''British Poultry Standards'' is a compilation of the

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 phenotype, physical or morphology (biology), morphological detail, genotype, g ...

s for

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

in the United Kingdom, approved and published by the

Poultry Club of Great Britain The Poultry Club of Great Britain is a registered charity founded in 1877. Its stated purpose is to "safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys". The club main ...

. The standards themselves are usually drawn up by the individual specialist breed societies. It is the official reference standard used by judges at

poultry show A poultry show is a specific subset of a livestock show that involves the exhibition and competition of exhibition poultry, which may include chickens, domestic ducks, domestic geese, domestic guineafowl and domestic turkey. Domestic pigeon a ...

s in the United Kingdom. It was first published in 1865 as ''The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry'', and was the earliest publication of its kind in the world. Later editions had various titles until 1905, when the present title was adopted.

History

The standard was first published in 1865 by the original Poultry Club of Great Britain, a club which existed for only three years. It was entitled ''The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry'' and was edited by

William Bernhardt Tegetmeier William Bernhardt Tegetmeier FZS (4 November 1816 – 19 November 1912) was an English naturalist, a founding member of the Savage Club, a popular writer and journalist of domestic science. A correspondent and friend of Charles Darwin, Tegetmei ...

. It was the first publication of its kind. The compilation of the standard was then taken over by the second

, which is still active. The number of editions of the standard that have been published is uncertain, as each successive publisher that has been used by the Poultry Club of Great Britain has started again with a first edition. The edition published in 2019 by

Wiley-Blackwell Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...

is the seventh in the current numbering.

Use

The standard is the official reference for use by judges at poultry shows in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It contains breed standards of more than 150 breeds of

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

goose A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egy ...

and

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

;

pigeons Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

are not included.

Editions

Editions of the standards include, but probably are not limited to, these: * William Bernhard Tegetmeier (editor)
''The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry, authorized by the Poultry Club''
London: Groombridge and Sons, for the Poultry Club, 1865. * . ''The Poultry Book: comprising the breeding and management of profitable and ornamental poultry, their qualities and characteristics; to which is added the Standard of Excellence in exhibition birds, authorized by the Poultry Club''. .l. Routledge, 1867. * , Harrison Weir (illustrator). ''The Poultry Book: comprising the breeding and management of profitable and ornamental poultry, their qualities and characteristics; to which is added "The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Birds," authorized by the Poultry Club''. London; New York : George Routledge and Sons, the Broadway, Ludgate, 1867. * .M. Halstedbr>''The Standard of Excellence as adopted by the American Poultry Society, being a reprint of the same as compiled and adopted by the London Poultry Club, with alterations and additions, adapting it to America''
New York: A.M. Halsted, 1867. * William Bernhard Tegetmeier, Harrison Weir (illustrator)
''The Poultry Book: comprising the breeding and management of profitable and ornamental poultry, their qualities and characteristics; to which is added "The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Birds," authorized by the Poultry Club''
New edition, greatly enlarged. London; New York : George Routledge and Sons, the Broadway, Ludgate, 1873. * . ''The standard of excellence in exhibition poultry, authorised by the Poultry Club, to which is added the American standard. Reprinted from the original editions, with additions''. London, 1874. * Alexander Comyns (editor). ''The Standard of Perfection for Exhibition Poultry''. London: Office of the Poultry Club,

886 __NOTOC__ Year 886 (Roman numerals, DCCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March – A wide-ranging conspiracy against Emperor Basil I, led by John Kourkouas (9t ...

* T. Threlford (editor), Lewis Wright (introduction)
''The Poultry Club Standards, containing a complete description of all the recognised varieties of fowls''
second edition. London; Paris; New York; Melbourne: Cassell & Company, 1901. * Lewis Wright
''The New Book of Poultry. With Forty-Five Plates, by J.W. Ludlow, and the Poultry Club Standards of Perfection for the Various Breeds''
London; Paris; New York; Melbourne: Cassell and Company, 1902. (reprinted 1904) * T. Threlford (editor), Lewis Wright (introduction). ''The Poultry Club Standards. Containing a complete description of all the recognised varieties of fowls'', third edition. London: Cassell, 1905. * Sidney Hubert Lewer, Lewis Wright
''Wright's Book of Poultry. Revised and edited in accordance with the latest Poultry Club standards by S. H. Lewer''
London; Paris; New York; Melbourne: Cassell and Company, .d., after 1910 * William White Broomhead (editor)
''The Poultry Club Standards: containing a complete description of all the recognised varieties of fowls, ducks, geese and turkeys''
fifth edition. London: The Poultry Club, 1922. *
''The Poultry Club Standards''
sixth edition. London: Poultry Club of Great Britain, 1923. *
''The Poultry Club Standards''
seventh edition. London: The Poultry Club, 1926. *
''The Poultry Club Standards''
eighth edition. London: The Poultry Club, 1930. * oultry Club of Great Britain ''British Poultry Standards: Complete specifications and judging points of all standardised breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed societies and recognised by The Poultry Club of Great Britain''. London: Poultry World in association with the Poultry Club of Great Britain,

954 Year 954 ( CMLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – A Hungarian army led by Bulcsú crosses the Rhine. He camps at Worms in the capital of his ally Conrad the Red, d ...

* oultry Club of Great Britain ''British Poultry Standards. Complete specifications and judging points of all standardised breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed societies and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain'', revised edition, with illustrations. London: Poultry World,

960 Year 960 ( CMLX) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. It was the 960th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 960th year of the 1st millennium, the 60th year of the 10th century, and the firs ...

* C. George May (editor). ''British Poultry Standards: Complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the Specialist Breed Societies and recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''. London: Iliffe Books, 1971. * , David Hawksworth. ''British Poultry Standards: Complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the Specialist Breed Societies and recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''. London; Boston: Butterworth Scientific, 1982. * . ''British Poultry Standards: Complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the Specialist Breed Societies and recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain'', fourth edition, revised by David Hawksworth. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific, 1994. . * Victoria Roberts (editor). ''British Poultry Standards: Complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the Specialist Breed Societies and recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain'', fifth edition. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 1997. . *
''British Poultry Standards: Complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the Specialist Breed Clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''
Oxford: Blackwell, 2008. . * J. Ian H. Allonby, Philippe B. Wilson (editors) (2019)
''British Poultry Standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardised breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''
seventh edition. Chichester; Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell. .

References

Handbooks and manuals Poultry standards Standards of the United Kingdom {{bots, deny=Citation bot