By Thomas F.McGrew 1912
(From the book STANDARD BRED POULTRY)
No fowls having yellow flesh and skin dress more beautifully for market than do all the buff and partridge varieties. If more attention were given to the cultivation of breast meat on all those fowls, and less drastic requirements were demanded of partridge varieties for exhibition, all of them would become more popular as market poultry.
Buff plumaged chicks may have both white and black feathers in their plumage during the earlier stages of growth and then drop them for correct colored feathers as they grow to maturity. Buff should be a golden buff, and no other color is correct. Red is seldom if ever found alone in the plumage of fowls, it is usually accompanied by black. Buff is usually accompanied by either black or white or both. A buff fowl of an absolutely true color, without either shadings of black or white would be almost a novelty. Buff plumage is produced by mixing black, white, red, and yellow in proper proportions. It is important to know what colors have been used in producing buff, because such knowledge is a guide to a certain extent in the selection of fowls for mating. Buff plumaged fowls with white in their flight feathers are almost certain to produce offspring that will lack color, andthose that have black in their flight feathers usually produce offspring darker in surface color than is desirable.
The true color for buff plumaged fowls is a rich, golden buff, a happy medium between the lemon and the reddish shades of buff. This ,as might be expected, is the most difficult shade of buff to develop, yet it has been produced in such perfection that fowls having it were one even shade of rich golden buff without a trace of white or black in wings,tail,or other parts of their plumage. This shade of buff is the kind that will stand the strain of weather conditions without changing enough to become unattractive.
The production of solid buff plumaged fowls, or in fact of any fowls of a solid color, can be accomplished only when even or perfect shades are used in mating. Some breeders mate light and dark shades of a solid color in hopes of getting a medium shade in the offspring. This is sometimes moderately successful, but in the case of buff fowls it is very rarely satisfactory. The mating of light and dark shades of buff will commonly produce offspring of a very undesirable mealy appearance, due to the fact that their feathers will be of different shades of buff. The shade of color in buff varieties can best be improved by mating males and females of an even shade of golden buff. The top color of the male should be more brilliant than in the female, and the breast and body color of both sexes should be as nearly alike as possible. If some differences in the breast color are unavoidable, the breast plumage of the male may be slightly deeper in shade than in the female. The under plumage in both sexes should be buff of a shade that is not quite as deep as in the surface color. Black and White should as far as possible, be eliminated from the plumage of both male and female buff fowls in a mating.
Buff plumaged fowls with very light or white under plumage will produce offspring with very light colored surface plumage, with white under plumage and white in the flight feathers. Buff plumaged fowls with dark or slate under plumage will produce offspring very dark in surface plumage and they are apt to have black in the tail and wings. The proper shade of color in the under plumage of buff plumaged fowls for exhibition and breeding purposes, is buff lighter in shade than the surface plumage.
From the time they begin their molt, fowls that are intended for exhibition should be protected from the elements, at least to the extent of not having their plumage soaked by the rain and then dried in the sun. Exposure to the sun after wetting causes what is known as “supplementary lacing”, that is, the outer edge of the web of the feather is bleached to a lighter shade of color than the other parts of the feather. Fowls of all colors will have their plumage more or less injured in this way by exposure to rain and sun, though the injury is more noticeable in the plumage of buff fowls. The plumage of buff colored pullets is more injured than is that of the cockerels.
Attention should be given to the examination of the plumage of buff colored fowls. Buff fowls that do not molt completely are apt to show a mottled surface color ,which on close examination will be found to be due to the presence of many old feathers. In such cases, the unmolted plumage, or old feathers, should be plucked out carefully one at a time, so as not to disturb the new growth of feathers. After the removal of the old feathers, new ones will grow in From 4 to 6 weeks.
BUFF PLYMOUTH ROCKS
The Buff Plymouth Rock fowls have none of the original Plymouth Rock blood except what came to them through cross breeding with Rhode Island Red fowls. There were originally two distinct strains, the Buffington and the Wilson. The Buffington strain was bred From Rhode Island Red fowls of Plymouth Rock shape. Fowl having buff or reddish buff color were selected and the best offspring from them chosen until fairly good Buff Plymouth Rocks were produced. The Wilson strain, from crossing a Buff Cochin and a Light Brahma, the best offspring from this cross were selected and mated. Other strains came from crossing both strains with White Plymouth Rock females that had considerable cream or yellow in their plumage. A clean, clear surface color without black in the wings and tails was secured in this way. The defects arising in the offspring from this crossing were light surface color and almost white under plumage; the surface color, in some instances, was so thinly laid on the web of the feather as to give a mealy appearance. The present type of Buff Plymouth Rock has been produced by selecting the best offspring of all these crosses.
