Exhibition Poultry Magazine 05 2014

Pictured is a Black Langshan hen exhibited byDodge Cowart, of Amity, Arkansas. She was OpenChampion Large Fowl at both the El Dorado & Little

Rock, Arkansas 2014 spring shows.

Exhibition PoultryExhibition PoultryThe #1 Internet Source For Information On Showing & Breeding Exhibition Poultry

Volume 5, Number 6 http://www.ExhibitionPoultry.net June 2014

Photo by Ann Charles

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Exhibition Poultry Magazine Page 08 June 2014

crease Houdan crests, but result in smallerbirds. The French crested breeds,Houdans and Crevecoeurs, should havelarge, well-formed crests that do not inter-fere with the birds vision.

LaFlecheThe La Fleche take their name from the

town of La Fleche, around which produc-tion was centered in the early 19th cen-tury. Their actual history goes much far-ther back, to the 15th century or even ear-lier. Confusion over names given to localfowl makes it difficult to trace their history,although a more thorough study could shinesome historical light on that subject. Theyprobably resulted from crossing Polish,Crevecoeur and Spanish birds, which gavethem their white ear lobes.

They have sometimes been called theHorned Fowl. Although now clean-headed,some breeders report occasional offspringwith small crests or tassels. The Frenchstandard requires a crest. For showing inthe U.S., select birds with glossy greenishblack feathers and prominent combs withnicely rounded points. They should havestrong, well-spaced rangy legs, broadshoulders, full breasts and long, broadbacks sloping downward from shoulder totail.

Harrison Wier, in his 1905 Poultry Book,didnt understand why the almostunsurpassable La Fleche were not morepopular in England, Considering the highexcellence of the breed, in quality, texture,quantity and flavor of the flesh. He couldntresist taking a shot at English pretensionsto explain it: One difference betweenFrench and English people is that theformer understand and appreciate what isa good table fowl, while the latter only thinkthey do.

They are recognized only in black, butin the past other colors were popular. In

Old French BreedsBy Christine Heinrichs

The Old French breeds Houdan,LaFleche and Crevecoeur -- are an inter-esting group of breeds. This Houdan paint-ing is from Lewis Wright's Poultry, pub-lished in 1983 by Dr. J. Batty.

All were developed in France as dualpurpose fowl. The La Fleche, probably theoldest member of the group, was selectedand managed for egg production in Brit-ain and North America. After the Civil War,the Houdan became a popular productionbreed with professional poultry keepers inthe U.S. The breed maintained its statusinto the early 20th century. While not aspopular, the Crevecoeur was also used asa production fowl during the same period.Lewis Wright, in his 1890 Illustrated Bookof Poultry, remarks that they are all mostdelicious eating.

All three were included in the original1874 APA Standard. They have long histo-ries, as far as the 15th century in the caseof the La Fleche, the 17th century for theothers. All are large birds, topping out at 8lbs. for roosters and 7 lbs. for hens. Allare white egg layers. All three, in both largefowl and bantam varieties, are recognizedby the APA for exhibition, and bantams bythe ABA.

HoudansHoudans have been known as

Normandy fowl. Houdans were developedfrom early French market hybrids. Histori-cally, they were considered one of the besttable fowl breeds, but are also good egglayers.

All three breeds have V combs. The Vor horn comb, required for exhibition inthe U.S., is unusual. In England andFrance, the leaf comb, shaped like butter-fly wings, is still recognized. Leaf combsare the result of the V comb crossed witha single comb. Dr. J. Battys Poultry ColourGuide, 1977, shows these drawings of leafand horn combs. Lewis Wrights IllustratedBook of Poultry, 1890, shows a prominentleaf comb. Polish, Crevecoeur and Sultanchickens also have V combs.

Houdans are recognized in the originalmottled black-and-white and the newer(1914) solid white varieties. Solid black,blue mottled and red mottled varieties haveexisted in the past and may be raised byfanciers yet. They have five toes, like theDorkings. Houdan origins may include bothPolish and Dorkings, popular breeds in 17thcentury France.

Polish are often used as a cross to in-

This Houdan painting is from Lewis Wright's Poultry, published in 1983 by Dr. J. Batty.

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Everything youneed to know aboutbreed selection,care, feeding,facilities andshowing. ByChristine Heinrichs.

Updated & Revised.

See Christines blog at: http:// poultrybookstore.blogspot.com

& How To Raise POULTRY

Available at Amazon.com - Buy Your Copies Today

How To Raise CHICKENS

1580, Prudens Choiselat wrote in A Dis-course of Housebandrie that blacks, reds,and tawnie were the best. Blue and whitestrains have existed in the more recentpast.

