Quote:
that is really facinating stuff.
thanks for sharing, hope you have more like it..we all learn interesting facts that are useful.
I have seen old pics from the US standard but the birds in america kept the important "curves" they were called the great bird of curves, from beak to tail, but you could clearly see the leghorn - barred rock influence , but most still had that gentle curve throughout.
I think the hatcheries put a lot of the foundation stock together and tried to re-create the bird but didnt seem to work on it past the very basic things..you will sometimes see yellow soles on the feet of hatchey birds and the molt out with barred rock feathers here and there..some careful breeders still use the best of those because numbers are so low with pretty good results..I have some pet australorps that people have given me over the years that have as the post above says eyes that are too light brown..but they are nice laying hens so they have thier own pen and grazing yards.they are not bred..
The strain we have is from a very old show line from mass...they were some of the origional import lines..in ray connors book the australorp..he said when australorps were setting record after record in egg laying, some people in america with deep pockets bought and imported thise top birds..they were all of the rage for a little while, then when women left the farms for the work force, many of these breeds including the delaware nearly dissappeared..how sad that the best australorps were imported then nearly lost to time..the legend is, a few of those were in calif and some were in mass..different dedicated breeders kept them going and have been working on improving..ray connor also said that one or 2 counties in australia held out on having the australorp included in thier standard unless the birds keep a tight feather...they got thier way and it is written that way in your standard..so we follow that..we might breed back inot blk orps to correct tail issues ect. but breed right back out to retain the reqired tight feathers..ray connors book is a must for beginners and experts alike, everybody picks up useful info from his book..he is 17 time world champion aussie breeder..I ordered a copy from australian web site abd got it fast.
The australorps is my nreed of choice, and I care about what I am doing as well as most everyone on this thread..the true australorp in america is on the endangered list..so while a lot of us are quietly working along out here , you have to realise it takes years and years of dedicated work..and finding a good foundation to work in. I have been at this for aroubd 25 years, there are a couple other breeders in this site that you dont often see as they are busy bees, but one of them has national champion stock , just stunning birds..once in a blue moon he posts a picture , but hes so busy selecting stock and showing that we dont see him often..the guy is a genious..he used german new hampshires and recreated delaware stock that just blew me away..he is a true master breeder..his australorps are just fantastic..I dont think any of us are quite ready for international show, but we are determined...