CSU - Chicken State University- Large Fowl SOP

[dretd]

Would you consider showing a pic of the rangy girl, for comparisons?

Love what you did with the egg on the terra cotta pot. Really emphasises the coloring.

Why thanks. I had just gathered eggs and looked at the pot on my portch and thought, can't get closer in color than that!

The photo I posted is Autumn, the rangy girl. She is fairly narrow but I can't get her to stay still. Her tail is somewhat pinched and her legs appear light but that is just because she lays 4-5 eggs a week. They were Ronald macDonald yellow as a pullet. You can see the spurs on he legs if you look closely. I would actually like to hear what a judge would have to say about her, actually.

 

[FlashPointFarm]

Diane, would you mind posting the pictures of your previous hatchery stock and your Nate Vanwey Line birds for comparison?

 

[faykokoWV]

sorry, the order of these got mixed up, above are two pullets. I shared them for comparison to the older stock. The tail angle is not quite there yet, but it will come. The thing I like is the consistency. The shape and size is the same. Also their hackles. As you look at all of these, you will see the color and amount of penciling is very consistent.

Other than her comb, I love this hen. Her back could be a little flatter, but her chest is nice and round, her coloring is great and her tail angle is just over 60 degrees.

you can see from behind that this hens back is nice and broad - legs are a little faded due to age. Hackles are the perfect color and amount of even penciling

This shows the nice round breast, and good salmon color - again, legs are faded - I would prefer to see the yellow coloring last into years 2 and 3.



this hen above is one of Nate Vanwey/Ewesheep's hatch. tail angle is a little low in this shot, but you can see her back is a little flatter in this one. Still showing a nice rounded breast.





these show a good head shape and nice even wattles. The comb is a mess though!


Mr rooster - he is over 3 years old and starting a molt.. so not at his best lol. Wing carriage is too low, chest is not round and full enough. Wattles are getting a little on the long side -but not bad for his age. In the top picture he is scanning for "danger" (me with the camera) and is holding his neck elongated. He look more proportionate in the picture below. He does have grey/white fluff at the base of the tail. He also started throwing a white tail feather at the age of 2. Wing carriage in the bottom picture is a little better.
All of the adult hens posted are Nate Vanwey stock. Three were hatched by me and are 2nd generation and are owned by Ewesheep, the other (with the green leg band) is first generation from Nate

 

[faykokoWV]

These are all hatchery stock birds. You can see on this hen that the chest color is not as light as it should be, very hard to see that its a different shade that the rest of her. The chest is not round enough. Tail angle is decent, but the tail is a little pinched looking. the shape of her back is not bad, but a little too long.




not nearly as broad breasted as she should be.

Rooster is not proportionate, very "top heavy"




this last hatchery hen looks a little better, but her penciling is a little heavy in the hackles, tail angle is low

I don't have these birds any more, and they were used in my breeding program.

 

[bnjrob]

.. I'm sorry to interrupt, but this thread confuses me very much ...
Is it chicken judges posting their *own* birds and talking a about them, or people getting help what to work on, and are you like supposed to post certain birds during certain times ? Or is it like a special event or...?
Pretty birds everyone. >,<

We've been going through the different breeds in the different APA classes as a way to learn more about what the "ideal" chicken would look like.

When the moderator announces which breed is being covered, people are encouraged to post photos of their chickens - whatever breed is being discussed at that time - and then talk about their photos - pointing out the things they think are good points and things that aren't so good. And also whether or not a photo is making a particular point better or worse than the chicken actually looks like in person - such as a photo that shows a short back on a chicken that actually has a long back but the chicken was standing funny when the photo was taken.

The goal is to critique your own birds and then others may give you their opinions or ask questions as part of the learning process for everyone.

There are some judges that occasionally have time to review the thread and they may offer their opinions of the birds whose photos were posted. Otherwise, we pretty much look at each other's birds with the SOP in hand, offer critiques, and learn from everyone about what a REAL, non-hatchery production chicken is supposed to look like.

Sometimes there isn't a whole lot of participation, like with my breed there aren't many people that have them and people didn't seem to want to post their birds' photos, and not a lot of judges have even seen them in person - leaving not much discussion. So it may be that a breed needs to be revisited later if someone comes along that has photos to discuss.

I think we are on Welsummers right now if I remember correctly from a page or two back.

 

[EweSheep]

Such a BIG difference!

Someone gonna have to post some pics of Harrie's and Pietrie's Welsummers and another gentleman's Welsummers I forgot his name. They are all exhibition quality birds but they are in Canada and Dutch Netherlands.


Please, please don't mention White Welsummers to me....they just don't exist, IMO!

 

[faykokoWV]

Posting these for Ewesheep

 

[Happy Chooks]

I'm hoping to get some current pictures in the morning, but for now, here are pictures of my flock.

My cock bird, Moose. His wing set is a bit low, though in pictures, he is on alert, so they look lower than they normally are. Leg color is pale. Positives on him - he has a nice wide chest.

This is my favorite picture of him at 6 months old:

These are pictures from last year. His comb has had issues with frostbite.

One of last years pullets:

I wasn't getting where I wanted to go with my flock, so this year I outcrossed. I added this pullet from faykokowv stock. I love this pullet. (now a hen) She has good shafting to her feathers, nice salmon chest, good hackle coloring and a nice rounded breast. She does have a bit of a cushion. I mated her to my cock bird above.

So far, I'm pleased with the offspring. This cockerel I'm holding onto. Wing set is improved in him. He is 5 months old here:

Here are the pullets from the outcross, also 5 months old here. Things I'm working on for the pullets: leg color, widening the tails.

This girl has nice shafting and a nice rounded breast. Cushion and wing carriage is improved as well.

This girl was holding her tail down, it's not usually like that.

The wind was blowing here, so that is why she looks puffed up. This pullet may be a bit on the dark side. Nice chest color and rounded breast.


I will try to get some more pictures in the morning. Feel free to critique them.

 

[fowlman01]

Love the one legged male Happy Chooks.

post your opinions folks and I will post mine later. I am extremely busy right now.......probably tomorrow. I have looked the thread over and let me say: Don't sweat the little things yet and pay more attention to the overall look of the birds. Important parts are; body, head and tail. Look for pinched tails and particularly high tails. Don't worry about the intensity of the leg color or how many points are on the comb. Look for lower breast that appear to be a flat line or even worse sunk in....right before the thighs. Lots of people forget the bottom line of the bird.

Walt

 

[Fred's Hens]

Love the one legged male Happy Chooks.

post your opinions folks and I will post mine later. I am extremely busy right now.......probably tomorrow. I have looked the thread over and let me say: Don't sweat the little things yet and pay more attention to the overall look of the birds. Important parts are; body, head and tail. Look for pinched tails and particularly high tails. Don't worry about the intensity of the leg color or how many points are on the comb. Look for lower breast that appear to be a flat line or even worse sunk in....right before the thighs. Lots of people forget the bottom line of the bird.

Walt

Walt has stressed these same points on many a breed section. Front chest, bottom line, seek a regal head, etc. These are first and primary points to be concerned with not smaller features such as comb points, color, and leg color. There's a common saying, Build the house first, then worry about painting it. If your type is off, if the tail is pinched and/or high, if the chest is absent, have an ugly cushion, then the color alone can not save the bird. Thanks Walt. We'll look forward to your future comments and critiques.

BTW, those primary concerns are focal points for a guy like me, a Rock and Red guy. Same, same. Gotta have type before I worry about the deep mahogany on the Reds or the barring tightness on the Rocks.

Off to a good start here.