Like many other poultry clubs, the Belgian Bearded d'Anvers Club of America was founded on exhibition. One of the main benefits of being a part of an exhibition club is to establish credibility as a breeder and exhibitor so that people who are interested in the breed have a way of identifying where to get top-notch specimens of the breed in each variety in their area. This is still a primary function of a breed club and our officers are currently working on an electronic directory to provide a list of the current point scores for breeders across the states. One of our goals for 2017 is to create a better meet-reporting network among our district directors.
There is also more to our breed club than just establishing credibility of breeders and exhibitors. Our newsletters provide information and anecdotals that address a diverse variety of topics from selection of breeding stock, interpretation of the standard, to experiences of back-yarders and troubleshooting incubation. The club unites people from diverse regions who all share a common interest: the Belgian Bearded d'Anvers bantam. In this way, experience and camaraderie can be shared among many members to encourage d'Anvers fanciers of all types.
Started with a written standard of the breed and the following varieties: D'Anvers were first recognized under the name of Antwerp Belgians by the APA in 1949 in Black, Blue, Buff, Cuckoo, Mille Fleur, Mottled, Porcelain, Quail and White. Self Blues were recognized by the APA later in 1981. In addition to these, the ABA also recognizes Black Breasted Red, Blue Quail, Buff Columbian, Columbian and Splash.
From establishing the breed to the club: The name
Antwerp Belgian came from the original German and English standards that were
used as a reference to construct the ABA and APA standards for the breed. The National Antwerp Belgian Society was
organized and established on Sept. 1, 1961 in Durham, NC. Later, in 1965 the word "National" was dropped
from our name and "of America" was used instead. Around 1970 other name changes followed for
both the breed and the Society. The word "Society" was replaced by "Club" and the
word "Antwerp" was dropped and replaced with "Belgian Bearded d'Anver", the latter name being
one that harkens back to the province of Anvers in Belgium that claims the
origin of the breed. The newly named
Belgian Bearded d'Anver Club of America had enough members at that time to establish 15
districts, each charged with the task of recording the show activity and placings
from members across the United States.
Our club still has these same districts and several loyal members within
them.
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