Immediately following the advent of Buff Plymouth Rock fowls, a determined effort was made to develop them into fowls of Plymouth Rock shape and of perfect color. In an endeavor to establish a color that would meet the approval of all, every shade of yellow from lemon to brown was considered. The poultry men who bred Buff Plymouth Rock fowls selected the lighter shade of color and this resulted in benefit to the variety, for when the lighter shade of buff was established, it was less difficult to intensify this in offspring, through careful selection and breeding, than it would have been to breed out the brownish-red or cinnamon shade of buff found in some of the fowls. The Buff Plymouth Rock has been developed into a fowl of proper size and type and having an attractive shade of golden buff plumage.
Following the admission of this variety to the Standard in 1894, the fowls became popular. To improve their color, inbreeding was followed to such an extent as to lessen their size and their popularity as utility poultry. Later, surprises came in the way of better size, shape and color. This seemed to intensify the desire to have them better, and by careful breeding they have been made into fowls that have both good size and color and although they are not so popular as the Barred or White, they have gained in popularity as their quality has improved. Buff Rocks should be perfect in type and equal in size to fowls of the other varieties. They should have plumage of rich, golden buff throughout, with no foreign color; the under plumage should be a lighter shade than the surface. The fowls must be of the best form and color. The beak, shanks, and toes should be golden yellow, the eyes red.
In selecting Buff Rocks for mating, those of best Rock form should be chosen. They must be perfect in breed characters, and special attention must be given to their head points and color. The surface plumage should be a golden buff color, the under plumage, all the way to the skin should be a shade lighter and the entire plumage must be without impurity or blemish. In mating for color, the methods described for mating Buff Cochins should be followed. Size can best be preserved by using in the breeding pen only large hens.
BUFF COCHINS
The Buff Cochin fowls that first came From China were not only the first of all Cochins, but the original, so far as known, of all buff plumaged fowl. No fowl has ever attracted more attention than the Buff Cochin, and no fowl is more beautiful when of the proper color and type. The Buff Cochin variety has been made from the original fowls that were brought From China. The origin and development of the fowls of this variety is so entwined with the origin and development of all Cochins as to have made it necessary to tell of them under the origin and development of the breed. Fowls of no other breed have ever held such a prominent position in the history of poultry as the Buff Cochins. They were not only the original Cochins that came From China, but they were the original buff fowls. From them all buff plumaged fowls have been fashioned. They have been used in every land where poultry is bred, for crossing with the fowls of the locality to improve them. They were the most prolific egg producers of early days, and were remarkable for size and for the quality of their meat.
The Buff Cochin is a fowl of large size, profuse feathering, and rotund formation; it is distinctly a fowl of graceful curves and each section must be more or less globular in form. Although Cochins have a dignified appearance, they should have the peculiarity of a forward carriage that drops the breast slightly toward the ground. The neck of Cochins should be short and arched; the hackle flowing down over the back, which should rise within a short distance of the end of the hackle, forming a beautiful curve, and the cushion should rise globularly and combine with the hackle to form the Cochin back. The breast should be very prominent and rounding in all directions; the breastbone should be set well down between the thighs, which must be widened out to make room for breast formation. The body should be evenly poised on the legs, the abdomen, and round, full and profusely feathered. The feathers of the Cochin should be more fluff than web, the under fluff being as soft and plentiful as to build out and make more prominent the rotund form.
The typical Cochin female is fashioned much like the male, with the difference that the back of the male is very broad, and that of the female forms a perfect cushion. The main tail feathers of the female may droop a little but they stand naturally in a line that shows as if it were a continuation of the back. If the cushion sweeps down at its extreme end, the tail feathers should extend out beyond the last line of cushion. This may occur naturally, from the fact that the excessive or profuse fluff in the plumage lifts the cushion so high as to carry it above the natural line of the tail. Great width between the thighs and profuse feathering about the shanks and thighs add to the beauty of the females. Both the males and females should have all the feathers it is possible for them to grow without developing stiff hock plumage.
Mating for shape in Cochins requires the same general outline to be followed in all varieties. Time will be wasted in an attempt to produce exhibition Cochins From fowls that lack breed characters and proper color. Hens 2 or 3 years old, or even older, if they are large and of perfect Cochin type, are best from which to produce offspring that will posses desirable size and vigor. Provided that stiff plumage about the hocks is absent, profuse feathering should always be preferred in the females. The male, however, is more likely to have stiff hock feathering than the female. To be successful in the production of soft feathering about the hocks, fowls having this kind of feathering to a marked degree should be selected. To improve or increase the quantity of feathering below the breast line, fowls that have an abundance of heavy feathering about the thighs, hocks, shanks, and toes should be selected. Parents of this kind will not only increase the quality of under feathering, as it is called, but will stiffen the plumage as well. Under feathering can be better increased with the least chance of failure by the use of females that have the kind of plumage desired. Females of this kind, mated to males with profuse and perfectly soft feathering about the hocks, will increase leg and toe feathering without losing the correct under feathering. The use of males with profuse and stiff under feathering bring quickly into the flock the influence of vulture hocks. For this reason, the use of females for improving under feathering is recommended, and in addition to this, care must be given to selecting and pairing so as to produce From year to year offspring without having vulture hock feathering. To have the most profuse leg and toe feathering, it will be necessary to select male and females of remarkably good shape with stiff feathers at the hocks,long,stiff quills in the plumage of shanks and toes, and long stiff feathers on the thighs, in front, and on the lower part of the breast.
