Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[NeilsHamburgs]

But saying exhibition stock or standard bred stock is better terminology than saying I have sop birds. Correct terminology is always the best way to communicate with others. This website would really benefit from that.

 

[galanie]

If we could all agree on "the proper term" it would be great and I'd not mind using whatever is agreed on. I often say SOP because that is what I see people on this site call what Mr. Blosl terms "standard bred." Even though I absolutely hate using initials rather than the whole word. Only because that seemed to be used commonly enough that others would know what I meant. And honestly, I believe everyone did indeed know exactly what I meant.

 

[el pollo rey]

Lol

If we could all agree on "the proper term" it would be great and I'd not mind using whatever is agreed on. I often say SOP because that is what I see people on this site call what Mr. Blosl terms "standard bred." Even though I absolutely hate using initials rather than the whole word. Only because that seemed to be used commonly enough that others would know what I meant. And honestly, I believe everyone did indeed know exactly what I meant.

I could not agree more with you on use of abbreviation but as far as using the word exhibition to define a bird or a animal that meets the standard of perfection as written in the poultry association hand book is some what misleading . I am by no means a expert but have many years of experience showing animals at the county and a few times lucky enough to be invited to the state level with my kids and there animals to compete. I can say after countless club lambs feeder steer dairy goat and meat rabbit projects ( no poultry ) the the term exposition being loosely applied to animals being exhibited by know means implies they meet the standards set forth by the governing bodies rules of judging and I have rarely seen animals meet the standard to the subtext set forth in the book what seems to meet the criteria by one judge is always different to another. I have answered adds for exacbition quality club lambs only to drive acrossed two states to find a animal that was not worthy of eight months of work to prepare for fair only to not place at all ,,, like I said no expert but experienced a lil in the show game ,

 

[el pollo rey]

Sorry for the typos fat thumbs lil iPhone

 

[fowlman01]

BYC folks us a lot of terms never used in the exhibition poultry world and for some reason SOP doesn't bother me much. What is an exhibition bird in some peoples mind may not be an exhibition bird in my mind. In the show world folks just assume you are breeding them to the Standard of Perfection. Online anyone can say anything......take all posts online with a grain of salt if the person is not well known in the APA/ABA world ...and even take that with a grain of salt. Show records can be researched, but are not always a measure of a persons abilities, as some exhibitors show birds that they buy.

Walt

 

[pysankigirl]

I am fairly new to Chickens. had them less than a year. how do people show birds but not have them bring home the myriad of poultry diseases? once a flock tests positive for something like Mg, do you then cull the entire flock? I would think with the statistics, there is a lot of things out there for them to get, and not many flocks of the historical breeds, I worry that one wrong move and a critical gene pool is now qone.

 

[fowlman01]

I am fairly new to Chickens. had them less than a year. how do people show birds but not have them bring home the myriad of poultry diseases? once a flock tests positive for something like Mg, do you then cull the entire flock? I would think with the statistics, there is a lot of things out there for them to get, and not many flocks of the historical breeds, I worry that one wrong move and a critical gene pool is now qone.

If shows spread disease they would not be allowed. All shows are canceled in times of AI or END outbreaks. I have shown many birds over the years and never picked up anything at a show. Here is CA we don't even need health papers to show. Anything can happen if you take your birds off your property and expose them to other birds, but the only major outbreaks of disease in chickens that I know of do not come from back yard flocks. It is always commercial operations where these outbreaks occur. I am a California poultry health inspector and I have never run into anything that I would have to report to the state at a poultry show.

Walt

 

[trochefarm]

If shows spread disease they would not be allowed. All shows are canceled in times of AI or END outbreaks. I have shown many birds over the years and never picked up anything at a show. Here is CA we don't even need health papers to show. Anything can happen if you take your birds off your property and expose them to other birds, but the only major outbreaks of disease in chickens that I know of do not come from back yard flocks. It is always commercial operations where these outbreaks occur. I am a California poultry health inspector and I have never run into anything that I would have to report to the state at a poultry show.

Walt

I'm very happy to hear/read that. When friends and co-workers find out I have chickens, they very often send me links to articles that claim backyard chickens are the reason behind increased diseases and illnesses such as salmonella, etc. It's comforting to get the real scoop from an expert.

