A painting of American style birds by Edwin Megargee

The second season is used to mate sons back to dams. The offspring from these matings will be used as intermediate breeders in further years. They generally will not be the ones which will give you the best birds, but they will genetically "set" certain traits. You may get lucky and breed the odd "beauty" in these matings, but this is rare. Do not use any of the pullets from the first mating, these will be grown on and bred with as hens.

Second Year
Select the very best of the old hens used in the original matings. Be selective and choose only the very best. The object is to use hens which show stronger traits of each strain. This means you will select those hens which are closest to exhibition colour and markings for one mating and those which are darker and mossy for the other. Separate them into two pens, according to these characteristics.
For the exhibition cockerel strain, select a cockerel from the first seasons offspring, closest to exhibition colour and markings. He will be mated to the old hens which show the mossy pencilling and darker ground colour. If he has any particular faults, make sure any hen with the same fault is not used with him.
For the exhibition pullet strain, select a cockerel which is too dark for exhibition, but which carries pencilling on the wings and body. This male may also have pencilling on the tail, so much the better if he has. He will be mated to the hens which are closest to exhibition quality.

The Offspring
The progeny of the second year will start to show marked improvement. You should be able to see specimens which are clearly recognisable as either cockerel or pullet strains. You are now well on the way to creating two outstanding exhibition lines.

This essay is written from my own personal experiences and from hints given me by old breeders now passed on.