not all birds are created equal

[ChicagoDucks]

Great photos, CelticOaks! Thanks for sharing. I see what you were saying about the un-even neck ring and the color going down his back. Your duck is really stunning!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Thanks, I like to learn with visual aids when available, thought they could be of help to others.

 

[TheJadeChicken]

Love the pictures! Beautiful hen! I am a person, who learns best with visual aids. Cleared a lot up for me, when I get ready to breed chickens and water fowl.

 

[ChristineR]

if time is taken to read the SOP for the meat breeds you will read where body structure is written about in great detail. Breeding for standard doesnt mean you arent preserving the function of the animal.

This is true, but there are also perfectly good chickens, ducks, geese, etc out there who are great egg layers and meat birds who don't meet the standard. I don't see anything wrong with people breeding them for that purpose, as long as they aren't trying to pass them off as show quality. Also, I think sometimes, when you're breeding for a certain "look," other practical qualities can fall by the wayside.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Not the point of this thread though. My point is that not all birds (even if pure bred) should be bred just to sell off spring. What someone does with their birds on their land for their use is a different subject. Vigor, laying, body mass, temperament should all be considered when breeding to standard. Again this is all important and has nothing to do with a self use flock,but rather one that is used to sell hatching eggs, or live birds from.

 

[learycow]

Here is a khaki drake and hen that I entered at our largest fair this year. The hen took first, and reserve grand champion waterfowl.
The drake too first, best large duck, best in breed, best in variety, and Champion duck.

Celtic, would you mind giving me your $.02 on these two? I don't plan to use the drake for breeding. When it came time for the fair he ended up going because my main breeding drake was molting and looked terrible.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

he took best large duck? They are a light weight breed, were there no large ducks there?

She is very pretty, they say the ducks should resemble dead grass with little lacing on the feathers. I like the lacing and think it adds to their beauty, but sop says different lol

he has nice over all color, does the green stop and create a symmetrical ring around the neck?

 

[learycow]

Haha, yes there were large ducks there. But they categorized them as "large" verses "bantams" so the light, medium and heavy weight ducks were all in the same "large" class and the calls were all in another.

I will check on the neck ring. He has a light colored bill which is not breed standard, is that correct? I noticed that your drake has a dark bill like the hens.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Yes yellow is a cull as not standard.




This one hs too thick of a neck

 

[ChristineR]

This thread is discussing not all birds should be bred.

Ok this is a touchy subject so for those who might get offended, sorry ahead of time, stop reading and find a new thread.

NO FLAMING, no harrassement, no posting just create an arguement
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NOT all birds are created equal. Or, not every bird deserves to reproduce. Its just that simple, just because you have cute drake quackers and cute duck daisy doesnt mean those eggs need to be hatched. Having pet flocks that you never set eggs from IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE. Eat the eggs, bake with them, give them away, just enjoy them.

If you do chose to breed and hatch ANY birds (chickens, ducks, geese) PLEASE do the breed you are thinking of breeding a HUGE favor and buy a copy of the Standard of Perfect from the APA, around $59 for the current hard copy with full descriptions and color pictures too! It will help guide you in what is and is not a feature/trait you should be breeding.

Be HONEST with yourself on what quality the birds you have is. Just because you bought eggs to hatch or birds from a quality line wont make those you have worth breeding. Improvement of breeds should always be the goal when making the choice to allow animals to reproduce. if you are unwilling to be critical of your own birds, then ASK someone who has high standards to help you access them. Be open to the fact you may hear negative things and that the person you asked for hlp from may tell you not to breed them. Dont get offended, be happy you had someone willing to help you. Be happy you arent flooding the market with sub-standard birds who do nothing for the breed.

Its nice to have our birds sorta help pay for the feed, but be honest, you WONT get rich off of poultry/waterfowl breeding. If you dont have the time and space to dedicate proper separated breeding pens/paddocks/pastures then dont breed. Dont become a "puppy mill" backyard poultry/waterfowl breeder.

Not the point of this thread though. My point is that not all birds (even if pure bred) should be bred just to sell off spring. What someone does with their birds on their land for their use is a different subject. Vigor, laying, body mass, temperament should all be considered when breeding to standard. Again this is all important and has nothing to do with a self use flock,but rather one that is used to sell hatching eggs, or live birds from.

I just think your original post is making a very broad, sweeping statement that would would include anyone that is breeding Easter or Olive Eggers for egg color, or crossing different meat breeds to get a better meat bird, or any other project bird that isn't included in the SOP. After all, this is how new breeds are created.

In your original post, you were including pet flocks, too. I guess I interpreted the meaning of your post differently than you intended.