BUFF WYANDOTTESo 



One of the Solid Colored Varieties That Had More Out Crosses Thau Any of the Parti-Colored 



' Varieties of This Breed. 



HIS variety of the Wyandotte family has 

 had many ups and downs since It was 

 first Introduced to the public as a Stand- 

 ard variety. The out-crosses that en- 

 tered into its makeup were perhaps as 

 varied as any parti-colored variety of 

 the Wyandotte, If not more — in fact, 

 when they were first introduced there 

 was as wide a difference among the fan- 

 - ciers as to what really constituted buff 

 color as there is today on the correct color in some of the 

 new varieties, such as Rhode Island Reds and Buckeyes. 

 The writer's first acquaintance with the Buffs as a 

 fancy fowl dates back to about 1890 to 1892. At that time 

 a few birds were found in the large exhibitions that showed 

 a tendency to Buff— about as near Standard color of today 

 as the Bourbon Red Turkeys. 



Their tails and wings were all solid black and quite a 

 bit of ticking in neck of females and occasionally some 

 of it in the males. The undercolor was either white, bluish 

 white or slate. It was seldom that the best show birds at 

 that time showed sound undercolor, and if they did they 

 were splotchy or mealy on surface. 



In conversation with some of the old breeders In ref- 

 erence to the introduction of the Buff Wyandottes, we find 

 that several outside crosses were used and different varie- 

 ties of the Wyandotte family, or, in other words, different 

 colored Wyandottes were used by different breeders to 

 bring about the buff fowl, some using the Buff Oochln on 

 White Wyandottes, others using this same cross on Golden 

 Wyandottes, and others using this cross on Silver Wyan- 

 ' dottes. The fowl known as Winnebagoes was also used in 

 some of the second crosses. 



Other buff fowls were introduced, and whenever a ;, 

 ■breeder could find a fowl of Wyandotte type with rose comb i; 

 that showed buff plumage, regardless of its breeding. It 

 was introduced into the flock in order to improve the color. 

 By the selection of the best, gradually we could note an im- 

 provement, but it is only within the past twelve years that 

 we have had Buff Wyandottes that were entitled to the 

 name, and really only within the last five or six that we 

 have had real quality that would show and breed well and 

 would hold its color from one season to the other. 



The fault of the early Buffs was the tendency to red in 

 both sexes, and where the plumage was otherwise good we 

 would often find them laced with a narrow edging of red. 

 This was especially true where the old Rhode Island Reds 

 had been used In the crosses that produced the strains. 

 These red birds were the ones that were most persistent 

 In producing black wings and tails — one of the defects that 

 our American fanciers have had the greatest trouble to 

 eliminate. 



No one section of the country can claim any special 

 honor in bringing out this variety, as they were bred both 

 East and West, and we believe there Wei'e just as enthusi- 

 astic fanciers in the middle and extreme West as in the 

 extreme East. Looking back now at the early Wyan- 

 dottes I believe that O. E. Thiem, of Iowa, was one of the 

 first to bring out real quality. Away back in the '90s Mr. 

 Thiem showed some Buff Wyandottes at Des Moines, at 

 one of the winter shows, that really had Wyandotte charac- 

 teristics and were buff — that is, buff as the term would ap- 

 ply at that time. Not so brilliant in color or so free from 

 black as we find them today. 



This variety, like others of the Wyandotte family, 

 were prolific layers, and the Cochin cross, used to produce 

 the color, gave them length of feather that even to the 

 present time has not been eliminated, and this covering 

 during the winter months proved a benefit to them, as It 

 seemed to give them an advantage over other varieties of 

 the Wyandottes as a winter layer, and in the coldest sec- 

 tions of the country they were shelling out eggs when 



others of the American breeds were huddled up in a cor- 

 ner trying to keep warm. This fact possibly has done 

 more to make Biiff Wyandottes popular than any other 

 one feature, for as a table fowl they are equal but not su- 

 perior to other varieties of this family, but the large winter 

 egg production has become the talk of not only the fanciers, 

 but the market men as well, and it created a demand that 

 kept the promoters busy trying to improve them. 



When the Standard for buff color was adopted at 

 Fisher's Island, bringing all breeds under the same head, 

 the Buff Wyandotte breeders, of course, realized that they 

 had a hard task to perform. If they were going to elimi- 

 nate all the black and white from this fowl and give that 

 harmonious blending of buff in all sections, it was neces- 

 sary to discard eighty-five per cent, of the birds that were 

 then winning prizes and confine themselves to a very few 

 choice specimens in order to establish color strains, and in 

 the selection of these few birds the color varied and each 

 fancier believed his was the correct one. Some were 

 a light lemon, others a strong orange, with a tinge of red, 

 while others were quite sound on surface but inclined to 

 show quite a bit of black in wings and tails. The Stand- 

 ard, placing the same valuation on white as black, worked 

 a hardship on these fanciers, and even at the present time 

 we believe it is the opinion of the best buff breeders in 

 America that white and black should not be valued alike; 

 or, in other words, that black is not so objectionable in a 

 buff fowl as white. But be that as it may, we have our 

 Standard to go by, and must abide by it. 



In the color illustrations we have taken the color 

 that has been popular for several years in the East. This 

 color was never popular In the West, our best buff 

 breeders claiming that it was entirely too light, and 

 advocating a stronger shade; or, in other words, a rich 

 golden buff. And we believe in this they are correct, and 

 we know that the judges in the Eastern shows are begin- 

 ning to show preference for this stronger color. The 

 judges at New York and other Eastern exhibitions the past 

 few years are gradually drawing the lines in this direction. 

 Please understand that in issuing these color charts 

 we are doing so to favor the colors as popular today and 

 as representing the shade of color most popular in the 

 leading shows, but the writer favors a little stronger shade 

 — in fact, as Mr. Pelch would term it, "About one more 

 dip in the buff ink." 



-We very much doubt if any strain of Buff Wyandottes 

 will ever be produced that will, year after year, produce a 

 large per cent, of birds with the rich golden buff color with- 

 out black or white in tails — in fact, we doubt very much 

 if it will ever be possible to produce a strain of birds that 

 will reproduce 100 per cent, free from foreign color. The 

 tendency is to go to black if you get your rich surface 

 color, and to white when you breed them light. 



The Standard says, "Under color, a lighter shade," and 

 the question comes up. How much lighter shade? The 

 judges are at sea in valuing this defect. The result is that 

 the exhibitors are more at seat than the judges, and be- 

 tween the two there is a compromise in the breeding yards 

 that leads to a disappointed exhibitor the following year. 

 We believe that the rich golden buff in the Buff Rock 

 winners at the Indianapolis Show (February, 1908) can be 

 followed as the ideal color. If so, we can in time produce 

 Buff Wyandottes, or, in fact, buff fowls of any variety, that 

 will produce eighty-five per cent, pure, as there is enough 

 color to feed itself without depending upon black, while the 

 lighter shade would soon run our color out and we would 

 have to add some other mixture in order to tone it up. 



The color charts here help as a guide to a better un- 

 derstanding of a soft shade of buff and the color that is 

 today and always has been popular. But we would ad- 

 vise breeders, and especially amateurs, to be very cau- 

 tious in bredeing so light a shade, as it is only the experts 

 who can mix these colors and make them hold. 



