NUN STANDARD OF PERFECTION

TYPE: Short, cobby and well balanced, of medium size, sprightly and upright in carriage. Full, wide. well rounded, protruding breast. The leg short and feet small. the head, bib, tail and ten primary flights on each side colored. The shell and rest of the body pure white and must be entirely free of foul colors. The colored feathering to be clean cut, deep and intense and lustrous in color.

CREST: Shell shaped, high and erect, wide and as thick as possible, continuing equally on both sides until it meets the head in line with the eyes and beak. Erect and regular in curve at a right angle to the beak. The feathers at the back of the neck forming a tight and compact mane with absence of any dark feathers in the ling of the shell.

BIB: Full deep and regular, being a continuation of the head markings and joining the base of but not extending up at the back of the shell. No white feathers are to extend to the rear of the eyes, this being a fault. When viewed from the rear the bib should not be visible. This is referred to as "wrap around" or "flagging".

HEAD: Full in frontal, with bulge rising boldly above the beak. Space between the eyes should be full, showing plenty of substance, thus giving a broad and round appearance when viewed from the front. The head contour should not dip down towards the shell, but rather meet it squarely. Here a full cushion at the base of the crest gives a more massive appearance, resembling that of a long faced tumbler.

EYES: Color, full pearl, showing a most silvery white and should be centrally located in direct line with the beak and the beginning of the crest. When viewed in the profile the eye should not be obscured by any feathers.

CERE: Narrow and very fine in texture, color to match the plumage, namely black for blacks and blues, horn color for browns, flesh color in reds and yellows.

WATTLE: Small and fine, possessing a delicate white bloom.

BEAK: Short, stout and straight set. The blackest ebony in blacks and blues, dark horn color in browns and flesh color in reds and yellows.

FLIGHTS: To lie close to the body and on top of the tail, in no case should the flights be crossed over the tail or dropping below the tail.

WING BUTTS: Carried well forward and close to the body, giving the whole body a taper or wedge shape from the shoulders and must be entirely free of foul feathers.

TAIL: As narrow and short as possible, not to extend more than one inch beyond the flights. (½ inch preferred) Consisting of twelve (12) feathers.

THIGHS: Entirely free of foul feathers.

LEGS: Clean, free of feathers below the hock. Set back to give that slightly hollow appearance between the shoulders, which imparts so much smartness to the body.

FEET: Small and bright fiery red in color, toe nails should match in color with the beak in each specimen.

KEEL: Warped or crooked keel is a fault. Birds not to be penalized too severely where the class is slight.

FEATHERS: Firm, short and smooth.

CONDITION: Clean and hard with close compact plumage having a good sheen.

STATION: Erect and alert, sprightly in movement.

COLORS*: Black, brown, red, yellow, blue, silver, khaki, ash red**, ash yellow and AOC** *

*For Color details click here.
**Note: Ash red spread (smooth silver color in tail and tips) sometimes referred to as "lavender" will be shown with "flecked" specimens. As ash red enjoys a wide variation in hues, the members may elect to separate the two if agreed to when a large class is shown.
***Note: AOC: Any Other Color Class. Includes colors that are not currently recognized. Almond, Bronze, etc.

SIZE: Cocks should be 81/2" to the top of the head (not the shell) and 9" in length when standing erect. Hens are slightly smaller and more "cobby". Larger or smaller is not a disqualification, but could be a deciding factor in a close decision. Length is measured from the most forward part of the body (should be the chest) to end of tail. A bird without station will lean forward and therefore be penalized.

FAULTS: Shell set too low. Thin shallow face showing no substance above the beak and between the eyes. White feathering extending to rear of eyes. Any featheration covering eyes, commonly referred to as "eyebrows" or "mean eye". Rosettes in crest. Missing primary or secondary feathers penalized 3 points per feather. Having less than 7x7 or more colored flights than 13x13 colored/primary flights.

DISQUALIFICATIONS: Birds having bull, orange, broken or odd eyes. Spindle or deformed beaks. Shell capping head, starching and ironing shells. Exhibiting borrowed birds. Excessive plucking, trimming with scissors or any other fraudulent practice. sick birds, out of condition birds (lice and/or other parasites).

( Two serious or major faults in breeding Nuns are a mismarked crest. Nuns known by the term "white", in judging no more points are more penalized than the above. A mis-marked crest is colored feathers in the white shell or crest lining, this must be pure white. "Whites" in the Nun is a line of white feathers extending to the rear of the eyes underneath the black bib feathers. This can vary from a few feathers, to a quarter inch wide. Many youngsters bred from birds with this fault have a line of white feathers showing through the colored bib feathers. These faults are very difficult to eliminate once established in a loft. Birds with these faults should be culled and never seen in a loft known for Nuns of quality.)

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