AOV Clarified

[NYREDS]

Frequently people here will insist that so-called project birds can be entered in any show as AOV. I have, in the past, tried to explain why this is not the case. The issue is addressed in the newest American Bantam Association Newsletter in an article by Bart Pals& I will summarize that article here.

The acronym AOV stands for ANY OTHER VARIETY. Variety is a colour or physical trait of a particular breed, e.g. colour, beard, etc. Sometimes a a variety will have more than one unique quality. Throwing a bird of no particular colour pattern into the AOV class is not what the acronym even stands for. It may be a particular breed but if the colour is not recognized, then you simply have a bird [and one with no variety], that can not be shown at an ABA sanctioned show. [also true of APA shows]
Neither the ABA or the APA has an AOV class , or for that matter even acknowledges such. The AOV class is a development of 1] show clubs, 2] breed/variety clubs: usually as a method of offering another award to less popular varieties. The Wyandotte Club offers an AOV award at their shows but this award is not recognized by the ABA [or APA].
Some Fairs will offer an AOV class to simply offer exhibitors a place for unrecognized breeds or varieties but again, the APA & ABA do not offer such classes.
The ABA & APA recognize “purebred” breeds & varieties. The process to recognize a breed or variety is not an easy process. This process is intentionally difficult & can not be circumvented with the AOV label.
Show officials do not have to allow birds to be entered as AOV. Many Show Secretaries will attest to the fact that the recent influx of people wishing to enter so-called project birds as AOV is an ongoing problem. It has become such a big problem that some show secretaries may begin returning such entries.
Note: I am secretary for two shows & for the last 3 or 4 years the number of AOV entries I have received has been steadily increasing. When I receive such entries I call the exhibitor & explain the problem. Some exhibitors still insist on entering the bird in which case I simply put the breed name on the Coop Tag. Eg: Muscovy with no variety listed. I have had cases where, upon arriving at the show, the exhibitor has written AOV on the Coop Tag. This could result in the exhibitor’s entire entry being disqualified. The only people allow to write on the Coop Tags are show officials & judges.
　
　
　

 

[speckledhen]

Thank you for your explanation, Bill. I've noticed quite a bit of confusion about this and I can imagine it causes some frustration on the part of show officials.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The problem I see with this is that to become a recognized breed or variety, the birds must have been shown over a period of five years. While I agree that a "purple striped dippity doo dah" that just happened to show up with indiscriminate barnyard breeding is not an appropriate show bird, a project that is being seriously worked on needs to have some means of being entered.

I personally think that both APA and ABA need to come up with official definitions of AOV that allow for exhibition of true projects. In many cases the project variety already exists in other breeds (lemon blue cochins; chocolate orpingtons, wyandottes, silkies, ameraucanas; etc.) But in other cases, such as opal OEGB, the variety does not exist elsewhere; it is brand new.

 

[NYREDS]

A Lemon Blue Cochin would already be shown as a Lemon Blue Cochin so why the "need" for an AOV category. Opal OEGBs would be shown as Opal OEGBs. Before Fawn Silver Duckwing OEGBs were admitted to the Standard theywere shown as Fawn Silver Duckwing OEGBs & that too was not a variety that existed in any other breed. A named project can already be shown by it's variety name, even if that is a new variety name. Another example is Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. Not a recognized variety in Wyandottes but they are being shown regularly w/o being labeled AOV.
That's the point, AOV is a non-designation, designation. For a variety to be recognized it has to have a definition. There must be a detailed description to compare the bird against. With AOV that doesn't exist.

 

[mibirder]

So Bill, if I understand you correctly, if I were working on developing Silver Wheaten Cochins as a project and wanted to enter them into a show, they would be entered as Silver Wheaten cochins and not as AOV?

I think this makes good sense as appropriate naming of varieties has historically represented the genetics of pattern and color. I for one, don't have a problem with the development of nonstandard colors and patterns, nor the current process for making them standard. I do think however, that in some cases, this can be at the expense for rare standard varieties - eg the poliferation of non Birchen-based "pseudo" Brown Red and/or Lemon Blue in bantam cochins.

Dave

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

A Lemon Blue Cochin would already be shown as a Lemon Blue Cochin so why the "need" for an AOV category. Opal OEGBs would be shown as Opal OEGBs. Before Fawn Silver Duckwing OEGBs were admitted to the Standard theywere shown as Fawn Silver Duckwing OEGBs & that too was not a variety that existed in any other breed. A named project can already be shown by it's variety name, even if that is a new variety name. Another example is Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. Not a recognized variety in Wyandottes but they are being shown regularly w/o being labeled AOV.
That's the point, AOV is a non-designation, designation. For a variety to be recognized it has to have a definition. There must be a detailed description to compare the bird against. With AOV that doesn't exist.

Okay, that makes sense. I know that silkie exhibitors have always (or at least almost always) entered their birds by a variety name. However, we have also lumped all the non-recognized varieties into a group for club points, with lavenders (before they were recognized) competing against paints, and porcelains and calicos, etc. There have definitely been issues with a lack of consistency in the variety names and descriptions. I would say that non-recognized varieties that are being shown also probably need to have an accompanying variety description if the variety is not already recognized in a different breed.

 

[NYREDS]

So Bill, if I understand you correctly, if I were working on developing Silver Wheaten Cochins as a project and wanted to enter them into a show, they would be entered as Silver Wheaten cochins and not as AOV?

Dave

You got it.

As to the othe r part of your post I don't know what you mean by "pseudo Brown Red or Lemon Blue"

 

[mibirder]

"Pseudo BR/LB" - produced from black x Buff or Blue x Buff. Their breast lacing is reversed from Birchen. ie Black laced rather than the Birchen Br/Lemon laced black. These I think are really just leaky showing gold or silver in the hackles and saddles. Theere;s also a number of these being claimed as LF lemon blues. I'd guess way more than half of what I've seen as BR and/or LB birds haven't been Birchen based or at least very poorly marked ones as such. I have gathered up a few pairs of true LBs to try and build a small breeding line of them and improve the type I've been able to acquire over the past three years. Its a long(er) road to hual without solid genetic background on the birds but hopefully I'll raise enough chicks this year to go forward down the road.

Dave

 

[WCOPC]

Thanks

This is a good write up as to how and why. This is one of the areas when putting on a show that get explained several times to staff and exhibitors.

 

[Troubadour05]

I've been researching a little about AOV's in terms of showing them, but I am getting mixed results...I am planning on showing at congress this year for the very first time. I only have a couple silkies to enter and I am a little confused by this AOV stuff. I understand the recognized colors of silkies, but I also have a very nice porcelain silkie rooster. I know porcelain is not one of the recognized colors and I have been told to show him as AOV. Now my question is, porcelain is a color breeders are trying to get recognized, correct? So, taking into consideration what NYREDS said, should I enter him as porcelain? AOV? Or should I not enter him at all and stick to the local fairs with him?