CrevecoeursThe Crevecoeur has a crest and a V

comb, although earlier in history they alsohad leaf combs. Currently recognized onlyin black plumage, white and blue wereraised in the past. Lewis Wright, in his1890 Illustrated Poultry Book, notes thatCrevecoeurs are bulkier than the other twobreeds: Indeed, we have often thought thatit must have had a cross with the Cochin,which is to some extent borne out by itsenormous appetite. That difference dis-appeared in the 20th century. All threebreeds are now the same in weight stan-dard for large fowl: 8 lbs. for cocks and 6 lbs. for hens. Among bantams, Houdansare slightly larger, at 34 ounces for cocksand 30 ounces for hens, compared to 30ounces for La Fleche cocks and 26 ouncesfor hens, and 30 ounces for Crevecoeurcocks and 27 ounces for hens.Crevecoeuralso served as a production fowl in the late19th and early 20th century. They were sopopular that at the Universal Exhibition inParis in 1855, only two prizes awarded forpoultry: one for the Crvecoeur and theother for all other breeds of poultry com-bined.

The Polish Breeders Club encompassesthe crested breeds, Houdans andCrevecoeurs, http://www.polishbreedersclub.com/.

Im not aware of any breed organiza-tion for the La Fleche, but The LivestockConservancy includes it in the Watch cat-egory of its Conservation Priority List.

These Crevecoeurs and the La Fleche are Robert Gibson's, from Yellow House Farm in NewHampshire.

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Sourcing Stock: Part III - Outcrossing

By Brian Reeder

When we seek to outcross, for whateverreason, what we are actually doing is seekingto bring genes from one individual or straininto another strain or lineage. At its most ba-sic, that is all outcrossing is. However, inpractice, it is never really just that simple,because in addition to the gene or genes wewant to bring in, we also bring in genes thatwe do not want or that are neutral to our de-sires, but may have an unforeseen influencelater on down the line. So while outcrossingcan be an easy enough matter, there are in-stances where it can be a very complicatedendeavor. In keeping with the theme of thisseries of articles, we will focus on bringingin stock to improve a givenlineage of hatchery typebirds, but the informationpresented herein (and thebasic ideas of outcrossing)will apply to any outcross-ing project.

So let us say that youhave one or more lines ofbirds of a given variety ofany given breed that youhave ordered from a hatch-ery and have been workingto improve, but you feelyou are at an impasse andmust bring in individuals ofan alternate line to improvea given trait or traits in yourstock. The first and most important thing youwill want to consider is whether there are anylines of the breed or the variety (whetherhatchery or show type) that actually have thetraits you feel you need to bring in. If the traitsare strictly visual traits, then likely there willbe a show line that will have those traits (butnot always). However, if it is some more in-tangible trait, such as production, resistanceto a given disease, better fertility or bettertemperament, you might not be able to findthe desire trait(s) in exhibition lineages of thevariety of the breed in question and thus youmay need to look further afield, going out-side of the variety or even the breed you areworking with. How far you have to go outsideyour variety or breed will depend on what isactually available, the popularity of the given

breed or variety and whether you can locateexhibition or commercial stock that carriesthe trait you need (and then, of course, whetheryou can actually obtain some stock if you dolocate such).

The decision to outcross can be a big one,and it can be traumatic too. If you have a topshow line that is loosing its fertility, the de-cision to outcross can be very difficult, be-cause undoubtedly you will not find a linewith high fertility that has all the bells andwhistles of your top exhibition line. However,if you have a commercial type strain and de-cide to outcross to bring in better visual breedtraits, you may actually be embarking on anexciting journey. While I believe both ex-

amples above are excitingjourneys, I do understandand sympathize in the caseof the first example.

For the outcross to im-prove phenotype traits,make every effort to find atleast one young male of thebest line (in terms of phe-notype traits) that you canfind. Now let me stress thatyou should make some ef-fort to find a well-ap-pointed show line that isnot so inbred that it is loos-ing (or has lost) many ofthe intangible traits such asfertility, egg production(and I DONT mean com-

mercial level production, just the ability toproduce enough eggs to derive enough ge-netic diversity to keep the line going) and/ordisease resistance. I do not mean to belaborthe point about the intangible traits, but thefrequency with which I mention this is corre-lated directly to the number of highly diseasesusceptible, low fertility and/or nearly non-productive show lines I have worked with andwitnessed over the years. So when looking foran outcross, always consider these pointsalong with the phenotype traits, as it is veryeasy to bring very destructive traits into yourcommercial, hatchery line when making suchoutcrosses. Some of these deleterious traitsare recessive and may not be obvious in yourline for some years after the outcross. Bewarned! Not all top lines are actually top birds.

