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Yes, the tails are a problem. There are a couple hens who have pretty good tails, but the smudge look is something I noticed on most of mine to some extent.
The spangles are all over the place, too. The hens that have the best crests are a mixed bag when it comes to spangling. One has pretty decent spangling on her chest and sides but is smudgy looking on her back. The other one has more rounded spangles than half-moon shaped; would this make it a bad idea to breed her even though she has one of the best crests and beards? The beardless hen has pretty good spangling, and her crest isn't bad, so I might also use her when I start hatching next year. I don't plan to use the hen with the swept-back crest for breeding, but I'm not sure what to do with the ones with no crests; one of them has pretty decent spangling and a decent beard, but the other one has very poor spangling, so maybe use one and not the other?
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I have two of the crestless ones; I do think their little cowlicks and beards are adorable!
They just made me think of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals.
I call one Buckwheat just because I didn't want to use Alfalfa for both of them.
I plan to keep them as egg layers and pets, but I'm still waffling over whether or not I should use either of them in my breeding program. I think the one with the windswept looking crest is cute, too, but I know polish type crests are a big no no on brabanters.