Pure Breeds: What are they?

Grant Brereton poses the question...

- GRANT BRERETON

I've had many introductions to pure breeds over the years. One prominent memory is at a country housel just down the road from where I lived. I was visiting a lady and her geese when she showed me this little Modern Game bantam hen and her tiny chick. It was funny to see the long legs on this chicken - and also on its baby chick! Mrs Challenor explained that she had bought a pair of Modern Game bantams from Chelford Market, but that sadly the cockerel had died. She dearly hoped that the chick was male. We knew very little about breed clubs back then, so the chances of acquiring another such suitable 'Modern Game' male were very slim.

When I got home I excitedly consulted my book on bantams, 'Bantams in Colour' to discover that this hen was the 'Silver Duckwing' variety of the breed. I can't really describe that feeling of looking at the hen and her chick and processing that they were 'pure.' No idea where the magic feelings came from - just the notion that these chickens breed very predictably was wonderful. You look at the photographs in the book and think, 'ah, OK, so that's what the males look like and that's what the females look like... I like those!

The Modern Game as a breed of poultry was born from the ban of cockfighting in the 1850s. It developed purely as an exhibition breed and quite obviously has Old English Game in its heritage. Although Old English Game birds were still bred and shown at the time (and still are), the 'Moderns' became a breed of their own, with the other main ancestor being the ancient Malay breed, which introduced the long legs.

WHY DIFFERENT CHICKEN BREEDS WERE CREATED