Hello Everyone, I hope the week is going well. Congratulations on a productive Quarterly Meeting. Thank you so much for posting it! That was really appreciated.
I know ChicKat, was trying to wrap up this thread, but I thought I would post one last set of thoughts, after listening to the meeting, and some other conversations which are going on.
Regarding the issue of "Cream". It doesn't seem to be a defined color or may have a spectrum of shades. Unlike Silver If you say silver whether it is a Silver Laced Wyandotte, or a Silver Spangled Hamburg, you know what color you are looking for. Somewhere in this thread it said the SOP should paint a picture. Due to the continued discussion here, I am thinking Cream isn't clear. With that in mind, I was wondering if further definition of cream should be put into the SOP? (not genetics, but what it looks like) Pale butter or off white were discussed at one point. With that in mind I went to the SOP of the Marans breed. Newly accepted into the APA, although only Black Copper is currently accepted they knew they were going to work on other colors so they considered that in the SOP, I also noticed in the Marans SOP there are several places color is defined.
From the Color Section of the Black Copper Marans SOP:
DISQUALIFICATION: Brown wing bay. (See General Disqualifications and Cutting for Defects.)
COMB, FACE, WATTLES AND EAR-LOBES: Bright red.
BEAK: Horn, black shading permitted.
EYES: Reddish bay.
HEAD: Lustrous deep copper, neither yellow nor mahogany.
NECK:
Hackle -- Lustrous deep copper, neither yellow nor mahogany. Some feathers, especially in the lower hackle, may include a narrow dark stripe through the middle of each feather, terminating in a point near its lower extremity.
I know there are still edits being made to the SOP, and I have never worked on an SOP, but in my opinion, if the color was more clearly defined. Such as - Pale Cream, neither yellow or gold. It it might help end the debate. Just a thought.
I appreciate the attitudes expressed in the meeting such as not pushing out the people who have more colored birds and consideration for the gene pool. (I think that was mentioned) Also, understood the discussion of continued breeding of the more crele birds and an alternative SOP, might "spreading the team too thin". I also agreed with Michael's evaluation of there not being enough difference in the hens to truly look like a noteable "different color".
As I have stated in this thread, I like my crele legbars, and their "sunny" colors. It is important to me to support the breed and the club. I will not attempt to breed to color Gray and White (just saying that is how it looks to me) I am going to work on my brown based females (vs gray) with some yellows and oranges in the males. Maybe as other flocks move toward the whiter cream, the differences will be more apparent. I have not yet seen many hens which I would call gray. I will do it in cooperation with the CLC club and not as any kind of split or argumentative position. I recently upgraded to the full membership, in order to stay in touch with what is happening with breed and as we have all stated type is more important than color. Who knows what will happen in the future regarding color. There is a "market" and interest in the Golder/Browner/Crele colors, as the price of chicks and the number of people raising and selling the birds proves. I think it is due to the unusual and beautiful colors of the birds. Also the difficulty people are having breeding the color out..
The first step to any hope of a colorful version is the "Cream" version. I want to support the group and the breed, I know "warm bodies" are always needed. Let me know how I can help. I do think the 2014 Champion, which has been posted here many times is a beautiful bird.
Thank you all for putting up with my questions and continual color questions and for taking the time to discuss the issue.
