Just like saying Wyandotte bantams aren't miniture versions of standards, is about as silly as saying cochin bantams aren't miniture versions of standards.....I think that's why we use the same name.
To each his own, if it makes your day saying it's not a miniture version of standard, GO FOR IT.
It's not quite as simplistic as that. It's not I who is making the claim, but rather the Poultry Club of Great Britain. To use your original breeder analogy, you'd have to go back to, in this case, the original importers, to find out their intent, based on their actual knowledge of where the birds came from. In America we haven't done that, but in Great Britain they have continued to pass on that original knowledge, and have arrived at their conclusion that what we call bantam and largefowl Cochins, are not two different sizes of the same breed, silly as anyone may want to believe.
As far as silkies, there is no standard because they are a useless, ugly breed anyway and who would want a larger version?
I'm not out to make some outlandish statements, simply to get a fight going. If I have facts and published references to back up my statements, I'll use them in a discussion to refute opposing views which have no such corroboration, to help people differentiate between what is true and what is not.
