Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[aveca]

Yes, they do with one major exception. Look at the massive heads on those birds. Now that is a head! I don't know why the females look so loose feathered when that cockerel is nice and clean. It almost looks like two strains.

Walt

well thats it, now adays there a lot of big noggins and not much else, boy to have seen those birds in their hey day..dreadful how much they have changed and not for the better../maybe quit worrying about a fat head thats going to get thrown out anyway and focus back on type..look at how fantastic those birds are..
somebody done something wong..too focused on something they shouldnt be? industrial revolution, what on earth happened..?

i saw a black female recently in one of the show papers..she had great head, fantastic tail..but the worst cutaway chest you have ever seen..looked like a neck , gizzard and a tail..im not sure what happened there

 

[3riverschick]

" Dr Lewis Clevenger " Buff Orpingtons
http://www.hpbaa.com/Orpington.html
http://www.sweeth2o.us/BuffOrps.html
Best,
Karen

 

[fowlman01]

well thats it, now adays there a lot of big noggins and not much else, boy to have seen those birds in their hey day..dreadful how much they have changed and not for the better../maybe quit worrying about a fat head thats going to get thrown out anyway and focus back on type..look at how fantastic those birds are..
somebody done something wong..too focused on something they shouldnt be? industrial revolution, what on earth happened..?

i saw a black female recently in one of the show papers..she had great head, fantastic tail..but the worst cutaway chest you have ever seen..looked like a neck , gizzard and a tail..im not sure what happened there

Everyone says they have big heads, but I don't see it the same way. THOSE have big heads.......that is what a big head looks like. If you haven''t seen one with a wide head in person these other heads look wide and a few are, but most of what I see people bragging about don't really have WIDE heads. The head is not just a decoration, it is an indication of what's under the feathers. Is anyone here actually weighing these Brit birds? Birds with feathers like these have generally look bigger than they really are...not saying this is the case here, but that is usually the way with loose feathered birds. These Cleavenger birds probably are overweight enough to be disqualified. I wouldn't do that, but keep in mind that once a chicken gets too big, it's legs go out. I have personal experience with that in lg White Rocks with both females and males.

The test is putting the best of each up against each other side by side in an exhibition cage. that is where you can really compare. Most people can't really compare birds with pictures.....although they think they can. I can't. I have seen pics in Poultry Press of birds I have seen in person and rarely do the birds look better in the pictures. It is just too hard to get an accurate photo.

No one ever see's those caved in lower breasts you seem to know about....not even some judges. I'm sending you a cookie! I see that fault right away when I visually check the bird from outside the cage. It's as if it has neon lights on it. Once you see a bird with a wide head it is the same thing.....it jumps out at you after that and what you thought was a big head all of a sudden doesn't look so big. You have to see it in person.. I have a car that people think is really fast and it is to someone who has never been in a really fast car. It's faster than what you find on the streets, but it isn't fast in fast company if you get my drift. YOu have to see some of these chicken parts in person.

Walt

 

[3riverschick]

I don't get it. Why want a big head? From what I've read, a dual purpose fowl should have a more refined head. The book, "Breeding and Culling by Head Points" explains it clearly:
http://archive.org/details/BreedingAndCullingByHeadPoints
The best layers and even dual pupose fowl don't have huge heads.
Hum,
Karen

 

[fowlman01]

I don't get it. Why want a big head? From what I've read, a dual purpose fowl should have a more refined head. The book, "Breeding and Culling by Head Points" explains it clearly:
http://archive.org/details/BreedingAndCullingByHeadPoints
The best layers and even dual pupose fowl don't have huge heads.
Hum,
Karen

The SOP says broad and deep for an Orp. Not big. Some dual purpose birds do have WIDE heads. I was talking about what I saw in the Cleavenger birds, not what the birds should have. More of a perception thing.
Btw: I don't believe everything I read even if it is old. I feel much safer using my own experience or asking someone else who has actually done some of this stuff.
The best layers are hybrids designed to lay only and to lay for a fairly brief time, so I don't know how that compares to anything that was said.

Walt

 

[thedragonlady]

Walt,
Maybe those girls needed petticoats to incubate and hatch their chicks in a cold climate??? I spent 2 years in England in Gloucestershire in my long drawers. The horses used to come in covered in hoar frost or ice from Nov til April. One day out of 2 years the temp got to 72 degrees. We all came out of our wool hacking jackets, even to teach. We still wore ties though.NO heat in the houses either except for the AGA stove in the kitchen. I actually curled up with an old Olympic horse one night as he had 4 rugs on, and I was freezing despite the best efforts of LL Bean and Eddie Bauer.The cute pink cheeks you've seen on English girls used to be caused by chillblains...ie; frost bite.This was in '65. Things have changed some.

Yes, they do with one major exception. Look at the massive heads on those birds. Now that is a head! I don't know why the females look so loose feathered when that cockerel is nice and clean. It almost looks like two strains.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

You might be on to something there.

Walt

 

[thedragonlady]

Breeding TYPE has always been the Brits' forte. Take a look at the dog world.....Corgis? They breed some very nice horses too. TYPE makes the breed. A mutt can be sound, but what is it?

i agree with vicki, they do look more uk.. what happened? those birds look wonderful..i see a lot of scrawney looking , looked like somone karate chopped them behind the neck not so vibrant colored birds today, you could almost say...dull looking, dropped wings, everything not too appealing going on..thats why i wasnt too interested in them...seemed like they lost the TYPE that the brits value so much.. when i talked to my nephew in britian liam, he said type type type..looks like superior had it, but where did it go?

 

[fowlman01]

Breeding TYPE has always been the Brits' forte. Take a look at the dog world.....Corgis? They breed some very nice horses too. TYPE makes the breed. A mutt can be sound, but what is it?

They are into feathers too. I have judged with Brit judges that put examples of feathers on the coop cards with comments. If I pulled out a feather here I would be in deep trouble. I'm not saying that they aren't into type, but they have a fondness for feathers as well. The British are very good breeders of fowl. The Sebright bantam is a very unique bird.

Walt

 

[thedragonlady]

They are into feathers too. I have judged with Brit judges that put examples of feathers on the coop cards with comments. If I pulled out a feather here I would be in deep trouble. I'm not saying that they aren't into type, but they have a fondness for feathers as well. The British are very good breeders of fowl. The Sebright bantam is a very unique bird.

Walt

The Brits don't heat their coops. Birds with poor feather quality, and therefore no insulation , particularly bantams, will simply freeze to death over there. It's a cold, very damp climate. The dogs' coats over there can not be duplicated here without air conditioning and daily misting over here. I judged a large entry of Bearded Collies years ago, and put my hands on a very good one. I said to the handler,"You did not grow this coat over here." He said nothing. Later I put him Best in Match, and the handler then told me that the dog had been in the US for a week, after winning Crufts...our Westminster. Are Heritage breeds not supossed to be adapted to their climate??