King Pigeon

The King is a breed of pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding primarily as a utility breed that originated in the United States .hey were developed during the 1890s by crossing four older varieties. The Duchess for grace; The Homer for alertness; The Maltese for compactness and style: the Runt for body and size

Beak (5 pts.): Short,to be carried in a horizontal position.

Wattle (3 pts.): Small, smooth, powdered or frosted in color, in keeping with size of face.

Head (10 pts.): Moderately large and broad with skull well rounded in proportion to a full neck and broad body. Must not be pinched above wattle or snaky in appearance.

Eye (3 pts.): Prominent, round and bright, set approximately three fifths forward from back of skull.

Eye Cere (4 pts.): Perfectly round, fine in texture, not over one sixteenth inch wide, to be visible between the eye and feathers, and beet red in color.

Neck (5 pts.): Moderately stout or thick to balance with broad shoulders and well rounded body of the bird, to be carried perpendicularly. Back of the neck enters the shoulders as near as possible on a line with the hocks. Beak should recede slightly from the extremity of the protruding breast. Neck should not cut back excessively under the beak. Cocks should show more massive neck than hens; neither shall show any evidence of thinness.

Breast (10 pts.): The breast is that part of a pigeon lying or being in front of the legs and extending to lower part of the neck, but does not include that part of the body around the keel back of the legs. The breast shall be prominent, broad and well rounded, showing well beyond the wing butts. It shall be carried symmetrically with an erect station of the bird, with lower portion of front on a horizontal line with rear of keel.

Body (10 pts.): Short, broad, firm, moderately deep and well rounded.

Keel (10 pts.): To be straight and centered between the legs and as long as possible in a short, well-rounded body, curving in a rocker shape to end as close to the vent as possible.

Back (5 pts.): Short and broad from shoulders to tail, must not taper too quickly before reaching the rump but curving smoothly into back of neck and slightly tilted tail.

Wing (7 pts.): Wings to be held snugly to the body and lying smoothly on the rump and tail, tips spread covered by breast feathers. Ten primary feathers are the correct number.

Tail (5 pts.): Short in proportion to a short body. To be approximately one and one-feathers wide at tip of tail, tapering smoothly from a thick and broad rump. To be carried at an angle above horizontal to complete the bottom curve formed by body and breast, but not so high as to cause crossing or dropping of wing tips. Twelve primary feathers the correct number.

Shanks (10 pts.): Stout and straight so as to give the bird an erect appearance, set well apart and in line to intersect with the curve of the back of the neck at the point in the curve which is on horizontal line with the base of the beak. To be free from feathers and beet red in color.

Toes (3 pts.): Straight, clean and well spread; beet red in color.

Plumage (10 pts.): Feathering to be close and smooth but not as hard as a flying homer’s. Should have a little give when the bird is handled. Shall have smooth feathering under the vent. Birds must be in full natural plumage.

       

Weight And Measurements
Old Birds	30-37 oz
Young Birds	28-34 oz
The above must be adhered to in weights.
Height: Eleven and three quarters inches (11 ¾").
Width: Extremity of chest, five and one half inches (5 ½").
Depth: The depth to be four and one half inches (4 ½").
Length: Tip of tail to chest extremity, nine and one half inches (9 ½").
Legs: Legs to be of such length as to show approximately two and five eighths inches (2 5/8") from center of one shank to center of other. Cocks should be masculine in appearance. Hens should be feminine in appearance. Birds of unkempt appearance, or birds that refuse to show good station of proper manners, may be cut up to 10 points. These ten points to be floating and not upset the original 100 points total.