Pics from today: opinions wanted from wyandotte and ameraucana experts

[Kanchii]

WOW you guys I love all the responses! Some very interesting pictures for me to think about, thanks so much! VERY helpful.

I'll just bring them to the smaller youth shows, hopefully competition isn't too stiff!

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

The back thing in wyandottes is always annoying also. For my whites I had one rooster that is the desired heart shape and another that had a slight back. I liked the one with a back more, it looked more normal to me but the judges always favored the one with no back. I dont think I have seen a hen that shows back in some time, all of my whites had a back that started at the neck. Thats the thing with chickens though is sooner or later a judge in one area will start placing the birds with backs and then thats what all the judges will do. The good thing is that if you have the right things you can make that transistion in just a few generations.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Here is my white wyandotte rooster with no back, the judges seem to love him.

 

[Black Feather]

One thing that I've also learned to keep in mind is that sometimes the judges don't know quite as much about certain breeds as they should. I've had judges place birds in ways that completely baffle me....but that has not effect on how I run my breeding program. I had a judge place a large class of rosecombs with placing 2-6 with birds that were not in condition, had combs that were undersized, and in some instances pointing somewhat downward. In rosecombs that's a no-no.

My point is, I breed my birds to the standard and what a judge thinks very rarely has any effect on how I run my breeding program. I will always ask a judge what they think and where they believe I can improve my flock, but if I think they're talking nonsense then I just continue on the way I am.

Here's a story my friend told about wyandottes and a chat he had with a judge once. My friend was clerking and once the judge had finished with the show they started chatting. The judge knew my friend was a wyandotte breeder so asked what he thought of the placings in that class. My friend being the brutally honest person that he is told the judge that the best bird hadn't even placed. This resulted in a discussion on why that bird had not placed. The judge said the back was too long....my friend said it was just right. It ended up that they had a sit down with a copy of the standard and sure enough, the judge was placing the birds under the belief that wyandottes had short backs, when they are supposed to be medium. Of course when you think a back length is supposed to be short, it ends up being 'the shorter the better'....so the bird with the shortest back would win everything else being equal. Anyway, the judge learned something that day.

pipermark: check the standard, I believe it calls for a wyandotte back to be "medium in length", unless it has been changed since the 1998 writing.

UC