- May 19, 2009
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When I google "chicken 'head points,'" I see many references to this but no definition. Can someone please explain?
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Hi.
Basically a 'point' is a 'characteristic'. In animal breeding, a point is a definite characteristic of a particular breed or species. It can be a point of the dog as in shoulder , hock, foot, or nose. Then things can get more specific like points of a cetain region of the animal. points of the head in a chicken for instance. Some of these would be size of the eye, distance between the eyes, length and width of the beak, size of nostrils, width across the back of the skull, length from back of skull to top of beak, etc. People use points of an animal to describe the general animal. They use points of a region of an animal to describe the animal in detail or for a Standard's sake.
Hallmark is another word we often run into. It is used to describe something in a creature which makes that crreature distinct unto itself. An animal can have major and minor hallmarks. For instace, a major hallmark of the Marans is the dark chocolate egg; of the collie, the tipped ear; of the Basque hen, the barred gene on a buff colombian base. A minor hallmark might be color of a chicken's beak, the color of the shank, the weight of egg laid, the angle of a cock's tail. These are things that, tho they are specific to that animal's description, they are also found on other anaimals in that species.
The general points of the animal combined with both the major and the minor hallmarks make up the unique desciption of that animal or breed or species. To add to confusion, hallmarks are sometimes called points if a point falls into the catagory of a major or minor hallmark. However, once one gets used to reading the descriptions worded with this lingo, the association is clear).
Best Regards,
Karen Tewart
In western PA, USA
When I google "chicken 'head points,'" I see many references to this but no definition. Can someone please explain?
=====================
Hi.
Basically a 'point' is a 'characteristic'. In animal breeding, a point is a definite characteristic of a particular breed or species. It can be a point of the dog as in shoulder , hock, foot, or nose. Then things can get more specific like points of a cetain region of the animal. points of the head in a chicken for instance. Some of these would be size of the eye, distance between the eyes, length and width of the beak, size of nostrils, width across the back of the skull, length from back of skull to top of beak, etc. People use points of an animal to describe the general animal. They use points of a region of an animal to describe the animal in detail or for a Standard's sake.
Hallmark is another word we often run into. It is used to describe something in a creature which makes that crreature distinct unto itself. An animal can have major and minor hallmarks. For instace, a major hallmark of the Marans is the dark chocolate egg; of the collie, the tipped ear; of the Basque hen, the barred gene on a buff colombian base. A minor hallmark might be color of a chicken's beak, the color of the shank, the weight of egg laid, the angle of a cock's tail. These are things that, tho they are specific to that animal's description, they are also found on other anaimals in that species.
The general points of the animal combined with both the major and the minor hallmarks make up the unique desciption of that animal or breed or species. To add to confusion, hallmarks are sometimes called points if a point falls into the catagory of a major or minor hallmark. However, once one gets used to reading the descriptions worded with this lingo, the association is clear).
Best Regards,
Karen Tewart
In western PA, USA
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