World of Pigeons and Doves: Old Dutch Capuchine ( Altholländischer Kapuziner )

The primary purpose of any standard is to guide the breeder in his quest to produce uniform specimens that most nearly resemble the ideal. This standard should also be used to guide those persons chosen to judge our birds. This will bring about consistent evaluation of our breed which is our goal.

We hope to impress in the minds of all breeders of the Old Dutch Capuchine that our breed has many characteristics or traits which must be taken into consideration when judging or choosing breeding stock. We must look for balance in our birds and not overly emphasize any one area, but rather focus on a balanced bird regardless of personal preference.

Neck: Medium to long, showing fullness where it meets the breast. The longer neck exaggerates the shortness of the tail and serves to enhance the rosettes. Avoid short necks and those which are consistently held against the shoulders. When showing, the bird should reach its neck out to full length positioning it perpendicular to the ground.

Body: Wedge-shaped, breast full and wide between the shoulders. Wing butts should be hidden from the front view by breast feathers giving a wide-width look to the bird. Width should taper from the breast to the tail giving the wedge shape. The body should be firm and well-muscled.

Wings: Medium to short, in proportion, with the flights ½" shorter than the tail. Wings carried closed giving a tight-feathered look. Secondary flights should show good width of feather. Flights to be carried on top of the tail.

Tail: As short as possible, narrow, and well closed being carried parallel to the ground.

Legs: Medium in length, bright red in colour, and free from feather growth below the shanks. Toe nails to be light flesh coloured in all varieties. Legs should be straight and placed proportionally wide apart.

Carriage(10 pts.): The head is to be held high with the neck reaching upwards. The neck should be vertical, ie perpendicular to the ground. The tail should be parallel to the ground. From a profile view the neck and body should form an "L" shape. The legs should be straight. The entire carriage should reflect a proud, uplifted bird.

Head: Medium in length, with a well-rounded frontal and wide forehead. The forehead should rise in a smooth curve from the beak to the top skull.

Beak: Medium length with the upper mandible slightly curved at the tip. The beak is to be flesh to red coloured in all colourations.

Eyes: Lively expression. Iris to be white pearl to impure pearl. Although impure pearl eyes with a reddish tint are accepted, the preferred colour is the whitish pearl eye (fish eye). Cracked eyes are permitted in almonds only.

Hood : The hood should be broad and well rounded. It should be set as high as possible on the back skull, running from ear to ear, blending smoothly into the chain. When viewing the hood from the side, the eye must be clearly visible.

Chain : The chain runs in an unbroken line from the hood to the shoulders. It must not meet in the front but maintain a two-fingers’ width from the top to the bottom. As the hood curves downward on both sides of the head,the chain should blend in with the hood so as to be impossible to tell where the

hood ends and the chain begins. The chain should be fine-edged and well defined. The feathering should be moderate in length and not obstruct the profile view.

Rosette : On both sides of the neck is an oblong-shaped rosette. The rosette should blend into the profile and be filled in as full as possible. The rosette is not a line of parting feathers or a crease (ditch) but rather an elliptical (oblong) whorl of feathers similar to the rosette on a Jacobin. The rosettes are to be symmetrical (same on both sides) and placed as low as possible on the neck – just above the wing butts. The size should be approximately the size of a nickel.

Mane : The mane is to be fully feathered and form a smooth, continuous line from the top of the head to the back. Avoid any breaks in the smooth line and loose, bushy feathering.

Colour : Rich, even, and lustrous showing iridescence throughout. Accepted colours are to be shown in classes while unaccepted colours are to be grouped in the Any Other Colour (AOC) class. The exception is those colours which are the result of genetic projects. These will be grouped into the Any Rare Colour class (ARC). Groupings where only one or two specimens of the colour are present may be combined into one class at the discretion of the show secretary or club representative. In the unlikely event that a large number of a specific AOC colour is shown (ie 20 kites shown) these may be grouped separately of the AOC class at the discretion of the show secretary or club representative. Bars are to be grouped into one class.