If the only line you can find of your given va-riety has many deleterious problems alongwith their highly developed phenotype traits,you may want to look to another variety oreven another breed to bring in the phenotypetraits you need. While that may mean you haveto work a little harder to get to your goal, orit might take an extra generation or two, youwill at least not have brought in traits that willeventually undermine your work and yourlines integrity.

Now, I would like to give an example ofwhat I mean by the above paragraph. If youhave a line of hatchery White Cochin bantamsand need to make an outcross in order to im-prove the level of fluff in your line, but theonly white lines you find also have very lowegg production, possibly fertility issues and/or high susceptibility to a disease such asMareks, then you may want to look at othervarieties of Cochin bantams in order to findone with the level of fluff you want, but thathas better intangible traits. Since the WhiteCochin is based on standard recessive white(c/c), it really doesnt matter exactly whatcolors are under the recessive white. Whilemost White Cochins are actually black underthe recessive white, there can be other col-ors under the recessive white and the finished,recessive white homozygote will still be aWhite Cochin. This is one of the reason thatrecessive white lines are very popular - theyare very easy to make outcrosses with becauseonce you get back to homozygous for reces-sive white, they are again the variety. Forthis reason, recessive white lines can be keptboth very genetically diverse and be a reser-voir of fine intangible traits. The sad truththough is that very few recessive white linesrepresent such an ideal, perhaps due to fearof outcrossing.

There are many other examples I could giveof going outside of variety or even breed inan outcrossing experiment, but for this articleto remain a suitable length, we need to moveon from this particular aspect. Let me finishthis section by simply saying that you shouldbe picky in choosing an outcross and dont beafraid to go outside of variety or breed, butdo attempt to make intelligent choices. Thatis to say, try to bring in as few undesirablegenes as possible (whether alternate pheno-type genes or lack of good intangible traits).

. . . you should be pickyin choosing an outcross anddont be afraid to go out-side of variety or breed, butdo attempt to make intelli-gent choices. That is tosay, try to bring in as fewundesirable genes as pos-sible (whether alternatephenotype genes or lack ofgood intangible traits).


Even a cursory understanding of the basicgenetics of color/pattern (1) and form/feath-ering (2) genes will help you to avoid pitfallsand unwise outcrosses.

Once you have chosen a line to use as youroutcross, you will want to obtain birds. In manyinstances you may be able toget a pair or trio of the desiredoutcross material, but if youcant get both sexes, generallyone or more cockerels of thedesired outcross will work,though there are instanceswhere sex-linked genes maymake a female of the outcrossstrain more desirable. If thatis the case, even if you cantobtain a female, the male willstill work, though you mayhave to go one extra genera-tion of backcrossing to set thedesired sex-linked trait andeliminate the undesirable sex-linked trait, if you use a malecarrying a sex-linked trait youdont want.

It is so important to re-member that when you crosstwo individuals that are different genetically,the offspring are a combination of both lines.Generally, when we outcross, we are hopingto bring one or more genes into our own line,but the reality is that we bring every gene inthe alternate line into our own line throughthe outcross, at least in the first generation.Our job then is to both take care in what webring in and to then work to eliminate thetraits we dont want. There are pitfalls to thisof course. Some genes that we may want canbe linked to genes we dont want. This can becorrected through breaking of the linkage ifenough chicks are raised, but the worst-casescenario is when two traits are actually theaction of pleiotropy of one gene that showsmore than one effect. In that instance, the twotraits cannot be separated, as they are the ac-tion of one gene. Luckily, pleiotropy is muchmore rare than linkage.

We have already discussed the possibilityof bringing in deleterious genes through anoutcross. This is much more common thanwe might imagine as inbreeding brings del-eterious recessive genes to the surface, andlines with highly concentrated phenotypetraits generally represent fairly high levelsof inbreeding. Thus, if the breeder(s) of thesehighly developed lines have not paid close at-tention to the surfacing and appearance ofdeleterious recessives, such lines can harbormany such traits. It should also be mentionedthat outcrosses are often made to bring in

new blood when inbreeding depression isbeginning to appear. However, I must men-tion that the outcross of two highly inbredlines may offer very little improvement be-yond a bit of hybrid vigor in the F1. That isbecause such highly inbred lines, when

crossed, may have little ge-netic diversity to offer toeach other and many of thedeleterious recessives maybe carried by both lines.Such crosses do little tohelp and may actually causemore problems in later gen-erations, especially if eachline crossed carried a num-ber of unique deleteriousfactors in addition to thecommon ones both shared.Later generations couldend up expressing many orall of the deleterious traitsfrom both lines in the ini-tial outcross. In that in-stance, you end up with abigger mess than youstarted with. Be warned andmake sound judgments in

choosing outcross materials! Dont just pickthem because they are pretty.

