To a newcomer like me this seems patently ridiculous, as now you are breeding two separate varieties under the guise of a male bird and a female bird of the same variety.
Look at Partridge (and Silver Pencilled), the male described is more like a duckwing, the female a patterned brown.
Both, as currently described in the standard, cannot be bred by single mating.
So why do we need to breed two separate varieties to enter one partridge class?
Surely the standard should actually reflect what can be achieved by mating male to female in one pen?
Is there something simple i am missing here, These birds are not only different in phenotype but in genotype as well, how are these the same birds?
Male partridge lacks Pg in its pure form, female has pure Pg. This to me shows two separate varieties, not one. Why cant we show the males that produce the SQ females, why are chests still required to be fully black? Something that does not seem possible from a SQ male to SQ female breeding.
Our standard here is a "copy and paste" from yours in the States, and while i have no problem with that, i cant help but think there is some antiquated thinking here that is not helping the fancy at all in the long run.