WflETE WYAHDOTTEi^. 



The Only Variety That Owes Its Origin to the Original Silvers— No Out Crosses Used in its Make-Up 



- Brassy Surface the Defect Hardest to Overcome. 



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HILE WE are looking up the record of the 

 several varieties of the Wyandottes, that 

 have come prominently before the fan- 

 ciers in the past twenty years, and div- 

 ing into old and musty records in our 

 efforts to find out just what breed or 

 breeds entered into their make-up, it is a 

 real pleasure to find a sub-variety that 

 is in truth a thoroughbred. 

 The Whites can claim that distinction, 

 as the most pi-ominent strains of this variety today owe 

 their origin to true white sports from the Silvers. 



When the ^\'hites were first Introduced, a few breed- 

 ers tried and did succeed In a way in producing a white 

 fowl with a rose comb, but the best of these came from 

 crosses of Rose Comb White Dorkings on very light col- 

 ored Silver Wyandotte females and very Inferior white 

 birds with rose combs. But these matlngs, so far as the 

 writer is able to learn, were never satisfactory. The shape 

 was defective, while the fifth toe, so long bred into the 

 Dorking family, would insist upon reproducing itself, and 

 the top color of both male and female had enough brass 

 in it to make a book agent look lonesome — in fact, the 

 brassy surface of both sexes, and especially of the males 

 of the White Wyandottes, no matter how produced, threat- 

 ened for a time to kill this now popular variety. 



Along in the eighties, about '85 to '87, when the writer 

 was much interested in the Silver Wyandottes, there were 

 reports current in regard to Albino sports from Silvers. 

 The breeders of fancy fowls were not so numerous then 

 as now, and fanciers that exhibited one breed or variety 

 for a number of years became well acquainted with one 

 another through correspondence, and when these white 

 sports began to make their appearance, the Silver breed- 

 ers in the Midwest kept in close touch with them. In- 

 quiries developed the fact that in nearly every Instance 

 the white sports came from the very darkest matings of 

 Silvers instead of the light matings, as one would naturally 

 suppose. 



The first one to make an appearance In the writer's 

 yards was in the spring of '87 or '88 (I am not positive 

 as to date, as some of the records are lost) the pen that 

 produced them was a cross of the Haynes and Orr strain. 

 The chick, pure white except some ticking — in fact, nearly 

 if not quite as good in color as the average female of 

 today, proved to be a pullet and matured Into a fine 

 shaped hen. 



The same season Mr. Hugh Meeks, of Bonaparte, Iowa, 

 an old friend of the writer's and for a number of years a 

 prominent breeder of Silvers, had a sport from one of his 

 pens that proved to be a cockerel. The following year the 

 writer mated these two birds together, and from this 

 cross producd several chicks that matured into well shaped 

 specim.ens. 



From these birds, I mated the second year a pen of 

 as good White Wyandottes as there was in the country at 

 that time. In females I found but little fault with them, 

 but the males were far from satisfactory — to me, at least. 

 They were Invariably brassy, and in saddle and hackles 

 showed a number of black feathers the entire length so 

 ihey could be noticed on the surface. 



After three years with them, and not being able to 

 eliminate this defect in the males, I gave them up, be- 

 lieving at that time they would never become a fancier's 

 fowl. 



While I was experimenting with the Whites other 

 breeders took them up, some selecting birds from iny 

 yards, others working on strains of their own that had 

 originated In their own yards, but, so far as I am able to 



learn, all having the same trouble with color of males as 

 the writer. However, others were more persistent than I 

 and held on to them, and finally succeeded in getting rid 

 of part of the brassy surface, but it is only within the past 

 ten years that any one could honestly boast of a stay-white 

 male that would hold its color throughout the summer 

 months. Finally they did succeed in doing this, and today 

 the pure White Wyandottes are as common as pure white 

 fowls of any breed, and their popularity is not equalled by 

 any white fowl in this country or Europe. 



The slight ticking in plumage is still with them, and no 

 doubt will be tor many years, as the black blood in their 

 ancestors will persist in coming to the surface and is in 

 reality more of a mark of thoroughbred than otherwise; 

 but time, skill and patience will eventually eliminate this 

 minor defect, and the efforts of the breeders of this va- 

 riety to bring about this result will be time well spent. 



No variety of the Wyandotte family can equal the 

 Whites in shape. A glance at the color plates in this 

 issue, as compared to the many half-tone reproductions 

 from the winners at our big Western shows, tell the story 

 of perfection better than any word description we could 

 give. 



One-would think there was not much of an opportunity 

 to discuss color or criticise it in a breed that is described 

 as pure white, and were it a fact that all specimens of this 

 variety were absolutely pure in color there would be noth- 

 ing to consider in the way of defects, and the scoring of the 

 fowls would be a matter of shape. But no breed of fowls 

 is absolutely pure in color, no matter whether white or 

 black, and White Wyandottes are no exception to the rule — 

 in fact, are one of the most defective white fowls in color 

 that are recognized by the American Standard. It has been 

 only within the last few years that we have had what might 

 be classed a "stay-white" bird, one with plumage that could 

 be depended upon to be free from brass or rust during the 

 summer months. This defect alone has caused perhaps 

 more worry on the part of White Wyandotte breeders than 

 any other one thing, but it is not the only defect in color 

 by any means. The fowl being a true sport from the Sil- 

 vers, naturally has black blood in its origin, which we may 

 expect to crop out occasionally, if not in a solid black fowl, 

 in some feathers from the different sections. 



While it is the aim of the American Poultry Association 

 to guard against awarding prizes to birds that show 

 plumage other than white, it is a notorious fact that there 

 is not one White Wyandotte out of an even thousand that 

 is bred without some ticking, and when we find an exhibit 

 where every bird in the class is absolutely free from this, 

 we can gamble on it that somebody has looked them over 

 carefully before they were put in the show. 



The Standard gives us a valuation for cutting brass in 

 plumage under the head of "Cutting for Defects," on pages 

 29 and 30, where it says: "Brassiness in all varieties, in 

 each section where found, one to two points. Creamlness of 

 plumage or quill in white varieties, except where specified 

 creamy wjiite, in each section where found, % to 1%." 



With these instructions before us, it is an easy matter 

 to discount the surface and under color of the fowl, so far 

 as brass, sunburn or cream may affect them. 



Flecking in plumage is a different proposition, and must 

 be gauged differently. The Standard, under the head of 

 "Disqualifications of White Wyandottes," says: "Red, buff 

 or positive black in any part of the plumage is a disqualifi- 

 cation." The description seems plain enough, but there is 

 a vast amount of difference in the opinion of the judges as 

 well as breeders as to what constitutes positive black, and 

 we have here in Fig. 35 (feather No. 1) a defect which, 

 while not common in White Wyandottes, is one that is often 



