Quote:
I dont know who these people called "they" are that look at breed descriptions and ignore the rest. The SOP is not a coloring book. Yes, shape and color are important, and probably the most important part to defining a breed. Take a flock of chickens of many different breeds, kill and dress them out and put them in plastic bags, and you wont be able to tell one breed from the other. Its the shape and outline and color that defines what you are looking at. Of course feather quality and size and condition are extremely important. That goes without saying. Who wants a beautifully marked and shaped barred rock if you pick it up and theres nothing but a skinny scrawny bird underneath. Economic qualities go without saying, otherwise you dont have a good chicken. The front of the book which you are talking about is extremely important; thats why its in the front of the book. Its also a very interesting read.
People I know that have the SOP read the entire book, and we discuss the entire book and the interpretation of it. Maybe you should have a talk with "they" and let them know what "they" are missing.
'They' refer to the majority of people who raise large fowl birds, including the majority that show their birds. If you butcher birds of different breeds and they all look alike then you DO have a problem. Under the feathers the birds look different as well. Compare a Game bird to a Rock to a Spanish. Butcher them and I bet you I could tell you which one was which, that is, if they were bred to the standard. Each breed has certain characteristics that they are supposed to have. The meat on the bird is more prevalent in say the front of the breast on one breed than another. Other breeds would have a lot of meat on the sides of the body because they are wider than others. These are just examples to try to explain myself. A lot of people overlook feather quality as well. These feathers help protect the bird, not to mention you need good feather quality to get the correct pattern on most multi colored birds.
