Minorcas originated on the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean region where they were kept for production of large, chalk white eggs as wellas for their meat. Weighing in at nine pounds formales and seven and a half for females, Minorcasare the largest and heaviest of the Mediterranean breeds. Combine this size with smootll, tight feathering, shiny black coloring, large combs on males and the lopped combs on the females, large solid white ear lobes, Black Minorcas in good condition are imposing and impressive to say the least. Add to this their high station and long bodies, they give the i ..read more

Applications are open for the American Poultry Association Richard Stevens Scholarship. Two scholarships in the amount of $1,000.00 will be awarded in 2024. The Richard Stevens scholarship is available to anyone who wishes to pursue any type of educational program beyond a traditional high school education. This could include study at a traditional four-year college, two-year community or technical college, college graduate studies, or any program that will expand the applicant’s opportunities. The applicant must be a graduating high school senior or have already graduated or received their GE ..read more

The American Poultry Association is pleased to congratulate the following members on their achievements in breeding and exhibiting poultry. There is so much hard work behind these prestigious achievements, and we want to recognize you for your accomplishment. Congratulations to all of you for your hard work throughout this past year! This is a well-deserved accomplishment! Newest Hall of Fame Exhibitors who have reached 1,000 points overall as of December 31, 2023: Kyle Tripp Newest Master Exhibitors who have reached 300 points overall as of December 31, 2023: Jack Bryan ..read more

This article is on breeding bantam ducks and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. Most breeders are obsessed with small size in their birds early in their breeding careers. Some even go to the extreme of purchasing the smallest ducks they can find at shows and breeding them together with the assumption that the result will be tiny offspring. Such efforts are counterproductive in two ways for breeding bantam ducks. First of all, such birds are often lousy breeders. Secondly, picking up birds from different sources may well result in an out ..read more

This article is on when and how to add new blood to a breeding program and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. A carefully bred line of birds may not need an infusion of new blood for decades but it is likely that at some point, it will need what I would call a “modified outcross”. By that term I mean that a bird a few generations removed from the current line will be introduced to add a feature no longer present in the line or to reintroduce vigor which has been diminishing. The further removed the relationship between lines, the more r ..read more

We are saddened to announce that David Adkins has submitted his letter of retirement with us. He has been a long time Secretary/Treasurer of the APA and has done an amazing job keeping up with our affairs in the APA. I want to thank David personally for his dedication to the APA and all the hard work he has put forth with the Board of Directors, members, and me personally. A big THANKS to David for a job well done and we wish him all the best. Please find below the job description for the Secretary/Treasurer. We will continue to accept applications until the position is filled. If you are inte ..read more

By Sheridan Wimmer, courtesy Kansas Living magazine https://kansaslivingmagazine.com/articles/2023/11/20/kansas-turkey-breeder-aims-to-protect-rare-breeds Reese’s ‘fringe flocks’ in Kansas nurture heritage turkeys For Frank Reese in McPherson County, protecting his turkey flock has been his life’s mission, passion and livelihood. The Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch in Lindsborg is Reese’s avian sanctuary – protecting heritage turkey breeds. “Those white turkeys over there are White Hollands,” he says as he points to a few turkeys with white feathers. “They’re very rare. There’s only a few of them ..read more

After many hours working to get the 45th edition of the APA Standard of Perfection, 2 sections were inadvertently omitted. The committee worked very hard to make this a great edition, which it is, and after many meetings and proof-reading, re-typing text since we did not have access to the copy that was being updated these past several years, we apologize for the omission of the below paragraphs. Below you will find the missing information from the insert that will be included in any future sales of the 45th Edition. Over the years we have provided inserts such as this one when changes were ap ..read more

Applications are open for the American Poultry Association Richard Stevens Scholarship. One scholarship in the amount of $1,500.00 will be awarded in 2023. The Richard Stevens scholarship is available to anyone who wishes to pursue any type of educational program beyond a traditional high school education. This could include study at a traditional four-year college, two-year community or technical college, college graduate studies, or any program that will expand the applicant’s opportunities. The applicant must be a graduating high school senior or have already graduated or received their GED ..read more

This article is about coop training and is being republished from Acorn Hollow Bantams website with permission from Lou Horton. The critical moment for every exhibitor at any show is when the judge is in the process of handling and evaluating their birds. How the bird behaves at that moment may well determine the final result of that evaluation. At a major show with large classes, the numbers dictate that by necessity, each initial evaluation be short – perhaps no more than thirty seconds to a minute or so. If, in that time, the bird huddles in the back of the cage or scrambles around the ..read more