The Modern Game is a British

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of ornamental

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 ...

which originated in England between 1850 and 1900. It was bred from

gamecock Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term " ...

stock, but solely as an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

bird.

History

Cockfighting Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term ...

was made illegal in Britain in 1849; in the following decades, some breeders

cross-bred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

fighting birds of

Old English Game The Old English Game is a British breed of domestic chicken. It was probably originally bred for cockfighting. Two different standards are recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain: Carlisle Old English Game and Oxford Old English Gam ...

and Malay stock to develop an ornamental bird for

. This was initially known as the Game, and in 1865 was included in nine colours in the ''Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry'', the first edition of the

British Poultry Standard ''British Poultry Standards'' is a compilation of the breed standards for poultry in the United Kingdom, approved and published by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. The standards themselves are usually drawn up by the individual specialist ...

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 ...

; a Game bantam was also listed. From about 1870 it was known as the Exhibition Game or Exhibition Modern Game. Eight colours were included in the first edition of the ''

Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official book of breed standards of the American Poultry Association. It classifies and describes the standard physical appearance, coloring and temperament for many breeds of poultry recognized i ...

'' of the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in 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 respons ...

in 1874.

Characteristics

The Modern Game is tall and upright, with a long neck and long legs. The body is broad at the breast and tapers towards the tail, somewhat like a

clothes iron A clothes iron (also flatiron, smoothing iron, dry iron, steam iron or simply iron) is a small appliance that, when heated, is used to press Clothing, clothes to remove Wrinkle, wrinkles and unwanted creases. Domestic irons generally range in o ...

in shape; the back is short and flat. Thirteen

colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

are recognised 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 ...

: birchen, black, black-red, blue, blue-red, brown-red, gold duckwing, lemon-blue, pile, silver-blue, silver duckwing, wheaten and white. The colour of the beak and legs varies according to that of the plumage, from black in the birchen through willow-green in the duckwings and the black-red to yellow in the pile and white. The comb is single and small; the face,

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

and wattles vary from black though deep purple to a bright red, and the eyes also vary from black to bright red. Standard-sized cocks weigh and hens , while bantams weigh and respectively.

Use

The Modern Game does not lay well, nor is it valued for meat production. It is kept almost exclusively for showing, particularly in the bantam size.

History

Characteristics

Use

References

Further reading