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I think we are not looking to eliminate the beetle sheen (aka...luster) completely, (speaking in terms of the male here) but, rather keep it more restricted to certain areas of the body..i,e.., the tail: sickles and coverts with glints of luster and the wing: secondaries, where the exposed portion shows a lusterous black wing triangle and also the wing coverts: lustrous black forming a black armband. Thus, trying to keep it to very little or none in the breast and that should not advance, as I understand it, to any lower regions of the birds body past the curve of the breast? (I need help on this, this is where I become unclear.) I assume this and worded this after the proposed BCM Color Draft.
The proposed Standard does not mention any luster on the female, thus my understanding is that they should not have any.
eta: YES the greenish sheen is stunning in the sun light isn't it?
Oh gosh Kim, I am so confused. I think some of my new gals have lots of green (which I think beautiful, by the way) but they have alot of color in their hackles too. I have no birds that present all black. Half of my summer (July 2010) hatch pullets were mossy & exiled to the layer pen to wait & see what their eggs look like. The ones I kept in the open pen ( 5 of them left) with my rooster have black chests, colored hackles & at least some of them have beetle green in the black hard feathers. I will take yet another harder look at them today. As I have said many times my "original goal" was dark eggs & I have just gotten swept up into all this other stuff. My first 2 eggs from these pullets are an improvement from the original trio I started with so I am hopeful. What an education............. Does everyone else have friends & family that eyes glaze over when you talk "chicken"??? LOL
Karen in California
