Is there any wonder we have so many disagreeements? We can't agree to a standard definition to "Heritage". It means different things to different people. We'll never agree on anything if we can't even agree to the basic definition. I do not equate "Show Quality" and "Heritage". To me they have different meanings, but that does not mean they have different meanings to everyone.
To me, someone breeding for pure SQ is breeding to win a grand prize at a chicken show. They are more worried about how many points on a comb or leg color than egg and/or meat production. It does not matter if an Ameraucana lays blue, green, white, or brown eggs. Egg color is not judged. Conformation, color, pattern, and many other things are. Just because someome is breeding SQ birds does not mean they are breeding Heritage birds.
To me, Heritage breeds were developed for production. The ability to achieve a weight of 4 pounds at 10 weeks was more important for a Delaware than its shade of white. The combination of egg and meat production were more important for a Barred Rock than how crisp the barring was. From these different breeds certain appearnce traits were selected to represent the breed and enable them to be judged. Just look at the different colors and patterns recognized for Rocks an Wyandottes for example. Those different colors and pattersn were developed more for show than production, but they became recognized as breed characteristics too, so they are important. And some of the characteristics selected to represent the breed were chosen because they make the bird better for production, such as conformation.
I'd expect a Heritage breed to conform real close to the SOP, but I would not expect it to be close enough to win a prize or even avoid disqualification. As someone else said or alluded to, many birds bred to be SQ wind up with disqualifications or for other reasons are culled. But I'd expect the production qualities that are not judged to be given as much importance, if not more, that the SOP characteristics that are judged. I think in some ways breeding true Heritage breeds is harder than just breeding SQ. I see it as SQ plus, but fully recognize they are not really SQ, if that makes any sense.
I think the "Pet" breeds are somewhat similar. Some of them may have been developed for certain functions, but they were mainly bred for their strange or glorious appearance. Certain characteristics were selected to represent the breed so people could show and compete against each other, but the original function was more as pets. When I hear "Heritage", I really don't think of Silkies.
To the OP, I don't know why that judge did what he did. There may have been something in your wording or whatever that he saw as wrong and really offended him. Sometimes when people develop a passion for something, they get passionate about it. He may see himself as a knight-protector of the purity of the breed. I really don't know.
As for what I might suggest you call your birds, maybe Production Quality if they meet that definition and actually lay well, unless you really do try real hard to meet the SOP show characteristics as well as the production characteristics for RIR's. But I basically agree, if you do not advertise them to be SQ, and are clear to buyers when they diiscuss it with you that they are not true SQ, you are not doing anything real bad wrong.
