UTILITY POULTRY CLUB

Evening Star, Issue 23378, 22 September 1939, Page 2

UTILITY POULTRY CLUB

MONTHLY MEETING The monthly meeting of the Dunedin Utility Poultry Club was h?ld in the Y.M.C.A. rooms on Monday, when Mr F. G. Hanson spoke on the Ancona and Rhode Island Red breeds. _ Prior to the address an amateur judging competition was held, when all members were required to place the halfdozen birds of both breeds that had been penned. When_ this had been done the birds were judged by Mr C. Bartley, and the general and special points about the breeds were then dealt with by Mr Hanson. The speaker impressed on members the necessity of knowing the type of bird they were dealing with. It was easy enough, he said, to be able to point out the right typo when there was such a bird in front of one, but the real judge should be able to maintain a clear mental picture of his ideal, even when judging birds that did not come up to that standard. Pointing out that the Ancona resembled very closely the Leghorn in typo, Mr Hanson then detailed the next important factors to be considered. These were the evenness of mottling and the colour. Not so much stress, he said, was placed on the amount of white or black shown as on the evenness of the markings over the whole of the bird. With regard to the ground colour of the feather, this was best described as beetle green, and was certainly not the purple hue seen in- so many birds. By comparison of the birds that hod been judged, Mr Hanson showed the differences that existed in the under-colour of the feather which was required to be black, and in the beak, which should ho horn-coloured and not yellow. The desired markings on the flight feathers were also demonstrated. Mr Hanson then dealt with the Rhode Island Reds, and here again type was of the first importance. After comparing the breed in this respect with other breeds, the speaker enumerated the various other points to be looked for, and by the aid of a number of plates and a comparison of the penned birds brought borne to members their importance. The judging competition resulted : Anconns.— Miss Artlett 1, Mr Sime and Mr Wall (equal) 2. Rhode Island Beds.—Mr Sum; 1, Miss Artlett 2.