Cackling Ranch show string

CacklingRanch

Songster
Apr 20, 2017
259
987
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Texas
Im putting up this thread to “show off” some of my up and coming birds. They’re not all grade a show stopping birds but I’m proud of how far I’ve brought my breeding program.

Up first are some of my February hatch Bantam Polish. I haven’t managed to get all of them photographed but that’s okay.

We’re planning on hitting up SFOT and WTFR this fall as well as a few jackpots and these are some that I’m growing out for those shows.

The one pullet, who I don’t know if I have pictured, has a near perfect crest from the front but from the top she hasn’t filled in all the way yet.

Even still I am liking the heads and shapes on some of these birds. I just wish I could’ve got them to set up better.

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Here are some of my January hatch Barbu d’Uccle - as you can see they’re at different levels of maturity. This is why I don’t start culling until right at 7-8months. Even at 6 months some hens and cockerels are still developing. These lines can be a little slow to mature.

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I’m new to Polish and these guys aren’t set up right but to eyes that have been looking at them for years I’ll happily take critique.

I haven’t shown in years and these birds aren’t top quality but I’ve got to restart somewhere.

I know my Mille fleur need work. My poor rooster is a molting fool and (he’s mite free ) just doesn’t seem to want to grow in feathers.

I’ve never had “exotic” breeds like these. I’ve only ever had Cochin and Black Australorp and I didn’t get deep in them before life happened.


This is round two at trying to show.
 
I’m new to Polish and these guys aren’t set up right but to eyes that have been looking at them for years I’ll happily take critique.

I haven’t shown in years and these birds aren’t top quality but I’ve got to restart somewhere.

I know my Mille fleur need work. My poor rooster is a molting fool and (he’s mite free ) just doesn’t seem to want to grow in feathers.

I’ve never had “exotic” breeds like these. I’ve only ever had Cochin and Black Australorp and I didn’t get deep in them before life happened.


This is round two at trying to show.

What do you mean they are not set up right? I would say hatch as many as possible, and wait as long as possible to make selections. It looks like the tails may be too high (Polish and d'Uccle), and there may be too much black in the crests of the Polish, and too much white in the d'Uccles. As far as tail angles, if the tail goes farther than perpendicular to the back (squirrel tail), it is a disqualification. You don't want to put the effort into getting a bird ready for a show, and it end up disqualified. As a bird gets older/closer to maturity, the tail tends to go up some. This is more of a concern in your d'Uccles, but the Polish tails look like they could end up slightly higher than the standard calls for. For the d'Uccles, in the birds that I have, if they have that much white at that stage, they will have too much white when shown. Just keep notes, and see what characteristics they show at various ages. For showing, the breed is Belgian Bearded d'Uccle, not Barbu d'Uccle.

I should also mention that I’m not new to poultry. I’ve had poultry 20 years.

It’s just showing I’m green at.

To me, 20 years is new. I have taught people that have been involved with poultry longer than that.
 
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If I ever wake up and stop learning, my time on earth is through.

I was worried about the black in the crests. Some of the ones I already culled to pet homes had more than that. They’re definitely a work in progress. I’m still proud of how far they’ve come from the birds I started with. This is the first year I even dare bringing them to a show. I doubt I would ever win with what I’ve got now but it’s the experience we’re after. My boys, and the one on the way, have so much more to learn about showmanship. About responsibilities.

I hatch heavy and cull hard. This group are the survivors of culling round three.

On the d’Uccle it’s not just the tail carriage I’m working on, it’s fullness. Some of my birds don’t have a very full tail. That, and, I have a LOT of white leakage.

Now, color, the two up top those are red shoulder? Then I have some Mf, another red shoulder, and a brown red??? Don’t know what color the black hen would be called. I know she has too much white leakage, WAY too much, but I still don’t know what color class she would be considered and she pooped up out of my Mille lines.
 
If I ever wake up and stop learning, my time on earth is through.

I was worried about the black in the crests. Some of the ones I already culled to pet homes had more than that. They’re definitely a work in progress. I’m still proud of how far they’ve come from the birds I started with. This is the first year I even dare bringing them to a show. I doubt I would ever win with what I’ve got now but it’s the experience we’re after. My boys, and the one on the way, have so much more to learn about showmanship. About responsibilities.

I hatch heavy and cull hard. This group are the survivors of culling round three.

On the d’Uccle it’s not just the tail carriage I’m working on, it’s fullness. Some of my birds don’t have a very full tail. That, and, I have a LOT of white leakage.

Now, color, the two up top those are red shoulder? Then I have some Mf, another red shoulder, and a brown red??? Don’t know what color the black hen would be called. I know she has too much white leakage, WAY too much, but I still don’t know what color class she would be considered and she pooped up out of my Mille lines.

As far as winning, you never know. How old are your boys? My son shows, and he is 13 now. As far as showmanship (the event), there is not a lot to it. My son did it once a few years ago on the spur of the moment, and only missed one question, which others missed, and I think he was bored with it. He never did it again. This was at an APA/ABA show. Granted, I am not a fan of the APA.

I would think they would be Golden Neck, not red shouldered.. The one looked Brown Red, but with mottling. Not sure she could be shown. I wonder how she came out of Mille Fleur?
 
Golden neck! That’s what I have hanging on their pens. Still learning these colors.

The brown red hen I had marked as MF on her egg when she hatched but she really surprised me. As busy as I stay I could have mismarked but she sure was a surprise because all I set in January were the Golden necks and Mille. Their first show is September and I’m still tossing around who I’m going to take out of that group. I have 20 to choose from in that age group.

I had some black mottled too, but a snake got them. I got the snake. Didn’t even get them to laying age. Now I’m on the hunt for more because I was obsessed with them. We have close to 700 birds and about 90% of them are black or silver based because I just like the look. Heck when the boys wanted dicks I made them get Cayuga.

In the Polish we have a pair of white, a ton of white crested black, and a pair of white crested blue that I just sold because at a year old I couldn’t keep their crests. They kept picking them out of each other and the rooster was too mean. He kept attacking the kids and there’s way to many good roosters out there to justify that. This group I’ve got in the brooder now are so friendly you can’t open their doors without having a pile of chicks on top of you.

We also have bantam Cochin and bantam RIR SCCL. The bantams are what the boys are showing. I just don’t have time to get pictures of everyone.
 

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