It is not easy to produce Cochin cockerels with full, rounded breasts, because the natural inclination of all Cochins with profuse leg and toe feathering is to go flat in the breast. To avoid this requires constant watchfulness. Some fanciers attempt to improve breast formation by feeding the fowls into an excessively fat condition for show purposes. This is more likely to enlarge the abdomen than to improve the breast. The only safe means of having breast formation of the most approved type is by selecting breeding stock that possess this requirement to a marked degree, and mating for the production of Cochins of proper type, is to mate only such fowls that are as nearly perfect in every section as possible and to continue the selecting of the best offspring each year. The proper selection of fowls for mating is the most important part in the whole routine of poultry culture. Years of experience with a certain variety of fowls, close observation of the results which some of the breeding stock have produced, and a full knowledge of the possibilities of a strain, are of great importance. Occasionally there will appear in the offspring peculiarities almost forgotten, which may have come in direct line from fowls that possessed them, and which were used many years before. Such recurrences are not frequent, but when they do appear, it is best to be rid of the offspring and the hen that produced them. A well trained eye, special skill, and good judgment are required in selecting the fowls from which to produce exhibition poultry.
Fowls selected for mating should not only be of mature age and as nearly perfect in breed characteristics as possible, but no deformities in form or feather should be permitted to creep into a flock, even though the deformed fowl may have other qualities of great importance. In Cochins, only fowls that are strong and well matured should be used for breeding. Immature fowls or fowls that are more than 3 years old are not apt to prove of the greatest value. Undersized fowls or such as have the appearance of immaturity cannot be expected to produce well in any flock. It is useless to attempt to breed good poultry from poor and imperfect fowls.
In selecting a male to head a breeding pen, do not imagine that his desirable qualities will impress themselves to any extent on the progeny from hens of inferior quality. The male is half of the breeding pen, but no more. He should be as good as it is possible to have him, but if he is mated to females of inferior quality he will be able to accomplish only one half as much good as he might attain if mated with hens fully his equal. The practice of purchasing males of sterling qualities is profitable, because from such males an improved quality in the offspring may be obtained even from females of minimum merit. To succeed in producing offspring of the highest quality, the males selected must not only be of the best, but the females must be carefully selected. In choosing the male, it should be done with a view to reproducing his form, vigor, and color. He should possess the qualities of size,shape,color,and breed characters, and in addition to this he should be line bred, so as to have well established in him all the desirable qualities which make possible the reproduction of the same qualities in his offspring; his vigor should be very marked and his activity should be noticeable.The hens for the breeding pen should be as carefully selected as the males. Each fowl should be carefully examined for shape and color in every section; the more attention that is given to this, the greater will be the chance of success;for,unless the hens have all the characters required for success in the show pen, they will be of little value for breeding exhibition offspring of the best quality. A principle that has been accepted is that the male has the greater influence over head points, finish, and color of the offspring; and that the female has most to do with size and form of body. Although this is true to a certain extent, and much more likely to be the case in some varieties than in others, it cannot be depended on to a certainty. Some hold the belief that such is the case only when each parent has the dominating influence over the separate powers attributed to it. According to Mendelian principles, the male should have the greater influence over females which he dominates and that this principle would fail with females that have the dominating power over the male. Years of experience in mating for the production of golden buff in plumage have proved that the male has the greater power over color in Buff Cochin fowls, and that size is largely influenced by the female. The same is true in Black and White Cochins. Line breeding applied through the double-mating system has proved the most satisfactory for the production of partridge color.
To be true and beautiful, the buff color in the surface plumage of a fowl should be one even shade throughout, including the tail. If there is any foreign color in the plumage it should be confined to the secondaries of the wing and the main tail feathers. Originally dark red or chestnut were permissible in sickles and black in the main tail feathers of the male, but at the present time buff colored fowls can be produced without the least foreign color in the plumage. Where black exists in any part of the plumage of breeding fowls, their offspring are apt to show more of this in the same section and a darker shade of surface color as well. Where white exists in the under plumage, or in any part of the plumage of the parent stock, more of this is likely to show in the offspring. The shade of color should be even throughout, so dense as to hide the color in the under plumage, and look clean and clear without mealiness. Some fowls that have the most beautiful surface color have almost pure white in the under plumage. When this occurs, unless the color in the web of the feathers is very strong, the white will show through and give the appearance of a very light shade of surface color .Males having red, brown or pale-lemon surface color are not golden buff, and all shades of color except golden buff ,are foreign.
