The Feather’s Wyandotte Book by T. F. McGrew is a focused account of the Wyandotte and its varieties, copyrighted in 1905 by George E. Howard of Washington, D.C. It combines breed history with an examination of type, standards and the breeding problems associated with different colors.
Reconstructing the Silver variety’s beginnings
The opening chapter uses Joseph Wallace’s account of the origin and history of the Silver variety. McGrew explains his relationship with Wallace and his reason for preserving that earlier material.
Letters and recollections enter the narrative, allowing the reader to follow the effort to identify early birds, crosses and breeders. The account recognizes uncertainty rather than presenting every part of the breed’s development as settled.
For a heritage-poultry reader, this is one of the book’s strongest features. It shows how breed history was assembled from correspondence and remembered experience while many of the events were still relatively recent.
The changing idea of Wyandotte type
A chapter on the advanced type of Wyandotte considers how the bird’s outline had developed. The discussion asks what a well-shaped specimen should look like and how its proportions should relate to one another.
McGrew then examines standard demands since 1883. This gives the volume a historical dimension beyond a description of the ideal bird at a single moment.
The reader can see a familiar breed being treated as the result of continuing selection. Appearance is something breeders have changed and debated, with consequences for judging and for the choices made in the breeding yard.
Silver Laced Wyandottes
The Silver Laced section brings the discussion from broad outline to particular details of plumage. McGrew examines the relation between markings, color and breeding choices.
Bird portraits and separate feather illustrations help explain why a pattern that looks simple at a distance can be demanding to produce consistently. Different parts of the body must contribute to the overall effect.
This makes the book useful for understanding the language of historical poultry standards. Terms about lacing and color can be compared with an illustration rather than interpreted only from a written description.
White and Black birds
White and Black Wyandottes receive a combined chapter that follows their origins and development before considering the qualities sought in each. Both varieties require attention to more than a single overall color.
The discussion connects visible quality with selection and the characteristics of breeding stock. As elsewhere in the book, the aim is to understand how the desired bird might be produced rather than merely to admire a finished specimen.
These passages also illustrate the relationship between a breed and its varieties. The same broad Wyandotte identity must remain recognizable while the demands associated with plumage change.
Buffs and the other varieties
The Buff chapter examines another set of color questions. It is followed by material on Golden and Silver Penciled, Buff Laced, Violet and Cuckoo birds under the period’s any-other-variety grouping.
These later sections are valuable evidence of a changing poultry fancy. They preserve names, ambitions and classifications that may not correspond exactly to those a reader encounters in a present-day standard.
The range also helps explain why a specialist breed book can reward close reading. Different varieties pose different selection problems, even when their keepers are working toward a common general shape.
Illustrations and readers
This free ebook suits Wyandotte enthusiasts, poultry historians and readers studying how standards influence selective breeding. It is a specialist breed reference, with a strong emphasis on origins, appearance and varieties, rather than a complete manual of flock health or commercial production.
The PDF contains 94 digital pages, including a library binding, the original titled cover, preliminary matter, color bird plates, photographs, feather studies and advertising. The original ochre cover is retained as the featured image. The contents list gives printed page numbers, which differ from digital positions because of the preliminary leaves and plates. Enlarge the color and feather illustrations when comparing them with the text.
Book details
- Author: T. F. McGrew
- Publisher: George E. Howard, Washington, D.C.
- Year: 1905
- Edition: 1905 issue; no numbered edition stated
- Digital length: 94 PDF pages
- Language: English
- File size: 2.79 MB
