CSU - Chicken State University- Large Fowl SOP

[fowlman01]

As I said in the Barnie thread. The SOP can be changed if the Standard Committee receives information that shows there is an error in the SOP. Someone....not me.....has to put together information that clearly shows that there is a mistake in the SOP. This is a good time to do that as we are in a Revision mode at the moment and the Standard Committee is presently called the Standard Revision Committee.

If these two breeds are wrong or if there was a mistake.....as claimed in the Barnevelders, someone has to prove that. Since again we have the British saying the same thing the APA is saying, it may be a bit difficult.....but not impossible.

The way it stands right now is that judges are going to fault shafting unless it is on the back of the bird because shafting is a general fault unless described in the SOP...and the British Standard...maybe in the German Standard as well, but I don't know that.

What does the Dutch Standard say?

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

cpartist - I noticed you said you aren't at a point where leg color is important in your breeding program. I would suggest to you that you consider leg color right up there with importance of body shape and other major issues. Once the yellow coloring is gone, you can't get it back.

Does the leg color go to white?

w.

 

[faykokoWV]

Does the leg color go to white?

w.

If you look at the pictures of some of my older hens, the leg color looks white. The leg color fades with age, so if you don't start with a strong yellow, by the age of 1 year old the legs are very pale yellow and by year three they will be even lighter almost white. Every Welsummer breeder I've spoken with has emphasized to me the importance of maintaining they yellow. If I look at my other breeds with "yellow" legs, my Welsummers are by far the lightest yellow.

 

[fowlman01]

If you look at the pictures of some of my older hens, the leg color looks white. The leg color fades with age, so if you don't start with a strong yellow, by the age of 1 year old the legs are very pale yellow and by year three they will be even lighter almost white. Every Welsummer breeder I've spoken with has emphasized to me the importance of maintaining they yellow. If I look at my other breeds with "yellow" legs, my Welsummers are by far the lightest yellow.

In that case I will amend my statement of not worrying about the leg color in this breed. You have bred them long enough to know by experience. As it turns out you are not the only one with this concern, and since I don't raise them, I will defer to your experience.

What are your thoughts on the female chest. Shafting or not? Judges don't know this breed and they will judge it by the way the SOP reads and if shafting is not mentioned in the chest it is a fault.

In any case my recommendation is to educate judges about the breed. A lot of them will not go out on their own and find out all the ins and outs of the breed. There are still judges DQing Marans for stubs. It is surprising how a little education of the judges and other exhibitors makes for less judging errors.

Walt

 

[faykokoWV]

In that case I will amend my statement of not worrying about the leg color in this breed. You have bred them long enough to know by experience. As it turns out you are not the only one with this concern, and since I don't raise them, I will defer to your experience.

What are your thoughts on the female chest. Shafting or not? Judges don't know this breed and they will judge it by the way the SOP reads and if shafting is not mentioned in the chest it is a fault.

In any case my recommendation is to educate judges about the breed. A lot of them will not go out on their own and find out all the ins and outs of the breed. There are still judges DQing Marans for stubs. It is surprising how a little education of the judges and other exhibitors makes for less judging errors.

Walt

having looked at pictures from German groups and even this week seeing some of the top Dutch Welsummers, I've never seen a Welsummer Hen that did not have the light shaft showing on the breast. I also think the term "chestnut" is misleading. When I think chestnut, I think of the color of a Buckeye, while most welsummer hens have some of this coloring around the neck area, the chest is usually much lighter and more salmon colored

 

[EweSheep]

Brown Leghorns vs Partridge Welsummers

I think you can find the difference in them by looking at the variation of feather patterns and the Brown Leghorns may be of more "dull" colored than the Partridge Welsummers which they are a "bit richer".


Carry on! I am trying to invite some of the British and Dutch breeders to come and post on her for education and how we have come to evolve from almost twenty years ago, upon importation of the first Welsummers to present day and what problems we are now having that didn't exist or "hidden" for a generation or two.

 

[faykokoWV]

I don't show, but if I ever do... can you bring your own copy of the SOP with you to show the judge.. or is that just asking for trouble

 

[EweSheep]

having looked at pictures from German groups and even this week seeing some of the top Dutch Welsummers, I've never seen a Welsummer Hen that did not have the light shaft showing on the breast. I also think the term "chestnut" is misleading. When I think chestnut, I think of the color of a Buckeye, while most welsummer hens have some of this coloring around the neck area, the chest is usually much lighter and more salmon colored

Chestnut to me, would be like the color of a chestnut horse, not buckeye which it would be "blood bay" or buckeye seed color. Chestnuts can range from reddish to dark brown with reddish tint like dark sienna (in paint).

I prefer the chestnut salmon color on the hen breasts but it could be a fault, a big one, for other country's SOP which some look like light chestnut color or light red chestnut color, almost the color of the NH red.

The breast of the hen should not be solid salmon pinkish color (as in PINK) as you see in Brown Leghorns. I saw a pic of a Brown Leghorn somewhere on my FB.

 

[EweSheep]

This is the German Welsummers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgtz74atXT0


And there are some of Mr Pilgrim's and Mr Eissens' Welsummer pictures floating around.

This link is a MUST read to compare the Dutch and British Welsummers.
http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/12E05A10.pdf

 

[fowlman01]

I don't show, but if I ever do... can you bring your own copy of the SOP with you to show the judge.. or is that just asking for trouble

I would suggest you do that and it should be fine as long as your approach is non confrontational. Judges have a lot of people get in their face, so they may be defensive at first. You might point out that you are trying to promote the breed and that it has some fine points that are sometimes overlooked. I know that I respond to people they way they respond to me.

You don't have to show to do this. Get the judge(s) after judging or before if you are showing. A good time is Friday night or 7:30 or 8 am on Saturday morning. Anytime you run across a judge bend his/her ear. This works. The Ko Shamo people have done this with great success.

Let me know how this works out.

Walt