Sop

Where do you find the standard of perfection? Sorry I'm new.

The Standard of Perfection is published by the American Poultry Association. It is available as an encyclopedia style hard back book, for $59 shipping included, on the American Poultry Association website. It is copyrighted so no, it is not available online.
It is ONLY sold by the APA. Copies you see most often online or on Ebay are cheap, illegal photocopies are usually a scam.




 
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Thank you. I'm new and want to learn as much as possible. I did see the one on APA and will be ordering one but I was hoping there was an instant copy. :)
 
Thank you. I'm new and want to learn as much as possible. I did see the one on APA and will be ordering one but I was hoping there was an instant copy. :)

No, there is no electronic version because the APA feels that if it were electronic, it would quickly be passed about, bootlegged, etc.
The book is a fine piece which provides dignity to the quality of the organization and to the material within it.
 
No, there is no electronic version because the APA feels that if it were electronic, it would quickly be passed about, bootlegged, etc.
The book is a fine piece which provides dignity to the quality of the organization and to the material within it.

It might do the APA well to do a better job of spreading their message and good information, rather than hoarding it.

I understand their thought process, but it's 2016. More people than ever are playing "backyard breeder" without a clue what they are doing, and they aren't going to shell out $60 for a picture book.

At the same time they will lament the loss of standards, when they've done all they can to keep people from accessing them.
 
It might do the APA well to do a better job of spreading their message and good information, rather than hoarding it.

I understand their thought process, but it's 2016. More people than ever are playing "backyard breeder" without a clue what they are doing, and they aren't going to shell out $60 for a picture book.

At the same time they will lament the loss of standards, when they've done all they can to keep people from accessing them.

Not my circus and not my monkey, but in APA social media circles, this has been discussed to death. No change has ever come forth.
The primary reason is that the only way the APA currently makes money, funds needed to advance the programs and run the organization is through sales of the Book. Dues are "chicken feed" by way of comparison. You cannot run a larger organization on small dues alone and the sales of ball caps, pins and stickers won't pay the bills.

Nor am I the appointed spokesperson for the organization nor it's chief defender. That said, your perspective is your own and you are entitled to it. I personally find the idea that the APA is "doing all they can to keep people form accessing" the standard to be ludicrous and if you believe the Standard to merely be a "picture book" then obviously your understanding of it's contents is quite uninformed.

Ask anyone in college what they pay for a hardbound textbook at the college bookstore. The APA's Standard of Perfection is priced well below what textbooks are and it's purpose and content is similar in purpose, to educate and inform.

The APA isn't a secret organization nor are the standard of each breed kept from anyone. It's all out there for anyone to pursue, if they have an interest, just like any other hobby or endeavor. If backyard folks wish to mill or propagate birds with no knowledge of or nor any intent of breeding toward a standard that is entirely their right. The standard bred chicken concept is held dearly by those who live, move and have their being in the somewhat niche world that is the APA/ABA sphere of influence. 90% of chicken buyer and keepers could care absolutely less.
 
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Not my circus either, but you don't grow an organization by sequestering it.

Printing that book isn't cheap. They aren't making what you think they are selling it.

They're welcome to do what they want but it's open to criticism.

It's not just the APA. Many similar organizations need to figure out how to operate in 2016.
 
I own the SOP and am a longer term member of the APA and a more recent member of the ABA. I breed to the breed standards for my breeds and exhibit in the biggest of sanctioned shows. But......

I can assure you that the APA has MANY MANY modernization issues that have nothing to do with the book. I couldn't agree more that either these associations embrace a new century and find a way to be relevant and administratively operate efficiently or they will become irrelevant.
 
That's really the crux of what I was getting at. Sorry if it was unclear.

The SOP book is a symptom. Not the illness.
 

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