how's my polish?

[tinychicky]

it's about three weeks old at the moment. i need input on gender and whether it's showable or not. it's a white crested black.

 

[Illia]

It is pretty young, but looks like a pullet. As for showable? Well, you can show any chicken

But for it to do well, it needs almost no white what so ever on the body, and a lot less black in the face/crest feathers. Otherwise, the rest is too young to judge.

 

[tinychicky]

well you know what i mean *blushes* soooo... will the black on her crest recede as she gets older at all? it doesn't matter that much, but i would like to show her...

 

[Illia]

The black may, but most likely not much. Of my current three White Crested Black Polish hens, only one had that much black on her crest when she was that young. . . And to this day she still has that much.

It really doesn't hurt trying to show her though - You'll learn a lot in the process.

 

[tinychicky]

i suppose it's worth a shot, anyway. darn. i was hoping for an show quality chicken when i got her. oh well, i hope she's at least a good layer.

 

[Chris09]

As of right now she is a DQ.
For White Crested Black -
Quote:
I see at least 6 feathers in the first picture that are tipped in white..

She might molt that out but as of now I would say she's a DQ..

Chris

 

[Crunchie]

Like Chris said, the white would be a DQ, but I'd be willing to be that she'll molt out that white. She looks like any other wc black at that age. No, you won't get less black in the crest as she gets older (and while it will grow & fill out a bit more, you probably won't get a much better crest--go to a show and look at the top Polish, their crests are going to much larger, rounder, fuller. If I had to guess I would say that your girl isn't going to have a great crest as an adult). However, for exhibition, excess black in the crest is remedied by grooming. Obviously you want to breed for less color in the crest, but folks who show their white crested birds pluck the colored feathers to get the correct look when grooming for a show.

Like Illia said though, go for it. You will learn a lot!