I agree that is going to be a challenge, but I have minor experience with that. Enough to understand the process, so in that respect I feel comfortable.
The main challenge, (to me, right now), is transforming a bird that is not purely buff into a truly buff bird. No where in the world is Catalanas fully buff. Fundamentally, in a sense, they are.
Catalanas have the same color as Nankins. You can see the influence of the wheaton you mentioned in both of these breeds. The females are more buff than the males.
It is one of those, I wish the standard was written a bit differently, but it is what it is.
I get a sense, because of some of the allowances in the males, that this was a consideration. It is almost as if it is written to be in between what they are and a purely buff bird.
I am afraid that is going to be another challenge. I think with this project you get hanging out with the devil in the details. Requirements like in the hackles. Reddish buff shading to golden buff in the males. Or the back, reddish buff shading to a lighter buff going to the saddle. I get that, but with the males being required and allowed more red seams to make them overall darker than the females and then that would seam to make an even color in the females difficult.
You could spend a life time on a project like this. I think it is an interested project though. I will learn a lot in the process. I do not care what anyone else thinks about what I have, unless it is constructive input. I realize that what I have is in a poor state, but that is where some of the appeal lies. I will learn more about breeding poultry than I would by buying already nice birds and trying to maintain them.
Concerning a production type consideration, they are fundamentally the best I have ever had. And I have played with a few things along the way. They need some attention and uniformity in this respect, but the pieces are there.
Maybe I need to pick up on something else along the way, that I would have a chance to win something with. I would like to show a few birds hear and there. Get around more people that I can learn from. I want to get passed the experimental stage.
I hope to manage my illness better along the way, and pick back up what I started with on a small scale. I think that I could do something with them. As you know, I had to scale back a bit. I enjoy these birds though, and it would be nice to get a ribbon or so before whatever . . . .
