Aint that the truth! I have like 2-3 good combs out of all my birds. Most of them are bad. Combs have been the hardest part for me to learn.
for me the comb is the easiest thing to fix . once you have just one chook with a correct comb ,the rest is as easy as having a cop of coffee .
by saying so ,we need to create a line just for this trait ( show quality comb ) to breed true and become a dominant one .
here how I work around this sort of problem and how I fix them .
first I have to catalogue my breeders chooks and classify them recording to they traits =
1) Body type
2) body mass
3) body color
4) egg color
5) Head - eyes ,comb .wattle and over all look
6) Tail .
Example = Tobambezi .
1) BT =Excellent .
2)BM = Excellent .
3) BC = good and complete pattern but darker type ( Mahogany ) NEED TO BE TUNED .
4) EgC = his mom 5/6 and his sister good 6
5) H = all great except the comb too big /not refine/double points NEED WORK
6) T = Excellent
Now it is clear to me I need to mate him to hens with a great comb and lighter hackle
I do this sort of work with all my chooks .when is all done it is easier for me to pair them and breed from them ,
Selective breeding .very fast progress . only problem with this method ( not for me) need to hatch a great number ,because of the different pairing needed to be done to reach the result required .
chooks man