![golden comet rooster golden comet rooster](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/42/b3/ac/42b3acf585dede101224f38bf88b7881.jpg)
These are poultry breeds that have been in existence since many were first established back in the late 1800s. Purebreds are tending to be known nowadays as heritage breeds. Two easy ways to deter your cat from eating wildlife To try to create a true-to-type bird means constant inbreeding which leads to a reduction in reproductive ability, especially if no selection is done specifically for it (because a breeder is usually concentrating on colour or shape instead). It may be possible to use other breeds to recreate similar-coloured and similar-shaped birds that look like the originals, but one of the consequences of doing this is the small gene pool it creates. Some breeds have fallen out of popularity or even died out completely. If a serious fancier wants to develop a colour or breed which may exist overseas but not in NZ (because it’s almost impossibly expensive to import poultry into NZ for biosecurity reasons) then they will need to create a population of birds with the attribute, then breed several more generations until they are certain that the new physical appearance is breeding ‘true to type’. This is a common technique breeders use when a new colour is desired. Sometimes another breed may be added into the mix to make a slight change to it. You only need to see photos of a particular breed of dog, cat or cow over the past 70 years to see how our idea of what a particular breed should look like, or what fashion, and/or the show ring dictates it should be, has changed. This is where a group of fanciers have sat down and written a formal standard to which all animals in that breed should conform to.įrom time to time they may adjust the standard to more accurately describe the type they would like the breed to conform to. “…of or relating to an animal, all of whose ancestors derive over many generations from a recognised breed.”Ī particular breed will have what is known as a Breed Standard, and this is true for dogs, cows, sheep and poultry. “…the record of descent of an animal, showing it to be purebred.” While people may call a pure breed chicken ‘pure’ because its two parents looked to be the same breed, unless accurate records are kept going back over several generations (at least five) then you can never be sure that another breed was used, either by accident or intent, in either of the parents’ ancestors. This might mean they all have the same comb type, the same number of toes, the same style of feathering and the same body shape.
![golden comet rooster golden comet rooster](https://www.smallanimalplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Golden-Comet-Chicken.jpg)
A breed of poultry (or any species) is a group which all bear similar characteristics and which will breed true generation after generation.