MATING TO OVERCOME DEFECTS IN SHAPE

The most important factor in breeding Barred Rocks or any other breed is shape. "Shape makes the breed, followed by color the variety." Then, as typical Plymouth Rocks are. primarily desired from our matings, we must look closely and well to the characters required to obtain better formed specimens.

The Importance of Shape

So often does the impression exist that color is of primary and shape of secondary importance with the breeder of Standard fowls that a brief discourse on the above topic seems advisable. Such an impression is erroneous and far from the letter and the spirit of the Standard. Shape, in fact, with the more practical breeds, counts more than color.
 
Why Shape Counts More Than Color

We must forever recall that "shape makes the breed." Without typical shape, breedtypes are destroyed. A Plymouth Rock is not typical Plymouth Rock merely because it has a single comb, smooth legs and the
color and markings of one of the Plymouth Rock varieties. It must first have Plymouth Rock shape. Shape is of first importance because breed comes first and without shape there can be neither breed nor variety. Faulty color injures the variety only, but faults in shape injure both our ideals. A specimen quite faulty in color has no standing with the variety of which it is a member, but a specimen that is seriously faulty in shape has no standing with the breed which it is supposed to represent, and as variety is but a "sub-division of the breed," it can have no standing as a representative of either a breed or of a variety of that breed. Breed characteristics are vastly more important than those of the variety ; for breed characteristics represent practical qualities upon which the foundation of every branch of the poultry industry rests. Deprive it of its economic value as a food supply and this industry would assume merely the proportions and importance of the breeding of pet dogs, pet cats, cage birds, and kindred fancies. It is in recognition of this fact that the American Poultry Association has made breed characteristics, which are synonymous with practical qualities, authoritatively of more importance than those which apply to variety, representing the attractive features only. Breed characteristics are described completely by one word shape which embraces all the practical qualities of a fowl. The features that distinguish varieties, a difference in color, markings, shape of comb, etc., are merely accessories that make fowls attractive and likable. The problem of correcting faulty shape, because it is a breed problem and equally applicable to all varieties of Plymouth Rocks, should then receive our first and most serious consideration.