Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[peachdawg78]

I fully agree, I don't even show my birds but I learned a long time ago when I was a kid and had one of every breed that it costs just as much to feed a bad example of a breed as it does that best. That being said as my dad used to say when he came home with a new ford lariat "It only cost 100% more to go first class". Nowadays if I am going to feed it it better be **** nice or **** rare.

 

[Bentley]

To me, if you see something you like and you want to see more of it, you stick with it and don't let those wins or losses ruin it for you. 

Showing is secondary to my breeding program. I want to produce good quality birds that I know are good quality. What a judge sees in the 3.5 minutes he stands in front of my bird is fun, but not the primary reason to have a good quality flock. 


Working on the difficult colors is part of the fun. I got so hacked off at the problems I was having with my blue and black Langshans. So I got some bantam Speckled Sussex. All of a sudden, things don't seem so awful when I compare them! 

Yep, part of the fun is the challenge of the difficult breeds. It's great to start with the best stock you can get, but I sort of enjoy the challenge when you have to start further away from great birds. Having said that, the big difference there is with great genetics you can focus on fine tuning the birds with the small posts. When the quality is not great their is a lot of low hanging fruit to pluck off and eliminate. Either way the challenges there and is fun if you like the breed.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

The Northeastern Poultry Congress was a big success. The large fowl of quality....and not...were up. The show was large and well attended. There were some fabulous birds. The Langshan display was outstanding. The Faverolles were super. There were some very nice White Wyandottes, outstanding NH, strong White Rocks, strong Australorps, excellent White Leghorns.

The size of the Langshan exhibit was so impressive with multiple breeders exhibiting especially their black Langshans. How to choose? It authenticated the judging in that it made it a true feat. It's easy to judge six of this or ten of that, but staring down thirty Langshans of good quality--nice.

This leads to something I've been thinking about for ages now. How lovely to walk through a class of uniform brids in strong number, of high quality, in one variety. It is so much more impressive than a bunch of sloppy this or that, laced Orpingtons...honest to Pete.

Cuckoo Marans? Why and to what end? What will ever come of them? At least in the Black Copper and Wheaten the Marans offer something unique to the dual purpose category. Multi-colored Spitzhaubens and Brabanters? Again, what does it matter? There's not even one variety of either in the SOP. Even if they are imported or made available, they'll last for a time and a bit and then peter out into a mess of inbreeding nothingness.

I'm not being harsh here, just real. Breeds can't support more than a few varieties. Visiting any quality show will make that very plain. Each breed has one, two, three, or in the rarest of cases four varieties that actually exist and persist in quality. The rest just show up and look pathetic, because they are pathetic. Tone-wise, I don't say this in a spitting way, but with a sad kind of wounded puppy way. They look pathetic because there's no investment in them, and they represent what is "more than the market can bear."

To give an example close to home, not so long ago, Dorking folks pushed and pulled to get the Cuckoo Dorking into the SOP. To what end? There aren't any Cuckoo Dorkings of any quality to speak of available today. All of that effort was spent on some romantic notion of a marginal color pattern, and it availed nothing but an addition to the SOP. Moreover, all of that time and energy was not spent on ameliorating Dorkings in general. As stated above, "What about the enthusiasm for substance?"

The Marans folk were there with the table set up distributing eggs. It was nice to see their enthusiam. Marans, though, are of OK quality only. They're in the SOP--great. Now it's time for substance, and subsance, like what was visible in the White Wyandottes, does not come over night. Neither will it come if everyone's trying to worry about the Cuckoo, which will only detract from the Marans regardless of whether or not it's recognized. Between the Dominque and the Plymouth Rock, cuckoo and barring are exhausted. Any other breed that has a recognized variety of cuckoo/barred just watches it peter out to nothing. Why not take all of that energy and funnel it into substance for the two recognized Marans?

Eventually the part of us that clings to truth points and admits that the emperor has no clothes. Breeds can only support a very small number of varieties. The luckiest have one. Those with two can have a king and a queen. Three is a magic number of perfection, and only Cochins have four varieties that actually exist with long-term quality.

There is a lot of wisdom to be drawn from the wish to refrain from the superficiality and, frequently, redundancy of color. Instead we can turn to substance. When we really begin to know what good chickens are, color only moves us when it is adorning a bird of substance.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

The Northeastern Poultry Congress was a big success. The large fowl of quality....and not...were up. The show was large and well attended. There were some fabulous birds. The Langshan display was outstanding. The Faverolles were super. There were some very nice White Wyandottes, outstanding NH, strong White Rocks, strong Australorps, excellent White Leghorns.

