Hmmm....
So, in APA culture breeds are defined by type, literally the way they are shaped. Of course there are breeds that preceed the APA Standard, but they were more or less recognized by type, too, which, I am sure, lent itself as confirmation that conformation as breed definer was a good choice. "Albertans" and Chanteclers are the same breed, because they're the same type, and the arguments about slightly divergent feather quality aren't all that convincing. These differences are almost undoubtedly strain-based. They were developed divergently, but they are the same bird in black silhouette, thus they are the same breed. The story of how and why they're different just adds drama to the mix, but it does not justify any notions of "purity" or "separateness".
There's really no true history of purity in poultry, if purity means blood purity. Instead, we have purity of type. This also explains one of the primary reasons for which breeders are "typically" (
) so bothered by hatchery stock. Hatchery stock is usually typical mongrels. They may, or may not, have purity of blood from an original purchase to establish the given hatchery's breeding flock, but usually the birds sold are consider base mongrels
because they are type-mongrels.
The difference between Partridge and White Chanteclers is not different than the differences between most modern, composite breed varieties. If one studies the Buff Plymouth Rock compared to the Barred Plymouth Rock, one sees the same story of divergence. Indeed, one could assert that blood-wise a Buff Plymouth Rock is much closer to a Buff Wyandotte than it is to a Silver-Pencilled Plymouth Rock.
If a breed exists in multiple varieties, i.e. most breeds, than there is a clear history of crossing, which is how the varieties exist at all. Any post mid-1800's breeds: Rocks, Reds, Wyandottes, Orpingtons, Marans, Chanteclers, Buckeyes, Faverolles, Barnevelders, etc. are all technically standardized mongrels. Even the ancient breeds, such as Dorkings and Old English Games, are assuredly impure for blood. White Dorkings are one of the oldest pure varieties available, but there were practices of outcrossing them to White OEGs, and, in the mid-1800's some poultry writers promoted outcrossing them to Light Brahmas in order to import some of that famed Asiatic hardiness.
It's usually recommended that folks not outcross primarily because it opens up a genetic can of worms. However, when done in an extremely informed manner with a facility that is capacious enough to allot for the numbers needed and the stomach enough to accept the culling required, careful outcrossing can be an excellent way to restore a decimated breed. Indeed, some of the very best birds I know are the product of careful grading by serious (read quasi-obsessed) and extremely disciplined breeders.