It would be a truly simple thing if we couldjust extract the desired gene(s) we want toadd and then insert those genes into our line,and while that may be feasible for some ge-neticists in the lab, it isnot feasible for most ofus. So we have to stumblealong with the moreprimitive and less preciseprocess of breeding. Thatmakes it more difficult toget exactly the gene(s) weare after while excludingthose we are not after, butit can be done. Of course,the key is to breed inenough numbers to seethe gene segregations wewant. If we are doing asimple outcross, say ofthe same varieties of agiven breed and only wantto add some intensifiedmodifications of a trait wealready have, that is veryeasy, but if we are dealingwith many different traitsbetween the two lines, the job becomes morecomplicated and we need to look toward largenumbers to get our desired combination.

One potential mistake that is frequently

made in outcrossing is to make the initialoutcross and then to do only backcrosses toone line or the other, thinking that this willallow us to bring the desired gene(s) into ourown line. The idea here is to get back to thebetter line as quickly as possible and to onlybring in the one trait to that line from theoutcrossed line, but this is rarely effectiveor realistic. It may be more realistic whendealing with a dominant autosomal gene, butis not a good path when dealing with a majordominant gene with many minor modifyinggenes or with recessive genes, as the reces-sives can easily be lost, while the minormodifiers for the major gene can also be lostin this way resulting in reduced intensifica-tion of the given trait. Further, the positiveeffects of outcrossing can easily be lostthrough strictly backcrossing, especially ifthe point of the backcross is to bring in ge-netic diversity. However, backcrossing of thisnature can work well if the only desire is tobring in a single, simple, unmodified domi-nant gene like Andalusian Blue (Bl) where theexhibition form is one dose of the dominantgene (the heterozygote). In most casesthough, after the initial outcross, both back-crossing and interse mating of the F1 (i.e.,F1 x F1) are advised. In this way, you can ex-ploit the best traits of both lines, concentratethem and seek the desired recombinants atthe same time.

First, let me state that the actual systemsof pairings one might choose will be identi-

cal to those described in part2 such as Pair Mating, MalePedigree, Female Pedigree,or Group Mating, etc. Typi-cally, when we make our firstoutcross, we will be mating acockerel of the new line ontofemales of our own line, butthere are instances, of course,where we may bring the newline in through females of thealternate line. This willchange the mitochondrialDNA of our line though, whilethe use of males of the alter-nate line will not, though thatmight not actually mattermuch and if the alternate linehas better producing females,then we may even want tochange over to their MtDNA.Much will depend on what isactually available to us for out-

crossing.The first generation cross can tell us a great

deal. If we do not know the gene action (domi-nance or recessiveness) of the trait or traits

It would be a trulysimple thing if we couldjust extract the desiredgene(s) we want to addand then insert thosegenes into our line, andwhile that may be fea-sible for some geneticistsin the lab, it is not fea-sible for most of us. Sowe have to stumble alongwith the more primitiveand less precise processof breeding. . .

All exhibition lines as weknow them have been cre-ated in the last two centu-ries or less. Before the ad-vent of exhibition in the mid-nineteenth century, therewere no exhibition lines,only landraces. From thatwe can surmise that breed-ing up an average line intoa highly developed exhibi-tion line is a far lesser en-deavor than what our pre-decessors did in the late1800s and early 1900s.


we want to bring into our line, the F1 willreveal much to us. If the desired trait(s) wewant seem to disappear in the F1 that tendsto indicate recessive genes. If the F1 showsmore expression of the desired trait(s) thanour own line does, then weare dealing with dominantgenes. Further, it is impor-tant to closely observe theF1 to see if there are anydeleterious traits that haveemerged from the blendingof the two lines. We tend tothink of deleterious traits asemerging from inbreedingwithin a closely relatedgroup, but there are in-stances where the cross oftwo unrelated lines can al-low deleterious traits toemerge in their offspring.This is rare, however, but itshould be watched for, es-pecially in regards to repro-ductive and disease resis-tance traits. Do rememberthat any hybrid vigor you seein the F1 will be lost, forthe most part, when we interbreed the F1 orbackcross them to either of the parent linesso it is hard to evaluate the F1 for vigor. How-ever, if there is no increased vigor in the F1,then we can surmise that there are many iden-tical genes in both lines, even if there are sig-nificant differences in phenotype expression.Always remember that phenotype genes arejust a small segment of the overall genomeof any gene group or individual.

