Dewlap Standard
(American Variant)

Head:The skull is reteasting from the top of the skull to the beak in a straight line. Frontal is flat. Forehead and back form a diagonal line. No dip at the nose cere. The top of the skull is somewhat level and tapering to the back. The skull does show some width. The head on the Mfattel (frilled) is the same, with the exception that the back skull is more rounded.

Eyes:Well opened, orange to fiery red in the Earring, bull in the Frilled variety, and pearl to orange in the Reehani cock. Reehani hens are orange. Medium length, continuing the line of the forehead diagonally to the ground. Should be horn (fleshy) colored. The beak is such that one could draw a line through the beak to the center of the eye for correct setting.

Wattle:Should be encircled by a light cere.

Beak:White in color, not too strong.

Neck:The neck is stretched, the gullet is as large as possible, and well developed. The large gullet is where the bird derives its name - Dewlap. The ideal would be to start at a point on the beak where the feathering starts, on the underside of the lower beak, in a straight line down the neck as far as possible. The neck would appear to be approximately 2" thick from the front to back when looking from a side view. Hen are slightly smaller in size.

Breast:Wide and carried uplifted.

Back:Wide and slightly declining.

Wings:Strong, covering the back well, fitting tightly to the body. Should show strong wing butts, with flights resting on the tail.

Tail:Not too long, well closed,and continuing the descending line of the back.

Legs:Strong, of good medium to long length,and clean legged.

Plumage:Tight fitting.

Size:Medium to large, 20- 22 oz. is not uncommon, but in balance with the overall appearance. The body should be deep in the keel. This sometimes gives the appearance that the bird is thin in the breast, but it is not the case.

Ornaments:Plain headed and clean-legged. The most visible feature is the gullet, or Dewlap, from which it derives its name.

Pattern & Marking: Three varieties exist: The Earring, the Frillback, and the Reehani.

Earring:A white frontal spot or snip on the forehead about the wattle ( must be present). White marking on the upper mid- side of the neck, which are referred to as earrings. The patches may vary in size. They are white, numbering 7-10. The tail matches the body. The body is of one even color. Wing and tail bars are darker. Colors include: Ablaq- blue bar check & ash red bar check: Msawwad- black: Mawardi- red bar with a light wing shield and white cap on head. It is also referred to as Rose water.

Frillback:Their name is derived from the curly feathers on the wing coverts. They come in three varieties: Mfattle - white self: Abrush-(meaning spotted) is white with colored tail and a wide spot of color on each cheek. These are called cheek patches: Ash-ari-(meaning hairy or shaggy) a half white half colored pigeon. Usually with a colored head, breast, tail and parts of the wing.

Reehani:Auto sexed (faded on blue). Cocks are double faded, hens are single faded. Cocks are a light cream ground color(not white) with a golden neck color (some brown flecking occurs with age). Hens are a blue gray ground color, having a gray blue head, wing shield, belly and tail. Tail and wings should have a dark slate bar. Neck color is between a Yellow bronze shade. Wing bar are the same color as neck. Beak color on cocks is horn, while the hens may be darker.

Judging:The Dewlap cocks usually do not fully mature until their 2nd or 3rd year. This must be considered when judging young birds against older birds. The birds should stand erect in the show pen. It is not their nature to crouch.

Disqualifications:No dewlap, no frontal spot or snip marking.

Grave faults:Rounded skull frontal, missing neck spots on the Earring types, stained beaks on all varieties. Weak or thin body, long thin beak, white feathering in the vent area and on the back, less than 7 or more than 10 white flights ( 10x10 preferred),and poor station.

Overall appraisal:General impression, type, head and neck, color and markings, beak and eyes
 

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