 to deduct the valuation of each section, then, when he has 

 mastered that, he is capable of putting his deductions down 

 in black and white and will be able to explain why "such is 

 such" whether he be judging by score card or comparison. 

 We would ask you first to study well the drawings on 

 pages 64, also referred to by Mr. CofiBn in his article on "The 

 Ideal R. I. Red." These drawings were accepted as perfect 

 or Standard models of the R. I. Red Club of America and 

 are practically the same as those approved and adopted by 

 the American PoultryjAssociation, so for five years, at 

 least, will be practically Standard models. 



Scoring 



In scoring, a perfect specimen is valued at or represents 

 100 points. Each section is valued at a certain amount -as 

 shown in the scale of points. Examine the bird, section by 

 section, and deduct from the valuation of that section as 

 much as you think the bird is defective. These deductions 

 are generally spoken of as cuts. When you are through, 

 add up the cuts and deduct_from one hundred which gives 

 yon the score of the bird. 



In order to acquaint the reader with the Standard score- 

 card we reproduce herewith the card adopted by the American 

 Poultry Association at the recent revision of the Standard 

 of Perfection. 



OflBcial Score Card of American Poultry Association 



Exhibitor... 



Variety 



Entry No Band No... 



Sex.. 



Weight.- 



Secretary . 

 Judge 



Scale of Points 



The sections as shown above on the Standard score-card 

 are valued as shown in the Scale of points below. 



Symmetry 4 



Weight _ 4 



Condition. 4 



Comb.- - 8 



Head — Shape 2, color 2.. _ 4 



Beak — Shape 2, color 2. 4 



Eyes — Shape 2, color 2 4 



Wattles and Ear-lobes — Shape 2, color 3. 5 



Neck — Shape 3, color 5- 8 



Back — Shape 6, color 5. 11 



Breast — Shape 6, color 5._ 11 



Body and Fluff — Shape 5, color 3. 8 



Wings — Shape 4, color 5_ 9 



Tail — Shape 5, color 5. 10 



Legs and Toes — Shape 3, color 3. 6 



Total--.- - 100 



57 



