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Poultry is generally referred to as being standard bred rather than thoroughbred for the reason that it is usually bred to conform to a special standard of external requirements agreed upon by fanciers and breeders. The term "thoroughbred" could be applied properly of a bird that had been bred for high fecundity, or to a desirable fixed type, until either one or both of these qualities had become fixed and transmissible to the progeny without regard to color and other qualifications.
Definitions of Breed and Variety;
The terms "breed" and "variety" are often used incorrectly. They are not strictly interchangeable. When one speaks of the "Plymouth Rocks" the reference is to a family or breed, of which there are several varieties; while the term "Bard Plymouth Rock" or "Bard Rock" (as the name is abbreviated) is that of a variety.
Breed refers to a race or family of fowls having common shape characteristics. The "Plymouth Rock" family is distinguished from the Wyandotte family by having a somewhat longer and heavier body. A comparatively small body with smooth sweeping curves through out characterizes the Leghorn family, while the Brahma family is noted for it's ponderous size and majestic appearance.
Subdivisions of a breed are varieties of that breed. Varieties are distinguished from each other by differences in the color markings of the plumage and the shape of the comb. All varieties of Cochins, for instance, are alike in shape. But are dissimilar in color. White Cochins are pure white in plumage throughout; Buff Cochins are a rich golden buff throughout; Partridge Cochins are a mixture of brilliant red, black and greenish black arranged in definite order. These color distinctions apply to most breeds.
How a New Breed is Made;
The first of the popular American varieties to be originated was the Barred Plymouth Rocks. The breeders responsible for it had no very clearly defined ideal at first to breed to and the variety, as we know it today, is a composite of ideals of several breeders. This method of perfecting a new breed requires several years more than would be necessary if the ideal had been clearly conceived before a beginning was made.
The breed originated from a cross of an American Dominique cock and a Black Java or Cochin hen. (Prior to the publishing of the first Standard of Excellence in 1874 the two names, Java and Cochin, were used synonymously) From this cross several pullets with well-defined barring were secured, but the cockerels were more of a blotchy coloring, any barring on them being quite course.
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One of the best barred of these cockerels was mated to some of the best marked of his sisters. Another cross was made between a Light Brahma cock and a Dominique hen, and the progeny of these were in turn mated with birds of the first cross. Subsequently a cross was made between a Red Faced Spanish and a White Cochin, and the blood of the progeny crossed into the Barred Rocks. Game, Dark Brahma, Minorca and other bloods were also introduced from time to time with a view to improving characteristics of the new breed.
In later years the fanciers have depended entirely upon selection for developing of the variety, and they have now brought it to a state of perfection that was never dreamed of by the early sponsors of the breed.
Making of The First Canadian Standard Breed;
Part of the history of the matings and crosses used in perfecting the Bared Rock is rather misty, but the general facts are as outlined in the preceding section. More definitely known are the methods adopted by Brother Wilfrid, of La Trappe Monastery, Quebec, with the Canadian Chantecler. He was anxious to develop a breed that would be a good producer of both meat and eggs in the rigorous Quebec climate, and started with a determination to make the color of the proposed breed white, to reduce the comb and wattles to I minimum and to combine winter laying characteristics with a body capable of putting on flesh when consigned to the fattening pen. In 1908 a Dark Cornish male, with plenty of vigor and small comb and wattles, he mated it with a good White Leghorn hen to obtain high general laying qualities in the offspring. To obtain the winter laying qualities, a second cross was made between a Rhode Island cock and a White Wyandotte hen.
The Chicks from these two crosses were mostly white, with some splashes of gray and black, conflicting with the then popular belief that color is transmitted by the male and shape by the female. The next season, the whitest pullets of the Cornish/Leghorn crosses were mated with a male, which resembled a Columbian Wyandotte from the Red/Wyandotte, cross. One of the best females from these crosses, weighing 7 ¾ pounds and with four winter months record of 91 eggs, was mated with a 10-pound White Rock cock. This mating increased the number of single combs in the progeny, but careful selection, the work of developing the new breed was kept up, and in 1918 the Chantecler was first presented to the public and was admitted into the Standard of Perfection in 1921. This is a only 13 years from the time the first matings took place to the breed being admitted to The Standard of Perfection.
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