Our Domestic Birds: Elementary Lessons in Aviculture

by John H. Robinson

Fig. 233. View of a section of a large poultry show in Mechanics Building, Boston, Massachusetts

As the interest in breeding for fancy points extended, such gatherings became larger and assumed a more formal character, and rules were adopted for comparing, or judging, the birds; but it was not until about the middle of the nineteenth century that the modern system of public exhibitions of poultry, pigeons, cage birds, and pet stock was inaugurated. The first exhibitions of this kind were held at the agricultural fairs. Very soon after these began to attract attention, special exhibitions, limited to this class of stock and held in suitable buildings in the winter, became frequent. Now large shows are held annually in nearly every large city and in hundreds of smaller cities, and every agricultural fair has its poultry department. For the sake of brevity, shows at which poultry is the principal feature are called simply poultry shows, although they often include other kinds of domestic birds and all kinds of small domestic animals.

A large poultry show, with a great variety of exhibits of birds and of the appliances used in aviculture, affords an excellent opportunity to see good specimens of many kinds. Those who have such an opportunity ought to make the most of it. But the novice who can attend only small shows will find that, while he does not see as many different kinds of birds there and may not see many really fine specimens, the small show affords the beginner a much better opportunity to learn something about the differences that affect quality and value in fancy poultry and pigeons.

At the large show there is so much to see, and the differences between the winning specimens in any class are usually so slight, that only those who are familiar with many varieties can make a critical examination of the exhibits. At the smaller shows the varieties are not as numerous, the competing classes are smaller, and the differences between the specimens which win prizes are often plainly apparent, even to a novice, if he has a clue to the method of making the awards. Those who visit large shows can use their time to best advantage if they make as careful a study as they can of the few things in which they take the most interest, and take just a casual look at everything else. In the four or five days that it is open to the public it is not possible for any one to make a thorough, discriminating inspection of all that there is to be seen at a large poultry show, and an experienced visitor to such shows never tries to do so. At many of the small shows even a novice, by studying the exhibits systematically, may get a very good idea of all the classes and may add something to his accurate knowledge of a number of different kinds of birds.

Rudiments of judging. While even an ordinary poultry show contains a great deal that is of interest to those who know how to get at it, the visitor who does not know how to study the exhibits and simply takes a cursory look at all of them, tires of the regular classes at a show in a very short time. After the awards have been made, the ribbons or cards on the coops will show the winning birds and their relative positions, but unless one knows something of the methods and rules of judging and compares the birds with some care, he is likely to get the impression that making comparisons between show birds requires a keener critical faculty than he possesses, and to conclude that it is quite useless for him to attempt to discover why the birds have been ranked in the order in which the judge has placed them.

Judging live stock is not a matter of simple comparisons of weights and dimensions. The personal opinions of the judge necessarily affect his decisions, and as the opinions of men differ, their judgments will vary. A judge is often in doubt as to which of two or more birds is (all things considered) the better specimen, but he must make his decision on the birds as they appear to him at the time, and that decision must stand for that competition. No one, no matter how well he may know the requirements of the standard for a variety and the methods of applying it, can discover by a study of a class of birds all of the judge's reasons for his decisions; but any one who will keep in mind and try to apply a few simple, general rules can look over a variety that he has never seen before, and of which he may not know the name, and (unless the judge has been very erratic in his decisions) can see why most of the awards in a small class of varied quality have been made.

These rules are:

1. The character or characters that most conspicuously distinguish a type are given most consideration in judging.

2. Color of plumage is given more consideration than shape, unless some shape character is unusually striking.

3. Quality in color of plumage consists in evenness and purity of shade in solid-colored specimens, and in sound colors and distinctness of the pattern in party-colored specimens.