World of Pigeons and Doves: Old German Cropper ( Altdeutsche Kröpfer )

This ancient breed originated in Germany and Hungary.A large breed; with a well developed globe; extremely long with its wings extending past the end of its tail; standing with the front part of its body semi erect and the rear part of the body close and parallel to the ground; the back line forms a gentle sloping arc.

Breed Characteristics

Head : Relatively long with a high forehead.

Eyes and Ceres : Orange eyes in all colors but white; white has bull eye; eye ceres fine.

Beak and Wattles : Long strong beak; relatively small smooth wattles.

Globe : Huge; evenly inflated; oval to round in shape, however the rounded shape is preferred; globe to come from the chest without showing waist.

Body Style and Station : The Old German stands with the front part of its body raised in a semi erect station, and the rear part of its body is carried close and parallel to the ground. The bird is to have a strong body, however, the illusion of great size is caused more by its profuse loose feathering than by actual body weight mass.

Back : Strong, wide, and long; the back line forms a gentle sloping arc.

Wings : Very long and extending past the tail; wings should rest on the tail; flight feathers should be well folded and closed and not show any "sail" like effect or finger like separations; flights must be held wide apart and never cross or touch at their ends.

Tail : Long and fairly wide without tapering.

Legs : Long, strong feathering; profuse; creating a neat appearance while not being too tight.

Feather and Quality : Long, strong feathering; profuse; creating a neat appearance while not being too tight.

Color : Self in white, black, red, yellow, mealy, cream, lark, blue and silver in bar, barless, and checkered; self colored also exists with white flights, which should number the same on both sides; splashed in light or dark pattern depending on the predominace of white or colored feathers; tiger must have solid colored primary flight feathers and a solid colored tail with white sprinkled on the rest of the body; dapple to have white feathers sprinkled only on the head and neck with the rest of the body colored. All colors should be rich, intense and clean.