COLUMBIAN WYANDOTTES. 



63 



pear, only two of the females from the Brahma cross 

 showed signs of feathers on legs; one of them showed a 

 handsome pea comb, while the others were as good In 

 comb as their sire. 



In shape this breed is far from the ideal at the pres- 

 ent time; with the Brahma cross we naturally got a long 

 'back and long body, color being the most important fea- 

 ture to establish the variety has compelled the breeder to 

 stay with the objectionable shape in order to get the color 

 set in- both males and females, but now that we have this 

 color it is up to the breeders to begin to reduce the length, 

 and within the next tew years we may look for Columbians 

 as good in this particular as any Wyandotte In the Stand- 

 ard. As to their future, in our candid opinion this will be 

 the most popular variety of the Wyandotte family. There 

 are defects yet to breed out of them, and one that the 

 breeders will have a lot of trouble with is brass or creami- 

 ness in the back of males, but when the color is once 

 bred white with good lacing in neck, wing and tail we 

 will not only have one of the handsomest but one of the 

 best breeds of fowls ever originated in this country. In 

 our illustration (Fig. 69) is shown our idea of a perfect 

 Columbian Wyandotte male. It fits the Standard descrip- 

 tion and is the type of male that is winning the shape 

 specials under our best Wyandotte judges East and west. 

 The Wyandotte is in reality a bird of curves, and when 

 this description was embodied in the Standard we should 

 have gone further and said they were also a loose feath- 

 ered bird, as I have never yet found a real good .closely 

 feathered W\andotte. The best ones of all varieties are 

 loose feathered and show certain Cochin characteristics, 

 and with our Standard calling for short backs, short bodies, 

 short tails and well developed breast we must expect some 

 of the Cochin lines. This shape is the one amired by our 

 best informed fanciers and is one that has done much to 

 make this breed so justly popular. So in presenting this 

 outline we do so without apology and feel It is the best 

 drawing yet submitted for Wyandotte shape. 



In color the Columbian Wyandotte should be a counter- 

 part of the lordly Light Brahma; neck with jet black strip- 

 ing and pure white edging; this edging to run entirely 

 around the lower edge of feather and holding the color 

 well down into throat. The main tail should be black; 

 the coverts black edeged with white ; wings, primaries inner 

 web pure black with a narrow white lacing on outer edge 

 of the first five feathers. Secondaries black on upper side : 

 white on lower side. Under color white, bluish white or 

 slate. No preference to be given to the three colors so long 

 as the visible portion of the feather is white. 



The breeder of Columbian Wyandottes that first pro- 

 duces correct color on both male and female, with true 

 Wyandotte shape, will reap a harvest. We doubt if there 

 is a new variety of any fowl today that has as many ad- 

 mirers among the old breeders and judges as the Colum- 

 bian. We have yet to find the breeder, no matter how 

 selfish or color-blind, that did not admire the lordly Light 

 Brahmas. The fault some found with them was their 

 feathered legs and slow maturity. Owing to their im- 

 mense size. It requires about eight months to grow them 

 to Standard weight. With the only objection that we 

 have ever heard against the Brahmas entirely over- 

 come and with every good feature in the breed, both fancy 

 and commercial, embodied in the new variety they will in 

 our opinion prove one of the most popular of all the mid- 

 dleweight fowls. 



It is important that color be permanently established 

 first, but in doing this keep constantly in mind the true 

 Wyandotte shape and always remember that the Wyan- 

 dotte, male and female, is a bird of curves. The shorter, 

 broader and deeper you can breed them the better. 



In our illustrations we show you several defects in 

 color that you as a breeder must strive to overcome. If 

 you must give preference to either black or white in the 

 sections illustrated let your preference be to black, as it 

 is an easier matter to lighten any section of a breed that 

 is three-fourths white than to darken the sections when 

 they tegin to fade. What we want is jet black and pure 

 white— the two colors pure within themselves and not in- 

 tsmiixsdl. 



Pig. No. 70 shows a hackle that is entirely too light. 

 There is only a trace of black at the ends of feather, and 

 that in the form of dark ticking. The black there is in it 

 is defective, being a shade of brown which gives the surface 

 a faded-out, dirty appearance that is an eyesore to fan- 

 ciers of pure color. A neck like this can never be used 

 with any assurance of producing quality, no matter how 

 strong the color may be in the females. It is true a happy 

 medium is sometimes reached by breeding two extremes, 

 but the per cent, of good specimens is entirely too small 



to warrant the time and expense, even though the speci- 

 mens that come good were of rare quality as breeders. 

 But such specimens have no great value only as individ- 

 uals, for no matter how well you mate them they are 

 quite likely to breed back to one extreme or the other, and 

 this may follow for several generations. 



The Standard allows six points for color in neck of 

 all American varieties, and this color is usually divided by 

 our best judges in all parti-color fowls, giving three points 

 to each color described, and in scoring a neck like Fig. 

 No. 2 we would discount the section three points. 



In Fig. 71 we have an extreme in color — that is, one 

 showing entirely too much black. The upper portion of 



rOT-TTMBIAN WYANDOTTE MADE AND FEMALE, SHOW- 

 ING CORRECT COLOR IN WINGS. 



Owned and Bred by S. T. Campbell, Mansfield, Ohio. 



neck is quite good in color, but the long feathers are de- 

 void of lacing, and this absence of white shows too dark, 

 or more properly speaking, a black ring around the base 

 of' hackle. While this color from an exhibition standpoint 

 is quite objectionable, and in. the eye of a Light Brahma 

 breeder would debar the specimen at a glance, and is far 