Once we have made our initial outcrossand have produced a group of first genera-tion (F1) chicks, then we must decide how toproceed. The most thorough path is to dothree things - breed some of the F1 to eachother, and backcross some of the F1 to bothof the parent lines. This will then give thegreatest possible range of materials for thesecond generation (F2 - or technically bothF2 and BC1 in both directions if you do allthree matings). The F2 (produced by inter-breeding the F1) gives you the opportunityto see a true melding of the two lines and mayallow you to find many recombinations of thegenes of each base line. With luck, you willfind a few that are close to what you are seek-ing, especially if you raise sufficient num-bers (which will vary, depending on how manyalternate genes there are between the twolines). The BC1 from breeding the F1 backto your own line may reveal some importantinformation, the most important beingwhether you will easily be able to transfer

the desired traits into your line through back-crossing. This is important to know and canhelp you in deciding how to proceed. Back-crossing to the new line that you have broughtin can also help you in many ways, especially

in allowing you to maintainsome stock that has the de-sired traits from that lineconcentrated as a reservoirof the traits in case youloose the original outcrossline. The most importantthings you will learn fromboth outcrosses is about thenature of the genes you wantto bring in as well as to po-tentially reveal any prob-lems in the new line you areoutcrossing to. Last, but notleast, you will potentiallyfind the gene combinationsyou are seeking in any ofthese three breedings withyour F1.

There are reasons tomake all three breedingswith the F1, if possible. Oneof the most important is

that you get to see how each line (yours andthe new outcross line) integrate into eachother. This is of course done through thebackcrosses. When you have created eachBC1, going in both directions by taking theF1 back to each parent line, you will see howmuch the genes of each line influence theother. This tells you how much dominance/recessiveness each line carries and how easyit will be to get back to one type or the other.Of greatest relevance is how the offspringcome out from the F1 x your original line, asthat will show you if you can just carry thenew genes into your line withease or not. The backcross ofthe F1 to the outcross linewill reveal if the lesser traitsof your line will stronglydominate over the more con-centrated traits of the out-cross line. This is importantbecause it will tell us muchabout how we have to pro-ceed.

The interse mating of theF1 x F1 is where we are look-ing for the blending you arehoping to achieve, but thebackcrosses are also important. If at all pos-sible, try all three matings. If your space isvery limited, then just do the backcross toyour own line and the interse mating betweensome of the F1. If you can only do one mat-

ing and you are dealing with dominant genes(which should be obvious from looking at theresults in the F1), try the backcross to yourline first, but keep enough F1 to also makean inter-mating of the F1 at a later date if theresults of the backcross to your line arentwhat you had hoped for. It is always a goodidea to keep backup individuals anyhow andthe F1 are often quite important to keeparound, though they are also the generationmost people are quickest to get rid of. Whenmaking outcrosses, I personally like to keepthe handful of very best F1 around for as longas they remain fertile, because they are astorehouse of genes from both lines. It is alsoa good idea to keep an individual or two ofthe outcross line around if you possibly can,even if you arent planning to make the BC1of the F1 x outcross strain. At some point,you may need to remake the initial cross, oreven a few generations down the line, youmay need to use the outcross line again tocross back into the later generation stockderiving from the initial outcross, regardlessof exactly what route you have taken to ar-rive at them. Finally, it is a good idea to keepa few of your line going pure as well, as youmay need them again later as well.

