what is a "designer" chicken?

[walkswithdog]

I like Sizzles. Sizzles are or were a designer aka mutt breed. Slowly they are developing a standard and pushing toward uniformity and recognition, but that doesn't happen overnight. A silkie to a frizzle creates a sizzle of one of the three classes of sizzles, sizzled (curly), frilkies (curled silkie) or smooth. All three varieties are recognized. Bearded and non-bearded recognized and defined for.

Since a standard of black skinned, five toes, feather feet, vulture hocks, etc. is being developed they're leaving muttdom slowly and headed toward the establishment of them as a breed.

It's how every breed came into being but there has to be an agreement, a goal, a focus, a standard, or it's just random mutt breeding.

Make sense?

 

[Krys109uk]

From
http://www.runnerduck.net/
An interesting read for anyone liking ducks.

"Colour Breeding in Domestic Waterfowl

Perhaps the biggest impact of the Indian Runner Duck has been on the creation of twentieth century ‘Designer Ducks’. Birds like the Khaki Campbell and the Buff Orpington are the direct result of crossing Indian Runners to other domestic breeds. The egg-laying potential, allied to some remarkable chromotypes, liberated duck breeding in both commercial and exhibition stocks."

The term "designer duck" is pretty well used & this quote makes its meaning pretty unambiguous.