Challenging the Standard

[al6517]

In answer to the OP's original post.................. Yes............... Last year there was a petition circulating through the Cornish community to have a APA standards change. The change request involved the eye color, the petition said it would like to change the color from pearl to light red. In the petition it stated why they wanted the change and how it could be benificial to the breed. There were many signatures in the petition, but in the end it was voted down by the standards board. I have spoken to many judges and they have said that almost no changes are ever made and it is very difficult to do so. One main reason for rule change request come from breeders and/or breeders clubs and the changes mostly reflect regional thoughts how the standard effects their breed in a certain part of the country. I.E. example................. folks in the southern states prefer to have their OEGB's with that drop wing look, the standard calls that a point deduction, but judges say they only find this look in the south and that breeders in the south like it and breed for it, against the standard and therefore think the standard should be changed. It never has and some have said it never will, many judges hate to judge OEGB's in southern states because show folks get upset when their birds don't do well because of the fault which southerner's think looks good is not the standard.

I hope this answers your question.

AL

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Thank you Al.

 

[al6517]

Are you or a breed group considering a APA/ABA change order/request for a certain breed ??.

 

[exop]

For my part I would like to see a standards change for a couple breeds which are on the verge of extinction, don't have their own breed club, and have almost no-one enthusiastic about them... It's my belief that the standards were poorly thought out and hastily implemented, in the 1800s when these breeds were first imported and not many poultry hobbyists were familiar with them... the U.S. standards are different from the UK and the country of origin standards, and have been so from the very beginning, even though at that time the birds had not been worked on long enough in the U.S. to be any different than on the continent.

In the case of the Crèvecoeur, the U.S. is the only country that insists it should have red earlobes - even though almost all U.S. Crevecoeurs have bluish white earlobes, and the earliest descriptions of the breed in French, not to mention the current French standard all describe a white earlobe. In my opinion this has helped to almost kill the breed in the U.S, because people inevitably become discouraged when they find that their birds have this show "defect" which is in fact part of the breed description everywhere else.

In the case of the Mottled Houdan, the breed has seen a renaissance in France and even in the UK where it's listed in the UK standard of excellence (the Crevecoeur no longer is). French Houdans have almost regained the breed's original large size and utility as a meat bird. U.S. Mottled Houdans have become sad, miniature things in comparison, and have some major problems from inbreeding. Both the U.K and the French standard call for a butterfly comb or oak-leaf comb - a split, frilly comb related to the V-comb and unique to the Houdan. For whatever reason, U.S. poultry standards writers in the 1800s decided the breed ought to have a V-comb. Maybe someone decided the butterfly comb was just a messy V-comb, maybe they decided it would be impractical in a severe northern U.S. winter climate... maybe they felt it would just be anarchy to create yet another accepted comb type. I don't know what was discussed, and would like to find out. Anyway, the U.S. has been alone for the past 100+ years, trying to breed Houdans with a V-comb and red earlobes. It would be helpful from a breed survival point of view if there were less disincentives to import large, healthy butterfly-combed birds from Europe.

Alright, that was my 2¢.

Best - exop