. Principles and practice of poultry culture . Poultry. APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 515. Fig. 525. Silver-Penciled Wyandotte cockerel, a nice type' desired shade in some sections, runs a little off in others, but it is likely to give more satisfactory re- sults in breeding. The tendency to a uniform distribution of colors is more valuable in a breeding bird than the correct shade of color pre- vailing in most sections but lost in one or two. Systematic breeding from the birds nearest the desired shade of color, offsetting weakness in color in one sex by strength in the other, and app


. Principles and practice of poultry culture . Poultry. APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 515. Fig. 525. Silver-Penciled Wyandotte cockerel, a nice type' desired shade in some sections, runs a little off in others, but it is likely to give more satisfactory re- sults in breeding. The tendency to a uniform distribution of colors is more valuable in a breeding bird than the correct shade of color pre- vailing in most sections but lost in one or two. Systematic breeding from the birds nearest the desired shade of color, offsetting weakness in color in one sex by strength in the other, and applying the com- pensation principle section by sec- tion, when necessary, will keep a stock of buff or red birds very close to the Standard color. As stated in the description of the breeds, the Buff Wyandottes, Plymouth Rocks, and Rhode Island Reds were at one time of nearly the same color. The first Buff Leghorns were mostly weak in color, with a great deal of white and some black. At the time when the buff craze came on in the early nineties, the popular shade for Buff Co- chins in the East was a very light buff, in the West a rather dark buff. This difference continues, but in less degree. The very light birds favored in Eastern shows when the Buff Leghorn boom was at its height were so reduced in buff pig- ment that the color began to break up and show traces of white throughout the plumage. When this stage was reached it was necessary to "feed" the stock some dark color by using dark birds in some matings. The feeding process often caused such lack of uniformity that the breeder's stock was not found in the show- rooms again for one or two seasons. In the darker shades of buff, fluctua- tions still contintie, but as long as the color is strong enough to keep out the white, a variation of a few shades is immaterial. In red fowls the tendency has been constantly to a darker shade, many breeders going beyond red in Rhode Island Reds and getting a large proportion of


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Keywords: ., bookauthorrobinson, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1912