Purebred, standards and shows
Standard, purebred, judging, ringing, shows: a breeder-selector's answers about purebred hens.
17 perguntas
Most of them are, and each breed page says so in plain terms, with a link to the official standard. Of 40 published breeds, the few exceptions are breeds still little kept or going through recognition — we would rather say so than pass over it. Recognition matters chiefly if you are aiming at shows: without it there is neither a judging scale nor an official ring diameter.
Yes, a bird of an unrecognised breed may be shown, but it will not be scored: without recognition in the standard there is neither a judging scale nor an official ring diameter. The value lies elsewhere — it is a way of showing a breed in the making officially, with a view to applying for recognition. The same holds for an unrecognised variety within a breed that is recognised: each breed has its own list of accepted varieties.
By keeping records and bringing in fresh blood regularly. In practice: know the parentage of every bird, avoid matings between close relatives several generations running, and introduce an outside male from time to time. The effect on laying cannot be predicted in advance, and depends entirely on the starting point: in a line that has become inbred, fresh blood may lift laying from the very first generation; in a line already sound and laying well, an infusion from a strain heavily selected for type — often a poorer layer — will lower it instead. It is a judgement call, never an automatic rule.
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It is a hen whose two parents belong to the same breed, and whose offspring faithfully reproduce the traits described by the standard: frame, plumage, colour, carriage, egg colour. Purity is not judged on the bird alone, it is verified in her offspring — a bird may conform and pass on poorly. That is the whole difference between owning a handsome hen and working a line.
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The hybrid is the product of a cross calculated for a single aim, almost always laying: highly productive over a season or two, but its offspring resemble nothing stable. The purebred hen, by contrast, reproduces true generation after generation, lives longer and lays over a more even spread. The two are therefore not compared on egg numbers alone: they follow two different logics.
It is the reference document setting out precisely what a breed should look like: outline, weight, plumage, colour, comb, shanks, egg colour, and disqualifying faults. It serves as the basis for judging at shows and as the compass for breeding work. Each breed page on our site links to the corresponding official standard.
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The national poultry federations, on proposals from the breed clubs and at the end of a recognition procedure. A standard is neither fixed nor arbitrary: it expresses a consensus among breeders as to what defines the breed, and it can change. Recognised varieties are listed in it — which is why a bird of an unrecognised colour cannot be judged.
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It is a recognised form of a breed, most often a plumage colour or a comb type. One and the same breed may have a single variety or several dozen. Each variety has its own description in the standard and is worked as a line in its own right: mixing two varieties of the same breed calls for as much method as crossing two breeds.
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By comparing point by point with the official standard: frame and weight, carriage, plumage and colour, comb shape, colour of shanks and eyes, and above all the disqualifying faults. It is an exercise that has to be learnt, and the outside eye of a judge at a show remains the most reliable way of knowing where you stand. Each breed page links to its standard.
First because they are living creatures: no two birds are identical, any more than two people are. A well-worked line narrows the traits, it does not turn out copies — and just as well. But there is a second, far broader reason: a breed name guarantees nothing in itself. Between a line worked over generations against the standard and birds bred with no selection, the gap quickly becomes considerable, to the point of birds that would not be recognised as belonging to the breed at a show. That is why origin counts as much as breed when buying.
To bring together the breeders of one breed and keep its standard alive — in France as in other countries, each with its own clubs. It is also where breeding birds, breed-specific advice and the memory of the work all circulate. Like any poultry club, it also issues official rings, without your being obliged to go through it for the breed you keep. Joining the club for your breed is probably the best investment a breeder starting out in earnest can make. Each breed page names the corresponding club where one exists.
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Several years, and often a dozen generations. The initial cross is the easy part; then come the returns to type, fixing the trait sought, weeding out everything brought in unintentionally, and finally showing the birds with a view to recognition. It is long-haul work, which we document in our breeding notebook.
It is the official recognition of a breed or a variety by the federation, which assigns it a standard, a judging scale and a ring diameter. Without recognition a bird may be exhibited but not judged. It is the culmination of several years' work — the step that raises a breeder's project to the rank of a recognised breed.
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It depends entirely on what you are trying to fix. A cross between two varieties of the same breed may give a usable result from the second generation, the expected proportion showing up in a quarter of the young. At the other extreme, bringing a trait from one breed into another may take more than ten generations — and sometimes never quite succeed, the more so the further apart the two breeds are. Between those extremes, what matters is less the number of generations than the consistency achieved from one year to the next.
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Because selection means having a choice: to form the next generation you must hatch appreciably more birds than you will keep, in the order of three times as many. But the reverse is just as true, and less well known: keeping only the few best birds from a whole season narrows the genetic base dangerously and hastens inbreeding. The right balance is to select over a tight laying window, even at the cost of being a little less demanding, so as to preserve diversity.
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By working over time rather than in bursts. Three principles shape our method: keep several lines of the same variety and cross them regularly, at most every five generations; never bring an outside bird straight into the line, but go through an intermediate line over one or two generations; and concentrate the hatching of future breeding birds into a short window. Progress is slower, but it holds from one generation to the next.
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For two distinct reasons. The first concerns inbreeding: without an outside infusion, matings between relatives eventually affect fertility, hatchability and vigour — several years' work can come undone that way. The second concerns the individual bird: an ageing breeder gives less consistent results, and the effect shows even in how well the eggs keep. Replacing does not mean changing everything: it is a controlled infusion, prepared through an intermediate line.
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