The size of the Langshan exhibit was so impressive with multiple breeders exhibiting especially their black Langshans. How to choose? It authenticated the judging in that it made it a true feat. It's easy to judge six of this or ten of that, but staring down of Langshans of good quality--nice.

AAHHH!!! How I wish we could have afforded to go!!! Stupid car needing tires! Otherwise, my rear would have been there watching this happen! Were there any blues? Whites? That is just awesome to hear! I heard that in Oklahoma this last Shawnee show, there was not a single Langshan. I'll be fixing that problem as soon as I move back this year.

 

[NanaKat]

Correct. There were many breeds with few or no representatives for varieties.
Living near Shawnee, I've attended the show several times. This year there were many voids..more than in years past.

 

[Bentley]

AAHHH!!! How I wish we could have afforded to go!!! Stupid car needing tires! Otherwise, my rear would have been there watching this happen! Were there any blues? Whites? That is just awesome to hear! I heard that in Oklahoma this last Shawnee show, there was not a single Langshan. I'll be fixing that problem as soon as I move back this year. 

You are moving back to the tornado state? Cool!

 

[Yellow House Farm]

AAHHH!!! How I wish we could have afforded to go!!! Stupid car needing tires! Otherwise, my rear would have been there watching this happen! Were there any blues? Whites? That is just awesome to hear! I heard that in Oklahoma this last Shawnee show, there was not a single Langshan. I'll be fixing that problem as soon as I move back this year.

There were some blues, and they were nice. THe Blacks, though, were fabulous.....I mean fabulous. They one Best and Reserve Asiatic. There were at least 5 or 6 breeders. I don't remember any whites. There were a few sad Splash, which only detracted from the beauty of the display.

The blacks and blues were great, really eye catching and elegant. I was thinking about this thread. These blacks really deserved to be picked up by a few good breeders on here unsure yet of what they might like. What an elegant fowl to see in number.

There was also a good number of black bantams to be seen.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

There were some blues, and they were nice. THe Blacks, though, were fabulous.....I mean fabulous. They one Best and Reserve Asiatic. There were at least 5 or 6 breeders. I don't remember any whites. There were a few sad Splash, which only detracted from the beauty of the display.

Don't like splash I take it? I LOVE the color. Really pretty. So far, I've gotten some really good blues by using a splash hen with a black male. I will be interested to see how it works out this next year.

The blacks and blues were great, really I catching and elegant. I was thinking about this thread. These blacks really deserved to be picked up by a few good breeders on here unsure yet of what they might like. What an elegant fowl to see in number.

Aren't they though? Nothing as gorgeous as a flock full of those black birds. The blues, when done correctly are stately as well. Not as breath-taking in my opinion, but maybe one day they will be. What a shame about no whites. Ah well. Those really aren't up to snuff as of now anyway. Definitely a recovery effort happening there. Once i move back and build my own barn, I fully intend on making up some lost ground on them. A good white is almost as beautiful as the black. I have only ever seen one white that took my breath away.

There was also a good number of black bantams to be seen.
Awesome on the bantams! Great to hear that there was such good representation on them! Thanks so much for all your information!

 

[OSUman]

Joe, the Cuckoo Marans is extremely important in the history of the Marans breed in the United States. They were the first variety imported, and I think the only variety legally imported, and many of the strains of the Black Copper and Wheaten Marans are based of Cuckoo heritage due to the poor hatch-ability in the more newly imported varieties. Also the Cuckoo Marans are the first and only variety accepted to the Bantam standard, though I guess that isn't entirely relevant. Though between being sucked in by hatcheries and the new varieties being brought in they have become very rare in true form.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Correct. There were many breeds with few or no representatives for varieties.
Living near Shawnee, I've attended the show several times. This year there were many voids..more than in years past.

I'm pretty sure that's because one of the main exhibitors left the area.

I think I remember meeting you WAY long back. Went to a small Mexican restaurant just down the road? I was too young then to enjoy the Casino nearby.



Bentley, I can't wait to get back. People up here just can't understand the beauty of watching Mother Nature tear apart something. Or just watch the funnels drop down. It's exhilarating but scary at the same time. The destruction afterwards though...don't tell anyone on Facebook yet though. Don't have the paperwork in hand yet, but as soon as we sell the house up here, we can get back home.