Black Rose Combs, Completive in the show ring?(Pics added pg 3)

[Black Feather]

Just looking at your rosecombs and I would agree, breeder quality for sure, but not show quality anymore.

White in the face of mature roosters is not as bad as white in the face of young cockerels.

Really cruddy rosecombs are usually really bad all over the head. Yours looks like there's some good refinement in the comb, but not the earlobes. I suspect there's some good breeding in their background and they may have been out crossed with a weaker line, or just not maintained properly.

I can't really tell with the hens, but it looks like they may be a bit long in the back, or high in the tail. Do you have any other pics? Sometimes you have to look past the 'condition' of the birds to see the quality that is underneath.

Urban Coyote

 

[L&Schickens]

I will try and get better pictures. they are very flighty right now and so are hard to get a good picture of. Also, I have dusted, wormed and cleaned them up a little so I hope they start looking a little better soon.
Yes, earlobes are very important and these are older birds, but still should have good lobes, I think.

 

[L&Schickens]

Here are some more pictures of the hens. Don't know if they are any better or not, but maybe.

 

[Black Feather]

Yup, I'd say there's some quality in there although these particular birds are past their prime.

I guess it really depends on what you want to do. Do you want to breed show quality birds, or do you want to buy champions and only show them? This isn't unusual, lots of people only want to buy good birds to show and not breed them for future generations.

If you wanted to become a breeder these guys would be a reasonable place to start. I'd raise one generation from them and then see how the offspring turn out. If there were some chicks that were improvements over their parents then I would stick with the line and continue that way. If they show no improvement then I would ditch them.

If you wanted to only show, then I would sell these guys to a nice retirement farm and buy some pullets and cockerels of the selected breed you want to show. Many breeds, but not all, will have a limited number of years they can be shown so getting them young is the best option. This does depend on the breed though, some birds are not good in their young years such as brahmas and are better once their skulls develop.

Anyway, just some thoughts.
Urban Coyote