Australorps breed Thread

[groche]

Hi folks,
the eyes tend to not come up black in closeups. No, it's not an eye issue. Nor is it to do with the number of comb points, though one has a comb issue. You may need to click on the image to enlarge in order to pick up the second problem.
Cheers Geoff

 

[KnobbyOaks]

Supposed to be 5 or 6 Clean points.

Perfect! Now I cleanly get the points thing.

 

[RattlesnakeRidgeWV]

groche,
I'll take a stab at it. When I blow the pics up I see hair or feathers in the rear of the wattles, and I know you are big on clean faces. Also, when blown up I see some different colors in the neck feathering but that could be the lighting or camera flash. The head in the first pic looks too long and narrow, almost crow headed, but it could be the pose angle.
Kurt

 

[groche]

Ron,
the Aussie SOP calls for "Comb single, medium in size, erect, evenly serrated with 4 to 6 serrations and the blade tending downwards without touching the neck, texture fine but not of glace appearance. Comb and wattles bright red." Wide serrations are preferred over thin, spindly ones. The generally rounded, rear of the comb isn't 'counted', even though sometimes it's slightly serrated itself.
Cheers Geoff

 

[aveca]

Most of that is the same here Geoff..4 to 6 acceptable..5 being ideal and wide serations..I kind of like the over all look of the second one head but slight brownish in neck..Would love to see some more pics of your females..what a wonderful flock..the the one thing is the finer comb texture ..I was reading on one of your sites a couple years ago that some of the show people were using a fine sandpaper to get that look..here is is considered more of a feminine trait ..I have a female with that flat surface to the comb..I will get some pics of her when It warms up..its about 13 degrees today.

 

[ronott1]

Ron,
the Aussie SOP calls for "Comb single, medium in size, erect, evenly serrated with 4 to 6 serrations and the blade tending downwards without touching the neck, texture fine but not of glace appearance. Comb and wattles bright red." Wide serrations are preferred over thin, spindly ones. The generally rounded, rear of the comb isn't 'counted', even though sometimes it's slightly serrated itself.
Cheers Geoff

Thank You!

Most ofthat is the same here Geoff..4 to 6 acceptable..5 being ideal and wide serations..I kind of like the over all look of the second one head..Would love to see some more pics of your females..what a wonderful flock..

Yes, It is great that you can cull for details like this and not conformation.

 

[groche]

groche,
I'll take a stab at it. When I blow the pics up I see hair or feathers in the rear of the wattles, and I know you are big on clean faces. Also, when blown up I see some different colors in the neck feathering but that could be the lighting or camera flash. The head in the first pic looks too long and narrow, almost crow headed, but it could be the pose angle.
Kurt

Well done, Kurt,
you've picked up the problem with the 2nd bird. That slight reddish tinge in the neck hackles is real! Had it in 3 cockerals from the early hatch. Not in any girls or later cockerels. Spoke with a longtime breeder who hadn't come across it in 40 years. I think I've mentioned before that when Cook was creating his original Orp., it was, at first, quite a dull black. Apparently, an Aussie from Ballarat, near me, who was working for Cook at the time, found that using a cock with slight reddish tinge in the hackle produced birds with a lovely green sheen. As I don't need to add green sheen and I'd be wary of slipping into the purple spectrum, I won't use this bird. It's a bugger, 'cause he's the best of the early hatched birds and is a BA in every other respect.
Cheers Geoff

 

[Melabella]

Thank you Geoff,, I love being a BA groupie here on this thread. Love to learn.. more pics, more pics Geoff!


MB

 

[aveca]

Well done, Kurt,
you've picked up the problem with the 2nd bird. That slight reddish tinge in the neck hackles is real! Had it in 3 cockerals from the early hatch. Not in any girls or later cockerels. Spoke with a longtime breeder who hadn't come across it in 40 years. I think I've mentioned before that when Cook was creating his original Orp., it was, at first, quite a dull black. Apparently, an Aussie from Ballarat, near me, who was working for Cook at the time, found that using a cock with slight reddish tinge in the hackle produced birds with a lovely green sheen. As I don't need to add green sheen and I'd be wary of slipping into the purple spectrum, I won't use this bird. It's a bugger, 'cause he's the best of the early hatched birds and is a BA in every other respect.
Cheers Geoff

Is there any way to correct it Geoff? Too bad...he looks like a nice one...I thought I was seeing things..

 

[groche]

Most of that is the same here Geoff..4 to 6 acceptable..5 being ideal and wide serations..I kind of like the over all look of the second one head..Would love to see some more pics of your females..what a wonderful flock..the the one thing is the finer comb texture ..I was reading on one of your sites a couple years ago that some of the show people were using a fine sandpaper to get that look..here is is considered more of a feminine trait ..I have a female with that flat surface to the comb..I will get some pics of her when It warms up..its about 13 degrees today.

Hi Aveca,
gotta admit I'm not really looking too hard at the girls yet. At least the girl culls are in demand as backyard layers, so I won't be delivering death sentences. Looking forward to that! I'll post more pics as I go through. Don't think "fine" means 'smooth', but some of the 'chasers of the glittering prizes', who care more about winning than their birds or the breed, were using sandpaper and oil to 'improve' their chances. Weird, 'cause' it tends to create that glace-look (like the sweet, preserved French fruits) which is rejected in our SOP. Must have appealed to some ordinary judges, I guess!
Cheers geoff