Home
History
The Old Dutch Capuchine is one of the older breeds of pigeons and likely dates back to the Middle East, Greece or India for its origins. Capuchines were probably brought back to Holland by Dutch sailors no later than the 1500's by Dutch sailors. We know of its presence in Holland in the 1500's by its depiction in several of the Dutch Masters' works of art.
One of the unique characteristics of the Old Dutch Capuchine is the low-set rosettes on both sides of the neck accompanied by the chain, which is formed by the front portion of the rosettes. The chain flows smoothly out of the hood to form an upside down letter U when viewed from the front. Although there are numerous breeds of pigeons that are crested, only a very few have the large rosettes and chain of the Capuchine.
An often-asked question is which came first, the Capuchine or the Jacobin? It seems likely that the Capuchine is the forerunner to the Jacobin since the main difference between the two breeds is the feather length. Seldom does one go from long feather to short feather when developing a breed. The natural shaping of events indicates that enterprising breeders interested in a very long feather length developed the Jacobin. Even as recent as the mid 1800’s there was disagreement among Jacobin breeders about how long the feathering should be. Those desiring the longer feather won out and formed today’s Jacobin. Since the Capuchine is not as extreme as the Jacobin it took a backseat to the newly formed, longer feathered bird and was not widely bred as a show pigeon until the 1970’s. The 1960’s in Europe saw the formation of two specialty clubs devoted to the Old Dutch Capuchine, the Dutch Club and the German Club. The British Old Dutch Capuchine Society was formed in 1972 and the American Capuchine Club (later the North American Capuchine Club) was not formed until 1984. All four clubs are breeding to a nearly identical standard and thus retaining the same style of pigeon, regardless of country. There are currently exhibitions involving breeders from various European countries showing the Old Dutch Capuchine in united exhibits. Judges from more than one country rate the birds on the same basic standard. The breeder base in Holland and Germany is much larger than in the United States and therefore more uniform and the birds are more refined and developed. There are minor differences. For example, American breeders voted to accept a rare color class as well as an AOC class. However, the basic qualities remain the same as those desired by European breeders. Continuous contact to breeders in all clubs will help to ensure that the same pigeon is bred in all countries. On two different occasions we have had judges from Europe evaluate our birds. Willi Kolb, a noted judge of structure pigeons in Germany judged at the Pageant of Pigeons and awarded several high ratings including the coveted "E" for excellent! Dick Hammer of Holland also judged our birds likewise awarding high ratings.
Standard
Points
Body 15 pts
Carriage 10 pts
Head, Beak, Wattle, Eyes, Ceres 10 pts
Hood 15 pts
Chain 10 pts
Rosette 10 pts
Mane 10 pts
Color 10 pts
Markings 10 pts
Body (15 pts.)
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 1/2" 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 color, and free from feather growth below the shanks. Toe nails to be light flesh colored 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, i.e. 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, Beak, Wattle, Eyes and Cere (10 pts.)
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 colored in all colouration's.
Wattle: Fine and neat, white in color.
Eyes: Lively expression. Iris to be white pearl to impure pearl. Although impure pearl eyes with a reddish tint are accepted, the preferred color is the whitish pearl eye (fish eye). Cracked eyes are permitted in almonds only.
Cere: Fine, narrow, and red to flesh in color. The red eye cere is preferred since it accents the eye in the white head.
Hood (15 pts.)
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 (10 pts.)
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 (10 pts.)
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 (10 pts.)
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.
Color (10 pts.)
Rich, even, and lustrous showing iridescence throughout. Accepted colors are to be shown in classes while unaccepted colors are to be grouped in the Any Other Color (AOC) class. The exception is those colors which are the result of genetic projects. These will be grouped into the Any Rare Color class (ARC). Groupings where only one or two specimens of the color 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 color is shown (i.e. 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.
Red: A gleaming chestnut red, even throughout, with a rich copper sheen free from green.
Yellow: A rich golden yellow color, even throughout, with a pink luster free from green.
Black: An intense, glistening black, even throughout, showing a green metallic sheen free from purple. Not showing any trace of bronze or sootiness.
Dun: An intense, gun-metal coloration to be as dark even, and rich as possible. No sulphur or bronzes should be present and the sheen should be green.
Blue Bar: Wing shield to be light blue with contrasting black bars. No checking, sootiness, or bronze is to be present. The lower breast shades from a light blue upwards to a darker blue on the neck and should show a glistening, green iridescence.
Silver Bar: Wing shield to be a light silvery-gray with contrasting dun bars. No checking, sootiness, or bronze is to be present. The lower breast shades from a light silver upwards to a dark gray on the neck and should show a glistening, green iridescence.
Red Bar: Wing shield to be ash-gray with contrasting red bars. No checking or sootiness is to be present. The lower breast shades from an ash-gray upwards to red on the neck and should show a rich copper sheen.
Yellow Bar: Wing shield to be a very light creamy white with contrasting yellow bars. No checking or sootiness is to be present. The lower breast shades from a creamy white upwards to deep yellow on the neck and should show a pinkish iridescence.
Tiger: Half white, half color, in an evenly distributed pattern, conforming to the appropriate color requirements listed above. Ideally, the color should no be grizzled but rather deep and intense.
White: Solid white; satin-like and glossy.
Almond: Deep buff (golden brown) liberally flecked with bronzish-black. Young almonds generally have considerably less break (flecking) than older birds. Any colors not listed above (excluding genetic projects) shall be shown in the AOC class. Genetic projects to be shown in the ARC class.
Markings (10 pts.)
All colors except self white are to be monk marked. The head must be white reaching down to 3/8" under the beak and eyes. The inside of the hood is to be colored. There should be between 7 and 12 white flight feathers with the ideal being 10 on each wing. The tail, vent, hocks, and abdomen are white. The balance of the bird is to be colored or in the case of splashes (tigers), to be evenly mixed with color and white. The ideal splash (tiger) would be alternating white and colored feathers in those areas normally colored. At the abdomen there is to be a straight line dividing the white and colored area. From this line to the tip of the tail, the under part of the bird is to be white. A white self can compete favorably with the colored varieties. However, if a marked bird is essentially equal in quality to a white self, the marked bird has the advantage.
Faults
Long and narrow body; long tail; tail touching the ground; short neck; chain meeting in the front (touching); colored underbelly; hood set far back on the head; bushy, loose feathering--especially in the mane; ditched rosettes; stained beak. Point cuts are determined by the severity of the fault.
Disqualifications
Bull eyes, out of condition from disease, and any deformities.
Rating System
In addition to having each bird placed in its class, each bird will also be rated according to the standard. The ratings are as follows:
Excellent: This is the highest rating and should only be given to those specimens which are near letter perfect. No major faults should be visible. It is likely that this rating may not be given at every show.
Very Good: This is the second highest rating and should be given only to those specimens which are of fine quality but possess a few minor faults. This rating may be given to perhaps the top ten percent of the show.
Good: This rating will likely be given to the majority of birds in the show. Birds receiving this rating will have one or two major faults and several minor ones.
Inferior: This rating will only be given to birds not truly representative of the Old Dutch Capuchine.
