58 



BLACK IVYANDOTTES. 



SOME OF THE DEFECTS COMMON IN THIS 

 VARIETY. 



No breed of standard poultry is tree from defects; 

 neither will it make a name or record for its owner unless 

 careful attention is accorded it. The Black Wyandottes 

 are no exception to this rule. The Standard shape is the 

 same for all varieties of this hreed, and to a novice it 

 would seem that any one could breed a black fowl, as 

 the color is solid, and sound colored breeding specimens 

 should surely reproduce themselves, and if we could per- 

 suade the Standard-makers and judges than any color, so 

 long as it is black, will do, we would have easy sailing; 

 but we cannot do this. They demand that you breed a 

 black bird that shows a beetle green in hackle, saddle and 



in calling attention to this defect, only quoting here the 

 clause so that it may be understood by all. Under the 

 heading of "Cutting for Defects" the Standard says: "Pur- 

 ple barring appearing In plumage In all varieties in each 

 section when found should be discounted % to 2 points." 

 Under the head of "Disqualifications" the Standard says: 

 "White or red in any part of the plumage, covering more 

 than one-half Inch," and while this description Is up for 

 consideration it is well to call attention to a peculiar de- 

 fect quite often met with In many of the black fowls— 

 that is, red feathers. These most often appear in the 

 hackle and saddle of males, but are sometimes found In 

 the neck and wing bows of females. While this defect Is 

 not common in any of our standard black fowls. It will 

 come occasionally in all black breeds, showing how hard it 



STANDARD BLACK WYANDOTTE FEMALK. 



wing bows of male, with same color in neck of females, and 

 this color must be produced without allowing the purple 

 or peacock color to creep into it — in fact, they demand that 

 you mix your color just as carefully as an expert artist, 

 and to do this requires skill as well as experience, and in 

 addition to both skill and experience you must keep your 

 birds in the proper condition from weaning time until the 

 feathers of the adult plumage are complete. The fancier 

 has many anxious minutes in handling his choicest young 

 birds as they are maturing to see whether or not he has 

 his colors too strong or too light. Purple barring is the 

 curse of, his life; he despises its very looks, and he knows 

 the judge who awards the prizes at the shows where he 

 must exhibit will have the same view of it, and when he 

 sees his best cockerels coming through their adult plumage 

 free from this defect, he is very careful to keep them in 

 perfect condition, as upon the health of the specimen now 

 depends the success. Let your best colored birds' go off on 

 condition and you can bank on it that three times out of 

 four the sound color will be affected In just the same pro- 

 portion as the health of the specimen. A severe case of 

 roup will practically ruin four out of five, and even a se- 

 vere cold will taint their plumage to a greater or less 

 degree. 



Since the Standard is so plain in its description of 

 cutting purple barring, we will not take up much space 



is to eliminate the original color, or the color of thfc 

 feathers which covered the fowl to which all breeds and 

 varieties owe their origin — the .Jungle fowl — with Its black- 

 breasted males with red hackles and saddles. No matter 

 how well your birds are mated, or how long your strain 

 has been bred pure in color, it is wise to look over very 

 carefully for these disqualifications before jjutting them 

 on exhibition. 



Another point in Black Wyandottes, and a very im- 

 portant one, Is the color of bottom of feet of both sexes. 

 The Standard disqualifies all specimens unless the bottoms 

 of feet are yellow. White in plumage, while not often met 

 with, will disqualify the specimen if more than one-halt 

 inch in length in any feather, and where they are tipped 

 with white the specimens will receive a cut from % to 2 in 

 each section where this defect appears. 



We believe this general description of the Black Wyan- 

 dottes, with the Illustrations of the ideal male and female, 

 will give our readers sufficient information on this variety. 

 They are worthy a place in the yard of all fanciers, and 

 with the small number being bred today, we believe It 

 would be well for some individual, or perhaps several Indi- 

 viduals, to take them' up and make them popular like the 

 breeders of Black Orpingtons have done in the past few 

 years. 



