There
are big opportunities today for anyone who will take up Belgian bantams, provided
he will but use his head and not be afraid either of the rather complicated
Standards or the "big three" who appear to dominate the exhibition scene. A
few weeks ago I judged the club show for the British Belgian Bantam Club, and
was able, at first hand and in a detailed manner, to make an assessment of the
breed that would normally be denied to anyone other than a leading breeder.
I am able to say, straightway, that no one would welcome new and serious breeders more than the "big three" (Messrs. Sears, Ward and Mayhew) already mentioned.
But they are (and rightly so) tired of supplying first grade foundation stock to people who will persist in regarding this attractive breed purely as pets and not making use of the opportunities which have been given to them.
When classes such as those on view at the club show are carefully assessed, it is found that the leading breeders each make a great number of entries and send out bantams that they would really wish to leave at home.
This they do to ensure a good representation before the public, and not with the idea of "hogging" all the prizes.
To clear confusion which seems to cloud the minds of some who would otherwise be attracted to the breed, it should be made clear that the club really caters for two breeds.
One is the Barbu d'Uccle which has feathered legs, a small, single comb and face muffling and beard which make up a "trilobe" of three distinct groups of feathering. The head of this breed should be small.
Barbu d'Anvers, on the other hand, has clean legs, broad and rather large head, rosecomb and a complete set of whiskers and beard which should form a full ruff, distinct in appearance from the d'Uccles.
There has been some interbreeding to get colour from one breed into the other and, in consequence, there is similarity in some varieties instead of the facial points being distinct.
This is a pity, since both breeds have colours which, in themselves, are enough to attract most people and which provide an exercise for skill in breeding.
The wording of the Standards is lengthy and appears to be very complicated. So much so that many people never read through to the end.
If the Standards were carefully digested, it would be found that the scale of points makes greatest allowance for facial merit and type, allied with characteristic carriage. Colour does not rank so very highly, after all.
Thus it is impossible for a superbly coloured bantam to win the first prize if it is deficient in other details. But it is possible for a bird of fair average colour to win if it has the best of type and head points.
Once this essential is grasped, the breed immediately appeals to the man who likes diminutive, cocky pieces of beauty in his bantam pens and does not much care whether they lay eggs except when he wants to reproduce their like in springtime.
They appeal also to the bantam fancier who takes a certain amount of pride in his ability to balance colours in the hope that he can produce what's wanted, allied to type and head points already mentioned.
The man who appreciates Old English Game can, to some extent, look to the Belgians to provide him with a soft-feathered counterpart. Their colours can be interbred to a limited degree, but absolute "off" colours are not wanted. What are shown must accord to the extensive Standards laid down.
It has often been thought that the Millefleur d'Uccles (feathered legs) have been "bottled up" by a few breeders for so long that no one could get in. This is about as far from the truth as it could possibly be.
A sound foundation trio and careful breeding in the future would put anyone, with enough experience to handle such an ornamental breed as Belgians, near the top within a very few years.
Only the first few in each class would need to be beaten as those lower down the prize list are, as I have said, entered by the same enthusiasts to ensure a good representation.
What's wanted for a new starter is a good coloured and evenly marked cock with any amount of foot feathering and good muffling and beard.
He should be put to a couple of hens which have good body type and compact appearance even if they are a little light in body colour or gaily marked. Careful selection of the offspring and mating back the pick of the pullets to their sire should soon put anyone on the right road.
Allied to this colour is the Porcelain in which the black points become blue and the rich ground colour is diluted to pale straw.
If type and compactness cannot be got in Millefleurs, then a Porcelain hen can be used with a Millefleur cock and both colours will be bred "clean". In the same way, when Porcelains are good in all except colour and need to be rejuvenated, a Millefleur cock will do what is wanted.
Black Mottles are about as good in type as anything yet bred in d'Uccles, but there is room for anyone to breed this colour extensively and get better distribution of markings than appears in most winners. They will interbreed with Blacks, of course.
Porcelains, already mentioned, throw some superb hens but not so many good males. They also produce the occasional White and this colour might be segregated and developed. It would win many prizes.
Quails have now been bred in d'Uccles but; to my mind, they are rather coarse. There is certainly room here for anyone to breed them in fair numbers and make a quick mark.
The clean-legged d'Anvers are not as popular as feather-legged d'Uccles. Hard to say why, as it is obvious they do not take as much preparing for show.
Some thirty-odd years ago I judged my first show at Whitby Agricultural Society's event and was confronted with some Black Barbu d'Anvers in the A.O.V. class. I have had a soft spot for them ever since.
Today there are, almost literally, prizes for the asking in Blacks, Blues, Cuckoos and Whites - all of them strangely neglected. It is reasonable for anyone of enquiring mind to assume that these colours can be interbred and the way to keep them healthy and vigorous is clearly indicated.
Those who prefer one of the colours can have it by rigorous selection and careful mating but, with colour of plumage ranking no higher than 15 points, there is no need for the careful mating which would take place in, for instance, Wyandottes.
Black Mottles can be interbred with Blue Mottles and, here again, the odd White may be produced. Lavenders (or Reynolds Blues, a true-breeding strain with undercolour to match) are the foundation from which Lavender Mottles are bred. Quails are the parent stock from which Blue Quails may derive.
It
will be appreciated that there is as much interest in the breeding pen as there
will be in the exhibition pen, since more than one colour may be produced from
the same parents in a season.
Even when the same colour is used on both sides of the breeding pen, it is possible for other offspring to be produced - depending entirely on the components of the breeding pen from which the parent stock sprang.
What more interesting start, for instance, than a Cuckoo cock with Cuckoo, Blue and Black hens. Quite a sporting chance of the cockerel and pullet chicks maturing in any one of the three colour groups thus giving the owner more than one chance when the classification is extensive.
Similarly, the Quails may be mated to normal Blues and both normal Quails and Blue Quails occur among youngsters destined for the show pen.
If this sort of breeding pen is not viewed with favour, there are opportunities in the "straight" colours.
For instance, most Quail females are much too dark on top and there is clearly a prime opportunity for anyone who will seek to produce (and then keep intact) a strain which can breed Quail females with the true silvery lustre on umber coloured feathers.
Mottles could be more regularly marked, still keeping their good ruffs and bull fronts but being reduced in body size. Cuckoos could be refined in colouring, especially on the wing-ends and Blacks have brighter sheen.