When a buff plumaged fowl is held in the hands and its head is moved backwards so that the hackle will sweep over the back of the saddle, the whole surface color of top plumage should be of one even shade of golden buff, richly glossed with sheen in the males but not the females. The under part of the body of the females should be one even shade of golden buff, the same as the top part, but lacking the sheen of the male; the under plumage should be buff two or three shades lighter than the surface color and not more than two shades lighter in the males. The greatest strength of color will be found in fowls that have clean, clear, rich golden buff surface color on the breast, and under plumage that shows buff to the skin. Such fowls can usually be depended on to breed more true than those that have white in the under plumage of the breast. In both males and females, flights and secondaries should show no foreign color and should be somewhat darker than the body plumage. The main tail feathers should have the same color as the flights. The sickles and coverts in the male should have the same color as the plumage of the saddle.
Only one shade of buff is correct for buff plumaged fowls. If the poultry man prefers a shade darker or lighter than the golden buff color, he must select fowls that have the shade of color preferred. Fowls in their first year’s plumage must be selected from which to produce the proper shade of golden buff. Cockerel and pullets of buff plumaged fowls usually have better color than cocks and hens of the same variety. It should always be remembered that yearling hens and hens that are older are likely to lose more or less in plumage color, as there is a natural fading with age. Yearlings often have a slightly darker shade of color in top and body plumage than they had as cockerels, and in some cases where the color is weak in their under plumage they become a lighter shade in surface color with age and show some white in wings and tails.
Cockerels for mating should have perfect surface plumage throughout, with no foreign color. The color should be one even shade of golden buff and the top plumage should have the proper sheen; the under plumage color should be of an even shade that conforms to the color of the top plumage. The under plumage throughout should be one or two shades lighter than the surface plumage, with equal strength of color in the under fluff of the breast plumage, and the shanks and toes should be yellow. In Buff Cochins, leg and toe feathering must be as pure in color as the body plumage, and the flights, secondaries, and main tail feathers at least a shade darker than the body plumage. The quills of all feathers should be the same shade of buff as the web and the under plumage. In each instance, the color of the quill must match the color that grows from it, so as to have the entire feather of the same shade.
When they possess color of this kind, in both quill and web, there is not likely to be the least appearance of shaftiness in the plumage. The main tail feathers should be of the same shade as the flight feathers. In some varieties of buff plumaged fowls, small dark colored spots may be found in the main tail feathers and in the secondaries of the wings. Such color may be permitted to a limited extent. If fowls having dark markings of this kind are mated, more black will come in the main tail feathers, flights, and secondaries of the offspring, and a less perfect shade of surface color. Better results will be obtained From fowls that have too dark a shade of buff in the secondaries and main tail feathers than will come From males that have less strength of color and black markings in these feathers.
The females for mating with a male of this character should be, as pullets, one even shade of golden buff throughout; the color on the breast should be one shade lighter than the color on the breast of the male. The females must have a good, even shade of buff in the under plumage of the breast, not more than two shades lighter than the surface color; the wing secondaries and main tail feathers should be slightly darker than the body plumage; the shaft, or quill, must be of the same color as the web of the feather as to appear absolutely even throughout, and should extend down to the skin on both feather and quill, with the natural graduation best suited to the under plumage. Hens of this description, when 2 or 3 years old are best suited for breeding purposes. Hens that lose in surface color, but which retain the proper shade of under plumage, may be used for breeding purposes; hens that have become mottled in surface plumage and which grow lighter in under plumage are not desirable for the production of buff fowls. There should be no foreign color in the plumage of females used for breeding purposes, white, black, or foreign color of any kind being objectionable.
The color of the eye has more influence over results obtained in mating for buff color than is usually conceded. Both males and females that have correct plumage color and brilliant eyes of proper shade of red not pink, but red that approaches the shade most desirable in the comb of the fowl will be better suited for mating than those without the proper color of eye. Naturally the eye and plumage lose brilliancy as the season advances. Cockerels and pullets at the beginning of the breeding season, or early in the spring, should have the color of the eye clean, clear, and brilliant; and shank and skin, rich yellow. These same rules apply to buff varieties of all breeds; the only difference is that in close plumaged fowls, such as Buff Leghorns, there should be a stronger shade of color in the surface plumage of the breeding stock. Buff Leghorns generally have less strength of color in the under plumage than other breeds, and their offspring are usually lighter in surface color than the parent stock; for this reason, more color is needed in the breeding stock.