Question About Plucking Feathers in Preparation for Show

[destiny_56085]

Now coming from the viewpoint of someone who was in 4-H for 12 years and has been an adult leader for the last 16 years, I will say that 4-H is 'usually' more lenient and emphasizes the learning aspect. You don't always have to have the absolute best birds persay. Credit is usually given to those kids that have proven they have put forth the effort into their project. Those are the kids that come with a smile on their faces and are eager to talk your ear off. They are the ones that come with clean birds, in condition, and have been chosen to the best of their ability. You can tell which ones have handled their birds on a regular basis and which ones who's are the first time in a show coop. You can also tell which of the kids are showing birds that they have probably never touched or taken care of til fairtime (hmm parent's project??). Some of them can have really beautiful birds in gorgeous condition, but not even be able to tell you what breed it is. What I tell my 4-H kids is to act like a used car salesman.... Go in there and show those birds off to the best of your ability. Convince that judge and everyone else watching that is the breed to own.

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
You might want to check your Standard on this.

Bill,
If one would pull out a broken feather wouldn't that be a act of faking just like oiling legs and combs or pulling out solid Black feathers in a Barred breed?
If so then that would be a DQ right?

Chris

No, it's not a DQ it's considered a defect. I've never quite understood that especially in the case where a foreign coloured feather would diqualify the bird.
As to the Silkie Judging Sheet cited above: this sheet is similar to deductions for defect as defined in the APA Standard but it isn't exactly the same. According to the APA Standard there is no 3 point cut for broken, not removed tail feathers. The only 3 point cuts are for tails or wings less than 1/4 developed. I'm not sure who made up this Judging Sheet but there are a few other minoe discrepencies.
Per the Standard the maximum deduction for a broken wing feather is one point while a missing wing feather may be up to 2 points. These deduction are per feather.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Well, there could be a lot to be gained like the difference between 1st and a DQ in some breeds.
If you a Barred Rock with 2 or more solid Black feathers or a Rhode Island Red with one or more White feathers showing in the outer plumage that would be a DQ if you pull them out then that bird no longer has that as a DQ.

The difference between 1st and 2nd could be a badly marked feather.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't or cant pull out bad feathers I'm saying don't do it in front of the judge.

Chris

 

[destiny_56085]

I pulled the silkie judging sheets from Nikki of Hattrick's website years ago while she was still president of the ASBC. Not sure where she got them. I'm the kind that memorizes that standard, but certain things just don't hit you until you get the point breakdown of how much certain things are worth in the swing of things. Her judging sheets, esp for the parti-colored birds, broke it down better for me.

There are certain times when I will pluck feathers too... I've had white birds in both silkies and cochins that carried the silver gene. Its great in the breeder pen in that those birds usually stay snow white. In the show ring, while you are bathing them its really common to find a few dark feathers especially in the cushion on them. On the buff silkies, the standard is kind of set up for failure. You want to breed for the black skin partridge based buffs. Well to get clear buff feather coloration, you mix in some of the wheaton based buffs. That also goes hand in hand with lighter skin (a dq....). So you try to get them as clear as possible, keep the dark skin, and just pluck a few stray dark feathers.

Our family has also shown fancy pigeons for a long time. There is a time and place for any plucking. On patterned birds, the judges will really peel back the feathers and look at the skin for evidence of freshly pulled feathers. On my modenas, they get this little cheek crease sometime. A judge actually showed me how to pluck 1-2 feathers and that will lay down flat. When I first showed komorners, I was shown how to pluck certain feathers in that crown of feathers around their head so it makes a perfect round frill. I also showed pomeranian and reversewing pouters that would get foot feathers up to 8" long. If you got some broken feathers, esp on the feet or wings, you may as well leave that bird in the carrier and scratch it completely.

 

[WallTenters]

Quote:
Well, there could be a lot to be gained like the difference between 1st and a DQ in some breeds.
If you a Barred Rock with 2 or more solid Black feathers or a Rhode Island Red with one or more White feathers showing in the outer plumage that would be a DQ if you pull them out then that bird no longer has that as a DQ.

The difference between 1st and 2nd could be a badly marked feather.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't or cant pull out bad feathers I'm saying don't do it in front of the judge.

Chris

This made me chuckle, because those that have insisted I pull feathers have all been judges.

Go figure. And I guess you misunderstood my original post there (easily done, as I rarely make much sense)... What I meant is that it's not considered faking because if the bird is junk, it's going to stay junk no matter how many feathers you pull. I'm not saying you should pull out DQ feathers two minutes before the show (though I have been advised otherwise), but at this point the OP's birds would have enough time to at least grow in a partial feather. If that partial feather still grows in dark, they know that bird is going to continue growing in dark feathers and it won't have much chance in the show ring no matter how much plucking they do.

At any rate, we can all get down to the nitty gritty details of the points, which are important, but I think on a bird this young a judge would rather see a partially grown in nice feather than a fully grown broken feather. Whether we want to admit it or not, judges do not follow the exact points anymore.

 

[4HChick]

Quote:
Well we will be showing in the middle of July. Our Orpingtons are one week behind in the expected age at our county's fair, as this was my son's first year and we got a slight late start. Since this is a 4-H project, we are supposed to show pullets--although I know they will be soooo much more beautiful when fully mature.

 

[aveca]

Your right, you can pluck, never ever cut to show..you can cut dry and remove just dont trim anything ..pluck is OK remove damaged feather do it time for it to make growth.

Years ago I had a buff australorp that had some little feathers on back of hock..just thin line, did not go down the shank..but I never knew what to do about that, was it acceptable? pluck since it was above shank? No one was ever able to tell me..so if anyone knows about that , Sure would appreciate the help in case I ever see it again...I get lost in these threads so PM me if you know...someone e-mailed me last night and asked me, , I just said honestly I dont know..they had another breed that it cropped up in...never pluck shank that is bad bad on clean legged bird that is spelled out clearly.. ...I have never seen that to date..but on rare occasion have seen it on buff australorp crosses..I know the orps had at one time infusion of langshan and cochin so not suprised something like that might crop up..but what to do about it..not sure. I wish a real show expert could give expert advise on this...the aussi cross was a stunning bird tidy looking and near perfect face and tail only spoiled by those tiny feather lines on hock..he was also perfect bowl shape.we never bred him and I felt other than that he was one of the best birds we have ever owned...

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

There is a difference in plucking a feather and hoping it will regrow correctly and in plucking a feather so that the bird does not show the bad feather during judging. I've read that with white crested polish you have to pluck black feathers in the crest about three times before they will grow in correctly...and been told by a judge, who also raises polish, that most of the birds who have only a very thin line of black feathers are heavily plucked. I've only three polish, and they are not my real focus, so I cannot say more than that.

I've also been told by a judge to CUT, not pluck, crest and muff feathers that block vision on a silkie.