How can you tell if a bird is SQ or not?

[LilPeeps]

On top of the difference in type, show quality australorps are also about twice the size of the hatchery ones.

Here are a couple pics of show quality black australorps..

 

[MaggieRae]

Quote:
You said,

"No one so far has said why that beautiful bird would not be show quality - i.e. back length incorrect for breed, poor comb, color, etc."

Like said before he is very hatchery type.
Just from what I can see in the Pictures he has--
Poor comb ( too many point with no blade and some folds),
Need more length of back,
Incorrect angle of back,
Hatchery type tail, Incorrect tail angle with little to no main sickle length,
Needs more fluff
That is what I can see with out seeing the bird in person..

With that being said he will make a very good pet....

Chris​

ALL of the above pictures were taken last year. Since then, his tail feathers have grown much longer, and he's grown. At the time these pictures were taken, he was somewhere in the 30 week range. I'm just saying he's changed some. So I'm guessing a no on SQ, then?
I could enter him in a local fair or something if it's not too much hassle and see how he does.

Eta: About the weird angles of the pictures, I'm 5 foot 9. Lucy is pretty tall, but I still have to aim down a bit to get a picture in the run. I use a 18-55 lenses, so my pictures require a bit more distance than I find available in the coop to get the right shot. I have some pictures where I'm even with the ground while he was free ranging, but again, these pictures were taken a while ago. I've been having some difficulty with my D50, which is why I just bought a new camera; I can try to get some new shots this weekend.

Thanks, y'all!

 

[pocopoyo]

It is hard to tell if SQ from a picture.
Sometimes hatchery stock can be show quality.
I know at least one hatchery that used to buy eggs from a show breeder.
How does it compare to the standard.
How much does he weigh?
Are the bottoms of his feet white?
Does he have a nice full breast?
If he meets the requirements of the standard, then he is show quality.
He doesn't have to be perfect to be show quality.
Perfect birds are hard to find.
If he is close, and you want to show him, then you should.
The worst thing that could happen is that he gets DQ'd and you get to spend the day looking at chickens and talking to chicken people.

 

[averytds]

The size thing is very hard to get around, the differences are so massive it's truly a shock I think to most people the first time at least. I know it was for me.

What I was trying to get across is if someone see's your pics and then asks you if he's SQ, he might be just perfect for them. It really depends on what their plans are for him. If they want him for local/country/4-H/FFA/youth type fairs and shows and the competition is other hatchery stock (this covers probably the bulk of people) if you're honest with them rather than just a "NO!" and price him accordingly, I don't see a problem.

They also might be confusing SQ with able to be shown, as in, is he a crossbreed or will I (my child) be able to enter him in a specific class. That's probably what at least half the people who ask are really wanting to know.

Someone with serious aspirations quite probably knows a great deal more about the BAs standards and would have more specific questions. They also are more likely to seek out breeders through a specific breed club.


IME with exhibition breeders so far, the more reputable ones rarely jump in with a "Yes, absolutely!!!" if asked "Is this bird SQ?" They don't seem to even like the term very much. "Does this bird have any DQs?" is usually more easily answered. They're constantly working on improvements and sometimes it seems there is always something they'd like better on each bird. The absolute perfect bird, well good luck getting them to part with it without significant amounts of cash that only a select few would spend for a bird and that's only after they try for GCH at nationals and see what kind of chicks they throw.

The ones I've gone with have asked what my plans are and have been very helpful with finding birds without DQs in my price range that will work for my showing/breeding plans.

 

[prov31gal]

Quote:
thank goodness someone posted this. stop the madness. not all hatcheries have bad birds. some have very excellent birds, and sometimes youll get some super birds from a hatchery , sometimes you wont. i get sooooo fed up with this attitude some people have.........uuuhhhhgggg its a HATCHERY BIRD and as we all know if it came from a hatchery then it is a horribly deformed mongrel with mange and cross beak. only vaugely resembling a chicken.............

many hatcheries have good birds, they breed for quality too, not sheer quantity. they have breeding programs, they are trying to create a great bird to market.
and ive seen culls from breeders that dont look especially sq, or even breed standard. you are going to have variation from good to bad in every hatch whether it comes from a hatchery or a breeder. simply being hatchery stock, does not automatically disqualify a bird from being shown.
so give the poor bird a chance, eather he meets breed standard or doesnt. all show quality really means is meeting the breed standard and not having any disqualifications.
if he does not meet the standard and has dqs then no hes not sq, since that is what it means. so lets leave the..... eeeewwwww, a diseased hatchery mongrel...... stuff out.

Edited for content, please see the rules

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Umm, you're going to run into that no matter what because it's the truth. No, they're not mongrels or anything, but the only success in showing you're likely to get out of a hatchery bird is in some small fair.

Also, you mention breeders having cull birds with the same quality. . . Well yeah, that's the point of them being "cull birds" - They're not good enough and thus are removed from the genepool. Hatcheries don't do this - They just breed for egg productivity and nothing more. Heck they even crossbreed. I have a "purebred Brahma" who's actually a Sussex cross. My "Ameraucanas" from a hatchery are Easter Eggers. . . (and my breeder bought Ameraucanas are the real thing. . .

)

You're going to run into people's dislike in the quality of hatchery stock no matter what. . .

Edited for content, please see the rules

 

[prov31gal]

look, no one here is suggesting that the ees adverised by a shady hatchery are actually ameraucanas or auracanas. thats common sense.
and i am not lumpling all hatcheries together. and a good hatchery will absolutely cull in their own breeding stock. the difference is that a hatchery will not cull the birds from a hatch to mail to you, barring any glaring defects that would automatically be culled by anyone. but a breeder will, and you get the remainder of best birds that were not culled. i am aware that youre going to get some bad birds sometimes in a hatchery order , but being hatchery stock does not automaticallt disqualify a bird. thats my point.
im sorry you have crap mixed birds from a hatchery, that sucks.......but it does NOT mean ALL hatcheries operate that way.

Edited for content

 

[TomKat]

I'm with you Prov31gal. The regal posturing of whether a bird is SQ or not reeks of an aristocratic air. I haven't been a BYCer for very long, but I thought this was a page about sharing knowledge on raising "backyard chickens". I did not realize I stumbled into the Toddlers and Tiaras of the chicken world. YUCK! May I remind the readers that breeding for specific characteristics always leads to other unexpected genetic perversions. Don't believe, look at some of the purebreds of the canine world, or better yet look at the European royal families especially the French in the 1600-1700s or the British currently. America is the best because of our diversity, not our genetic purity.

 

[QuailHollow]

Quote:
Well said.
I agree with both of you.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Well don't hold out on the people here at BYC. If the is a "Hatchery" that is used to buy eggs from a show breeder I'm sure a lot of people on here would love to know that "hatchery"..
There is only one hatchery that that is remotely close to having showable birds and that is Cackle Hatchery...

Chris