CSU - Chicken State University- Large Fowl SOP

[fowlman01]

Gladly I don't have that issue with my Wellies but had some Spitzhaubens with that problem from a different breeder who I will not mention on here, and got rid of them pronto. It was awful! They had so many faults and I assumed it was from so much inbreeding or lack of proper care of the parents. The chicks had the best feed and I had two different breeders. The other group of Spitzhauben chicks did just fine, no development problems at all and laid well with no wrinkles or deformed eggs like the other deformed Spitz group did.


All my birds like roosting, so the flat end of the 2 x 4 on 4 inch side is where I let them perch and plenty of calcium. And the best feed I can get!

Lots of people call themselves breeders these days but they just put a bunch of chickens in a pen and then sell what comes out. There is no breeding

 

[thedragonlady]

I think it most always that way with new animal breeders. It is easiest to learn the fine points of a breed. Most usually, I think other breeders teach newcomers by fault-finding, using the minor hallmarks as examples. So the newcomers start out with wrong thinking, both fault-finding ( instead of virtue -appreciating) and studying the minor hallmarks ( instead of the balance and symmetry of overall breed type).
Best,
Karen

Oh, Karen, you might have opened a can of worms here. My one gripe about both club's standards has always been "cutting for defects". No mention of rewarding for virtues. Oh, yes I know all about a colored bird , and an older bird, but the emphasis is on cutting, not building . No wonder the poor Newbies start fault judging.

When I look at a bird, I first ask myself, "What's good about it ?"If I don't find any positives, I ask, "What is wrong with it." Not the other way around. It's interesting to me as to why the poultry world has embraced a fault judging system, when most other forms of livestock judging place values on positives first..... such as " I place one over two due to 1's deeper body length, and hard feathering, but 1 grants to 2 , a better topline, etc ",and so on, down the line. Tell me what's GOOD about it FIRST.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Oh, Karen, you might have opened a can of worms here. My one gripe about both club's standards has always been "cutting for defects". No mention of rewarding for virtues. Oh, yes I know all about a colored bird , and an older bird, but the emphasis is on cutting, not building . No wonder the poor Newbies start fault judging.

When I look at a bird, I first ask myself, "What's good about it ?"If I don't find any positives, I ask, "What is wrong with it." Not the other way around. It's interesting to me as to why the poultry world has embraced a fault judging system, when most other forms of livestock judging place values on positives first..... such as " I place one over two due to 1's deeper body length, and hard feathering, but 1 grants to 2 , a better topline, etc ",and so on, down the line. Tell me what's GOOD about it FIRST.

WOW....such words of wisdom Vickie!! I am GUILTY of your description right down to the core. I'm turning over a new means of evaluating my birds from these statements. Better that the glass is "half full" than "half empty", makes all the sense in the world

THANKS

 

[thedragonlady]

WOW....such words of wisdom Vickie!! I am GUILTY of your description right down to the core. I'm turning over a new means of evaluating my birds from these statements. Better that the glass is "half full" than "half empty", makes all the sense in the world

THANKS

Cockeyed optimists have much more fun than half glassed pessimists !

 

[thedragonlady]

And another thing...I have shown critters all my life. You name it, I've probably shown it. I was amazed that I was expected to pay an entry fee, allbeit a small one, to ask for anyone of 6 judges opinion at a poultry show. I have always entered critters under a judge whose opinion i respected because of his/ her expertize in whatever critter I was showing.

Anyone who has shown horses, or dogs, cats,cattle,goats,sheep, rabbits, etc knows that certain judges' opinions are valued. On a three day circuit in lets say dogs, a breed might have an entry of 150 on day one, 20 on day 2, and 160 on day 3. What does that tell you? Certain judges DRAW entries because breeders want their opinions.Some do not.

Why does the poultry world do this ?

 

[EweSheep]

WOW....such words of wisdom Vickie!! I am GUILTY of your description right down to the core. I'm turning over a new means of evaluating my birds from these statements. Better that the glass is "half full" than "half empty", makes all the sense in the world

THANKS

I point out the faults first before giving the good reveiws on my birds. Or I can go vice versa. I go either way.

 

[FlashPointFarm]

This bird belongs to Duane Smith in IN.

This is a picture of what I would consider to be a pretty good Welsumer pullet. Not my bird but since you guys were talking about them I thought I would post this.





Matt

 

[aveca]

Oh, Karen, you might have opened a can of worms here. My one gripe about both club's standards has always been "cutting for defects". No mention of rewarding for virtues. Oh, yes I know all about a colored bird , and an older bird, but the emphasis is on cutting, not building . No wonder the poor Newbies start fault judging.

When I look at a bird, I first ask myself, "What's good about it ?"If I don't find any positives, I ask, "What is wrong with it." Not the other way around. It's interesting to me as to why the poultry world has embraced a fault judging system, when most other forms of livestock judging place values on positives first..... such as " I place one over two due to 1's deeper body length, and hard feathering, but 1 grants to 2 , a better topline, etc ",and so on, down the line. Tell me what's GOOD about it FIRST.

i agree..then people expect absolut perfection that doesnt exist..and get frustrated ..maybe its our society as a whole..pastor romig has that way about him..he will tell you what he sees good up top..then ends with you need to work on this issue..or that ..but he will say something like... the house is well built, now we will scrape the paint and give it a fesh coat..

 

[Matt1616]

This bird belongs to Duane Smith in IN.

You are correct...this bird belongs to Duane Smith by way of Doug Akers breeding. He got the bird as a chick from Doug and done a good job of raising the bird and done well at some shows last year with her. I'm not a Welsummer expert but to my untrained eye it is one of the best ones I have ever seen. Duane posted this on another site and said the picture could be used to promote/help the breed and I felt like this was a good opirtunity for some Welsummer enthusiasts to see a pretty good one.

Matt

 

[fowlman01]

And another thing...I have shown critters all my life. You name it, I've probably shown it. I was amazed that I was expected to pay an entry fee, allbeit a small one, to ask for anyone of 6 judges opinion at a poultry show. I have always entered critters under a judge whose opinion i respected because of his/ her expertize in whatever critter I was showing.

Anyone who has shown horses, or dogs, cats,cattle,goats,sheep, rabbits, etc knows that certain judges' opinions are valued. On a three day circuit in lets say dogs, a breed might have an entry of 150 on day one, 20 on day 2, and 160 on day 3. What does that tell you? Certain judges DRAW entries because breeders want their opinions.Some do not.

Why does the poultry world do this ?

I'm not sure what you mean here. Poultry judges will give opinions to anyone who asks. They don't care if the person has a bird in the show or not but you have to ask. Is this how it is in the south?

Walt