Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Yard full o' rocks]

Yes they are. Do they care? Possibly.

I know I've seen people not only show a bird that had a side sprig before the show...that somehow magically disappeared just before judging, and then used that bird as a breeder for their "hatchery."

Same "breeder" also used to shave down the spurs on their males so that they could show the males in a younger class (cockerels, instead of cocks) and win against those birds.

I digress. Using a bird with obvious DQs may work for some breeders as long as they cull hard against it in the future generations, but why have that hassle when a quick cut of the head will solve the problem.


But then there is this train of thought: At what point does conditioning and prepping for a show become cheating?

In my SOP, "faking" is defined as "as self evident attempt to remove or conceal a disqualification or serious defect, thus creating merit that does not naturally exist, a disqualification"

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

I hope you aren't offended, but do you eat them afterwards?

NO offense taken....culls "taste like chicken"

 

[kathyinmo]

I bought white Jersey Giants a couple years ago. I had 5 males and 5 females. All of the males had side sprigs. I got rid of them all, of course. One of our genetics experts told me this.....
Quote:

 

[Bentley]

With all the talk about faking, I was given this book by a very dear friend. I believe someone referred to this book earlier on this thread. It was written in the early 1900's and is a pretty interesting read, especially considering the time it was written. It was not written to teach people how to cheat or fake their birds, but it was pretty clear what was considered cheating back then. Common things today like painting the hooves of show livestock, trimming their coat to alter their appearance and such was considered cheating. It's been a while since I read it, but from what I remember it seems that from the perspective of the author that that many of the things done today to 'primp and prep' birds for a show were considered very border line back then. It was actually sort of humorous to read in places. So anyway, it's general theme was anything done to the bird (animal) with the intent to alter its natural appearance is 'faking'

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

In my SOP, "faking" is defined as "as self evident attempt to remove or conceal a disqualification or serious defect, thus creating merit that does not naturally exist, a disqualification"

Ah, so according to this, using a marker in order to conceal white tips on feathers would not be faking?

Which is the worse offense? Using a marker to conceal a color of a feather or plucking a black feather from a barred bird? I have heard several breeders state that your best barring will come from a bird that also has a few pure black feathers. Or, on a Langshan, pulling a single sprig from the middle toe?

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Ah, so according to this, using a marker in order to conceal white tips on feathers would not be faking?

Which is the worse offense? Using a marker to conceal a color of a feather or plucking a black feather from a barred bird? I have heard several breeders state that your best barring will come from a bird that also has a few pure black feathers. Or, on a Langshan, pulling a single sprig from the middle toe?

I guess it depends on what is classified as a "serious defect" in your breed.

I have coached Dizzy Dean baseball since my youngest son was 5 yrs old. From the first year as T-ballers, I taught the boys that regardless of current philosophies, the game of baseball WAS about winning and that LIFE was about winning. However, we were to do it based on the combined best efforts of every player. We experienced several situations were other coaches "cheated" to try to get an upper hand against us as we were "the team to beat"....since it was T-ball, the umpires overlooked it. Several players (and parents) complained and I explained that regardless of what others did, we would NEVER cheat to win. I hate losing, but in my opinion (please note, MY OPINION) winning by some deceitful practice does not make you a winner, it simply makes you "not caught".

I don't think I could "change" the appearance of one of my birds and feel good about it. I'd rather take the points deduction....

 

[NanaKat]

Quote: You left out culling for the standard. Are you prepared to do that? When breeding for the standard, many birds are removed from the flock to the freezer ruthlessly. I will not give away or sell birds that do not meet the standard for my breed. The fun of breeding also comeswith being responsible for the progeny of your breeding pairs/plan.

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Quote:
I remember going to a youth show a couple years ago, and the judge was showing the kids what he was looking for. He came across a bird had some white on his feather. Then he asked, "Do you know how you'd fix this?" and a kid replies, "A black Sharpie!".

I sure hope the kid wasn't serious...

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Quote: My Jersey Giant roo has side sprigs. I'll get a good picture sometime, but you can almost see it in this picture...




He's a cull, BTW.

 

[Robert Blosl]

But . . . but . . . If a person cheats at a show by coloring in feathers, shaving side sprigs, etc., and doesn't get caught, aren't they still shooting themselves in the foot by perpetuating those faults in their next generation of birds?

Normaly these people are not breeders they are point chasers or who want to win started wins so they can be called master breeders some day by a club.

Some even buy birds bought by other breeders and show them to win. Most good breeders wont use such methods. Most of the time like in Rhode Island Reds if the have a white feather in the wing its a injury during the feather growing out. Pull it out and it normaly comes back red. If you have a white bird and you pull out a few black feathers like in a white rock no big deal in breeding.

Many people who do these things do not stay around very long. God forbid if they have birds shown around Walt or Bill they will get caught. They have seen it all.

Walt you are not a point chaser. You have earned your Master Breeder status four or five times over. You just enjoy showing your birds.