THREE TYPES OF RHODE ISLAND RED MALES 



Three distinct types of R. I. Red miilea seen in nearly every class of Reds. The center one is a typical shaped R. I. E^d and a noted 

 winner. The one on the left is a fine type of Plymouth Rook while the one on the right is a winning type of Wyandotte. As said on the opposite 

 page: "Give either the Wyandotte or llock type a perfect R. I. Red plumage and you would not have a Red, yet many breeders are exniBiting 

 such types, with good color, and are disappointed when they do not win." Note well the length of back, keel and legs upon the center specimen; 

 these features are well worth study. The R. I. Red has a type all its own and exhibitors must pay more attention to shape if they expect to win. 



Red? Does it look like a Rhode Island Red regardless of 

 color? 



All these questions flash through a judge's mind in an 

 instant. 



If its neck (in show-room parlance) is not filled, giving 

 it an ungainly, gawky appearance, cut from one-half to one. 

 If its breast is undeveloped and flat, in which case it will 

 look long on the legs, cut from one-half to one. If its tail 

 is carried high, making the back look short and making it 

 look short all over, cut from one-half to one and one-half. 

 If the fowl is short, round and plump, causing it to look 

 more like a Wyandotte, cut from one to one and one-half. 



Symmetry is one of the most misunderstood sections in 

 the whole scale of points and requires considerable study. 



Some judges will cut every specimen, good 

 and bad, one-half point for symmetry. 

 . Some will say that we should not cut for 

 symmetry because the tail is bad and then 

 cut the tail for shape. Remember that 

 when we are judging symmetry we should 

 forget that we have the tail to judge. Sym- 

 metry is worth four points and tail shape is 

 worth five. Symmetry includes every sec- 

 tion and if you are going to disregard it 

 then you should deduct your total cuts 

 from ninety-six instead of one hundred. 

 Judge the bird as a whole and if, in your opin- 

 ion, it is one-fourth or twenty-five per cent to 

 the bad, then cut it one point for symmetry. 



Weight 



This section is also valued at four points. The Standard 

 tells us for every pound a fowl is under Standard weight, to 

 cut two points or fraction thereof; one-fourth pound to be 

 the minimum. For example: If a bird should weigh five 

 pounds and it only weighs four, the cut would be two points; 

 if it only weighed three and three-fourths pounds, the cut 

 would be two and one-half; if it weighs four and three-fourths 

 pounds, the cut should be one-half point, etc. 



Any fowl having a Standard weight like the R. 1. Keas, 

 will be disqualified if it is two pounds or more under weight. 



Condition 



Condition is the next section and is also valued at four 

 points. 



This section covers healthiness, cleanHness, condition 

 of 'plumage, scaly legs, injuries, frost bites, etc. 



If the judge sees a bird that has a contagious disease, 

 he should notify the superintendent and insist upon the bird 

 being removed from the show room. If the bird has a slight 

 cold it can be passed with a cut according to what the judge 

 thinks it deserves, generally one-half to one point. Injuries 

 from fighting, frost-bite, etc., which are liable to be acci- 

 dental, are handled a little more leniently, the cuts running 

 from one-half to one and one-half. Scaly legs are some- 

 thing that are inexcusable, as they are a sign 

 of filth and arc so easily cured, they should be 

 cut from one to ^two and one-half .points. 

 Dirty plumage does not trouble the R. I. 

 Reds very much as it is not quite so con- 

 spicuous as on lighter colored fowls, but if 

 the birds are unnecessarily dirty a cut of 

 one-half point will ' probably cover ij. 



Broken plumage generally gets cut from;, 

 one-half to one in this section, depending 

 upon the nature of the damage. 



Top, or front, view of the comb 

 illustrated and described on 



page 58. 



Comb 



Comb is valued at eight 



points and is 

 one of the many misunderstood sections. As 

 mentioned above, a single comb should have five points or 

 serrations. Most breeders know this and seem to think 

 that all there is to a comb are the serrations. You will 

 hear many of them say: "There is a good five point 

 comb" or "There is a bad comb, it has only four points" or, 

 "it has six points, etc." The Standard says we must cut 

 one-half point for every serration more or less than ■ five. 

 If the comb has but four serrations the cut will be one-half 

 and if it has six, the cut will be one-half; seven serrations 

 will receive a cut of one point, etc. Supposing every 

 point on the birds' comb were missing, we could only cut it 

 two and one-half tor missing serrations. 



59 



