|
The Jubilee was created to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
It is a bit of a mystery as to exactly what breeds were used to creat it, but it is believed to be a decendant of the speckled
sussex, and some say the buff orpington. There is also a therory that it was wiped out in Germany during the war as Hitler
wanted all British breeds culled, and with the Jubilee having such a patriotic tie with Britain, these were not spared, although
having chatted to a German breeder, he told me that two differnt types of the colour variation, a darker mahogany ground colour
which is the traditional kind, and a lighter more 'ginger' or buff ground colour known as the Diamond Jubilee, both re-created
in Germany after the war.
The feather pattern which makes the Jubilee, is a very complex colour, and maturing birds
can take up to 18 months to be 'finished'. Not a bird to keep if you're impatient! The shaft should be a dark mahogany with
a clear black band, finished with a white tip, or 'pearl' at the end.It should have no smuttiness, or leaking of the black
into either the brown, or the white as this is classed as a fault. The old standard page goes into this with more detail.
The colouration has a few names, according to the breed, millefleur as it's called in pekins and barbu d'uccles and brown
porceline in wyandottes, and the german bred orpingtons, but it's all the same colour.
We are currently trying desparately to find a suitable outcross for our birds, they are from
Holland, and are far bigger and more typy than the British birds, they do lack type according to the standard, our birds are
as heavy as a black orp, but lack the fluff. So there's still alot of work to be done, and we need more people to take the
Jubilee challenge!! Breeding to type, and keeping the rubbish out!
|
