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Popular Poultry Breeds is a meticulously researched reference work that examines forty of the most popular poultry breeds, and all their variants. The book is divided into thirty-five chapters, each of which coves a single breed or a group of related breeds. Most enthusiasts who keep old breeds are interested in the history of their birds and for this reason much of the content of the book is historical in nature. Every breed has its own fascinating history and in many cases this has been influenced by events totally unrelated to poultry farming. Moreover, in the case of some breeds vital pieces of information about their development still remain a mystery. For example, a great deal of detailed information is available concerning how the Araucanas developed into three standard types after 1880, but little has yet been discovered about the circumstances surrounding the transportation of the birds across the Pacific Ocean by the ancient Polynesians. The author has drawn the information for this remarkable book from many sources, including rare, and difficult to find, pamphlets and magazines, some over 150 years old. Many of these sources, although not as expensive to acquire as the classic Victorian poultry books written by Lewis Wright and others, sometimes contain key facts that fill in the gaps and provides us with much more complete history of particular breeds. Each chapter is beautifully illustrated both with colour photographs of excellent specimens of the breeds as they exist now, and with reproductions of old breeds in their paintings and prints, and these became templates that breeders tried to make a living reality. It is interesting to compare the modern photographs with the old prints and to see how successful enthusiasts have been in reproducing breeds that were originally 'created', in part at least, as a result of artistic licence. AUTHOR: David Scrivener has had a lifelong fascination with both the amazing range of shapes, sizes and colours of traditional poultry breeds, and the breeders who created them. He gained a National Diploma in Poultry (NDP) at Harper Adams Agricultural College, Shropshire, England, is a 'Panel A' poultry judge, and is Chairman of the Rare Poultry Society. SELLING POINTS: A painstakingly researched reference work, packed full of historical information drawn together from sources which are normally difficult, or almost impossible, to find Provides detailed histories of each breed, in many cases including the names of the breeders and where they lived Examines the special management and selective breeding requirements needed for certain breeds, even if they are not going to be entered into shows ILLUSTRATIONS: 268 colour photos