It is important to remember that when wemake an outcross we are changing the line.The only way to make the outcrossed linelook like one line or the other is to back-cross into that line repeatedly until we cometo a point where the features we have broughtin from the alternate line are swamped andlost in the genes of the line that is back-crossed into, but we must remember that evenafter many generations of backcrossing, therewill still potentially be genes there that aredifferent than the main pure lines genes. Forhobby purposes, that probably doesnt mat-

ter much, but it is still somethingto be aware of. Repeated back-crossing though may cause thegenes you want to bring in to beswamped in the genes of thebackcrossed line. This is espe-cially relevant if the genes youare after are not visually identi-fiable genes, but are insteadgenes that effect fertility, chickviability, production or genes thatare recessive. If you are out-crossing to bring in these typesof genes, then only doing re-peated backcross to that line

lacking these traits will quickly see thosegenes lost. In such instances, the mating ofF1 x F1 is the most important of the poten-tial crosses to make, as this will usually al-low the actual shuffling of genes and the po-

Once we have madeour initial outcross andhave produced a group offi rst generation (F1)chicks, then we must de-cide how to proceed. Themost thorough path is todo three things - breedsome of the F1 to eachother, and backcrosssome of the F1 to both ofthe parent lines. This willthen give the greatest pos-sible range of materials forthe second generation.

When making out-crosses, I personallylike to keep the hand-ful of very best F1around for as long asthey remain fertile,because they are astorehouse of genesfrom both lines.


tential recombination that you want - i.e., aparticular look with a particular set of per-formance and reproductive traits.

In complicated outcross work, where manyfactors are to be brought in, it should now beobvious that multiple direc-tions will be necessary. Verycomplicated breeding pro-grams, such as those that re-quire a very specific set ofphenotype traits along with aspecific set of performancetraits may require manycrosses, with outcrosses,backcrosses and multigen-erational backcrossing inboth directions all beingused. While such projectsmay be beyond the scope ofmost hobbyists, it is still use-ful to be aware of what ispossible given space and re-sources. Most any combina-tion of traits can be com-bined with patience and largenumbers. Any breed can haveproduction traits and diseaseresistance added to themwithout destroying the type, if the breeder iswilling to make the effort and raise the num-bers to achieve the goal.

For the average hobbyist who has beenworking with hatchery stock and wants to im-prove their phenotype traits, you are embark-ing on an exciting project that is the basis ofall breeding. At one time or another, all exhi-bition lines have been bred up from lesserstock, even if we have to go back a century or

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It is important to re-member that when wemake an outcross we arechanging the line. The onlyway to make the out-crossed line look like oneline or the other is to back-cross into that line repeat-edly until we come to apoint where the featureswe have brought in fromthe alternate l ine areswamped and lost in thegenes of the line that isbackcrossed into . . .

two. All exhibition lines as we know them havebeen created in the last two centuries or less.Before the advent of exhibition in the mid-nineteenth century, there were no exhibitionlines, only landraces. From that we can sur-

mise that breeding up an av-erage line into a highly de-veloped exhibition line is afar lesser endeavor thanwhat our predecessors did inthe late 1800s and early1900s. In addition to ourhatchery stock being farmore developed than thelandraces the exhibitionlines were developed from,highly concentrated exhibi-tion lines already exist anddo not have to be madefrom scratch as was the casein the early days of exhibi-tion. Add to that our under-standing of genetics andbreeding, and we are in a farbetter state to achieve ourgoals. All you have to do ismate the birds, raise suffi-cient offspring and use se-

lection, as is the basis for all breeding.(1) - See An Introduction to Color Forms

of the Domestic Fowl: A Look at Color Vari-eties and How They Are Made by Brian Reederfor more information on the genetics of colorand pattern in standard chicken breeds.

(2) - See An Introduction to Form andFeathering of the Domestic Fowl by BrianReeder for more information on the geneticsof form and feathering genes of chickens.

On Wednesday, May 28, 2014, I enjoyeda positive meeting with Dr. Robbins, Dr. Stacy,Dr. Barrington, and John Walther. I was toldthat at this time only birds crossing the stateline into Louisiana require a Health Certifi-cate and Form VS 9-2. Form VS 9-2 (attached)shows the flock is NPIP certified free of sal-monella pullorum and typhoid or the birdshave tested negative for pullorum/typhoidwithin 30 days of entry. State residents do nothave to have a Health Certificate to showwithin the state, but they must have a FormVS 9-2 (or have an NPIP certified flock)showing the birds have tested negative forpullorum/typhoid within the past 90 days.However, LSU AgCenter Shows (4-H, FFA)still require both health certificates and NPIPpullorum/typhoid testing.

Dr. Robbins is also studying the possibil-ity of having the shows hire a private, accred-ited veterinarian to check birds at our showsas an option. Dr. Robbins did stress that indi-viduals going to another state for a show mustmeet the entry requirements for that state, aseach states requirements are different. He issupposed to get back with me by the end ofJune.

Jim CrainPresidentLousisna Exhibition Poultry Asociation


Letteijoiifhe Editor

Exhibition Poultry Magazine 05 2014

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