Quote:
I care.
I've read that the ALBC refers to different kinds (colors, sizes) of Turkeys as breeds, but
I didn't know the APA considered all Turkeys to be a variety. You learn something everyday. How are the Beltsville or the Midget White classified, or are they even in the SoP? Do you know if Turkeys are "recognized" in other parts of the world as breeds or varieties, or is the US the only country that even bothers to classify them?
I also didn't know the APA accepted Guineas as a "breed". (I wonder what they're supposed to be a breed of?) The way I understand it, a simplified definition of a breed (for animals and birds) is a subset of animals with certain common traits exclusive of other animals of the species that will "breed true" only if they are selectively bred by man. A Silky will only produce Silky chicks if it's selectively bred to another Silky. If it's bred to a RIR, they might be someone's "project", but they will not be a breed, and certainly not a Silky. For Silkies to exist, someone has to be there, setting up breeding pens, mating like to like, culling individuals that don't meet the ideal of a chicken version of a puff ball. But left to their own devices, even a pen of Silkies would eventually produce chicks that revert back to something closer to the original"wild type".(feathers instead of fluff, that kind of thing) That's because Man loves a freak, Nature, not so much. That's the challenge of working with a breed; you are always working against Nature, and the less like a Jungle Fowl it is, the more important that selective breeding becomes. Nature wants chickens to have real feathers; not too loose and not too tight, with clean legs; not too long, not too short and certainly without a fluffy lump on their heads that is subject to brain damage. Being able to create and perpetuate Silkies, or RIRs, or Dorkings in spite of that is what makes it so addictive.
A species would be a subset of animals that have certain traits in common and can breed true without interference by man. That's just science. Domesticated Guineas are identical to wild Guineas. Even the color varieties occasionally crop up in the wild. (I'd imagine they're short lived, as a pale or white bird would be pretty obvious to a predator, but just like a white Zebra, it happens) A pen of wild Guineas fresh from the veld would produce keets that would be indistinguishable from domesticated Guineas and vice versa; they require no selective breeding to continue their common traits.
Anyway, as the PTB have decreed Guineas to be a breed. I stand corrected. Compared to a Silkie, or a RIR or even one of those varieties of Turkey, I suppose the Guinea is actually the perfect "breed" for the 21st century. You don't have to do anything to have Guinea keets except make sure both birds in the pen are the right species and they'll handle the "common traits" all by themselves. It's near instant gratification.
(Gee, I hope I'm not 3 or 4 or 10 pages behind as I submit this...)