 

[winniem13]

I wanted to stop using the H word when I started this thread I used it to lure people to it as key words like Heirloom H seems to get people to look at the subject. Standard Breed in the old days meant standard large fowl as people use to say Standards in their articles they wrote. They where trying to get the point across as there was bantam breeders reading these articles and it was about breeding large fowl. Standard Breed means breed towards the Standard of Perfection by the APA.


In the old days guys would say I am going over to look at the Standards. Or Look at the Waterfowl. Just a method of Speech. One thing I have learned on this thread is the location in the country we use different terms for the same thing. I may say something and stir up a hornets nest and I just Phrased it differently.

I am glad for that picture from your cell phone. When you go to a show and see birds like this it is a eye opener. The said part is the people who come to a fair or show thing they have the real thing. Its a shocker to them when you tell them they are not Standard Fowl, or Standard Breed Fowl or H Fowl. I try to be gentle and go with the positive things first. Most of the time they are in very good condition or they took real good care of them and the feathers are all layed down perfectly. That is a good thing as if they had good stock they can produce a bird with a good finish on their feathers and can compete. Many times birds win that are not as good as their competition on finish. If the judge thinks like me and most do they will cut a bird for broken feathers or missing feathers. Then I hope I have a Standard of Perfection in the Poultry Barn and can go get it and show them the picture. This helps to illustrate my point of how the bird should look. Many times they will say that that looks like the picture in the Catalog. Most of the pictures used are Dianna Jacky's fine prints and that's what they should look like but never do. I myself was hoodwinked on Light Brahma large fowl as a kid. Then I saw the real ones and it was a shock to me. I did not give up I got some good birds and they where Rhode Island Reds and then White Plymouth Rocks from two master breeders. My mother wanted the original Rhode Island Reds that she saw once in the 1930s but could never find any. She only had feed store kind for years. But then I got a trio from George Underwood at age 12 and we where off to the races. A term many don't like to here today but she called hers scrubs and mine the real deal. So I some times type that word and boy people get hot about that.

I am sure there are many who Lurk and don't write but you can still learn and practice on your current hatchery  birds. Chickens of that kind I would be very happy with if that is all I could get like my mother was forced to have but when the time comes do your home work attend a few poultry shows if you can to see the real deals and then you will be ready to get the breed you wish to own.

If you go over to the Rhode Island Red Tread there are some great examples of young chicks that are between 7 days to 30 days old being posted. When you see these dark chicks and their feathers then you also can compare the chicks you see in the feed store with Rhode Island Red next to them. Then you can see when they grow up they are washed out in color like my mothers old Reds use to look like. By the way the feed stores in my area are selling baby chicks like never before. They just got in 100 production reds in  and they are down to ten late Saturday so people are interested in raising poultry and also gardening and raising their own food.

I just planted some of my HERILOOM seeds I got from a nice lady from North Carolina yesterday. Got to plant the watermelons and cantaloupes and other spread out plants today. Something I have not done and a new bee at . Also, I am a new bee in Pen Turning. I am doing things I never dreamed I could do and have mentors who are teaching me on the Internet. These guys are so nice and helpful and willing to share their knowledge with beginners. I think we have done a great job doing this on this tread. Thanks to all who have shared their wealth of information.

It's so nice to hear from a humble "master" that gives praise and thanks to others.

 

[pysankigirl]

If shows spread disease they would not be allowed. All shows are canceled in times of AI or END outbreaks. I have shown many birds over the years and never picked up anything at a show. Here is CA we don't even need health papers to show. Anything can happen if you take your birds off your property and expose them to other birds, but the only major outbreaks of disease in chickens that I know of do not come from back yard flocks. It is always commercial operations where these outbreaks occur. I am a California poultry health inspector and I have never run into anything that I would have to report to the state at a poultry show.

Walt

But what about diseases where the birds could be carriers but not show any symptoms? I do not ask this randomly. I suspect my flock of asymptomatically carrying Mg. I don't have proof, because the PR tests for being a carrier are $75 each(!!!!!!) and an asymptomatic bird wont test positive on a swab or blood test.