The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official

breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athlet ...

for the

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quail ...

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in North America. First published in 1874 by the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in resp ...

, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standard''") classifies and describes the standard physical appearance, coloring and temperament for all recognized breeds of poultry, including

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a for ...

turkeys The turkey is a large bird in the genus ''Meleagris'', native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocella ...

, and

geese A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...

. The current edition was published in 2015.

Use

The ''Standard'' is used by American Poultry Association judges at sanctioned poultry shows to judge poultry, and by those who participate in the competitive showing of

selectively bred Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant ma ...

birds that conform to the standard, which led to the term "standard bred" poultry.

History

The first edition of the book listed 41 breeds, and today's versions have nearly 60. There are 19 classes of poultry recognized by the American Poultry Association. Eleven of these classes are devoted to chickens, of which six are classes of large breeds and five are bantam classes. There are four classes of ducks and three classes of geese, both divided by weight. All breeds of turkeys are grouped into one class.

List of American Poultry Association Classes

Standard: American, Asiatic, Continental, English,

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, and All Other Standard Breeds
Bantam: Single Comb Clean Legged (SCCL), Rose Comb Clean Legged (RCCL), All Other Comb Clean Legged (AOCCL), Feather Legged, and Game Bantam
Ducks: Heavy, Medium, Light, and Bantam
Geese: Heavy, Medium, and Light
Turkeys: Judged as one class. Guinea Fowl: Judged as one class.

References

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External links

The American Standard of Perfection"> The American Standard of Perfection
full 1905 version from Google Books Handbooks and manuals Animal breeding standards Poultry standards {{poultry-stub

Use

History

List of American Poultry Association Classes

See also

References

External links