PARTRIDGE WYANDOTTES. 



35 



After the death of James McKeen, who so kindly re- 

 membered me in his will by a nice bunch ot our own crea- 

 tion, I co-operated with Mr. W. A. Doollttle, of Sabetha, 

 Kan., who bought the remaining flock of the widow of the 

 late James McKeen. The result of this combination is the 

 present standing of the noble Partridge Wyandottes, which 

 have won laurels at the largest shows in this country, such 

 as Boston, New York, St. Louis, Chicago and Kansas City. 

 Reports coming from different parts of this and other coun- 

 tries saying that they never handled such fowls in their 

 lives is enough to speak well for this new breed. 



Long live the Partridge Wyandottes, and we wish the 

 best of success to all breeders of this variety. 



E. O. Thiem, Originator. 



Denison, Iowa. 



With this description of the origin of the Partridge 

 Wyandottes, which we believe to be the most authentic 

 ever appearing in print, we will now take up this variety 

 section by section, calling attention to the defects to be 

 found In them as to color; in shape, the description of the 

 Silvers will answer for the male in this variety. The female 

 we will refer to and describe the comb and other sections 

 not referred to in the Silvers. 



cherry red, and it seems that the Standard should go a lit- 

 tle more into detail and say what shade of red is most de- 

 sirable. 



Neck, while a very important section in all varieties 

 of the American class, is not so well understood by the 

 breeders of Partridge Wyandottes as it should be, and the 

 discounts are often lighter than we believe the Standard- 

 makers intended them to be. It is no small task to get cor- 

 rect color on necks of parti-colored birds of any variety, 

 and especially is this true where the double mating is re- 

 sorted to or the color of female is different from that of 

 the male. When we call for striping in the backs of males 

 and penciling in the backs of females, with practically the 

 same word description of color of neck, we have set na- 

 ture quite a task, and it is only to be expected that the 

 percentage of really fine colored specimens will be few 

 and far between. 



In our illustration (Pig. 39) are shown some hackle 

 feathers that illustrate a few of the defects quite often 

 met with. 



Feather No. 1 is good in lacing and there Is good color 

 of stripin.g on one side of shaft, but the other is broken up, 

 showing more red than black, with the two colors Inter- 



STANDARD PARTRIDGE WYANDOTTE MALE. 



Neck. 



The Standard describes this section as "red with a 

 distinct black stripe through each feather, tapering to a 

 point near extremity of feather; under color, dark slate." 



There is considerable difference of opinion among the 

 breeders as to what shad of red is most desirable for sur- 

 face color, some wanting a rich cherry red, others a lighter 

 shade, running near to lemon, and others a .dark color ap- 

 proaching mahogany. In the best specimens that we have 

 found the color that has shown to the best advantage Is 

 a red that is light enough In color to make a contrast be- 

 tween the black striping and surface color. This is strong- 

 er than a lemon, but hardly so strong as is classed as 



mixed. A neck showing feathers like this should be dis- 

 counted 1 point. 



Feather No. 2 shows black enough at end, but does 

 not extend far enough from the point, and should be dis- 

 counted 1 point. 



Feather No. 3 shows a defect common In this variety, 

 especially if strong colored males are used as breeders. 

 The Inside black stripe is good, but the color runs to the 

 end of feather, making the lower edge of feather show 

 black with a dark ring around the base. A neck like this 

 should be discounted 1 point. 



Feather No. 4 shows but very little sign of striping or 

 penciling, being entirely red. Such feathers are common 

 In the necks of pullet-breeding males, and should be dis- 



