Sandhill Preservation Center - Breeds

Quote:
If you read the SOP you will see that vigor, production, weight, etc are all addressed in the APA Standard. See pages 21 and 22 for a start. Birds that just have good color do not win at poultry shows. Poultry showing has nothing to do with what happens in other animal shows.

Walt
 
Walt wrote:
If you read the SOP you will see that vigor, production, weight, etc are all addressed in the APA Standard. See pages 21 and 22 for a start. Birds that just have good color do not win at poultry shows. Poultry showing has nothing to do with what happens in other animal shows.

Thanks for your input.

Respectfully, I have some concern about using SOP as the sole criteria for selection. SORRY I didn't write my point very well. YES, conformation, general health of the bird, weight , body capcity , body conformation,width of pelvis, etc. is assessed in a show. But not egg production, or avg daily gain. Those things are not included in show criteria.

THe production traits a good breeder can tell you about ; breeders keep records of average daily gain( body weight at 16 weeks) , and size of eggs and quantity of eggs, etc. THe real test is assess the offspring.

I see a place for showing but it is not the whole picture.

Thanks for listening.​
 
Quote:
Thanks for your input.

Respectfully, I have some concern about using SOP as the sole criteria for selection. SORRY I didn't write my point very well. YES, conformation, general health of the bird, weight , body capcity , body conformation,width of pelvis, etc. is assessed in a show. But not egg production, or avg daily gain. Those things are not included in show criteria.

THe production traits a good breeder can tell you about ; breeders keep records of average daily gain( body weight at 16 weeks) , and size of eggs and quantity of eggs, etc. THe real test is assess the offspring.

I see a place for showing but it is not the whole picture.

Thanks for listening.

No, the SOP is not all we need to produce good birds. It just tells you what the shape, color and body should look like. It is a measuring device. A judge has no way to know what the weight gain was/is or what egg production might be. As a long time breeder and general licensed judge, I an can make a very educated guess as to what the egg production might be after I handle the bird. This is based on what I find in the body and pelvic area of a female chicken. Some of this was learned through reading the SOP, but most is based on experience. The SOP is just a starting point. It doesn't tell a person how to breed either. It does tell what the purpose of the breed is though.

If a person is serious about matching their birds to a standard, the SOP is a very helpful document. As you say "breeders" do keep meticulous records, but there are not really a lot of breeders around. There are plenty of people who propagate chickens though and they generally don't keep any records

Walt.
 
I traced my RIW to Sandhill, and their type is horrible.
It is going to take me a long time and much crossing and culling to straighten them out.
Was a waste of money.
 
It doesnt matter the quality for me, they mostly do not follow throught with your order. My friend ordered a binch of chicks, they took a month to set the order after money was sent. And when it was supposed to be shipped, nothing showed, they never answered his calls .. a month later said it was being shipped out.... nothing again for months. Kept playing this game for almost a uear then they sent the money back and said they cant complete the order.
That is just uncalled for.
So why even order from them. If you need breeder birds, find a breeder. Or just go through a hatchery.
 
My goodness! I am truly sorry to see so much dissing of a very respectable organization. The birds I have received from Sandhill - for the last 3 years - have overall been healthy and a decent representative of their breeds. Want show quality birds? Order from a private breeder that has the time, space and money to breed (literally) hundreds of birds and cull down to a select few. You will definately pay a premium for those birds. As said before, Sandhill is a preservation organization, not a show quality organization. Their breeding selection is towards birds that represent their breed, and are vigouous and productive. We get a strait run selection out of these birds - including the good, bad and everything in between. If you ask for blue, you should not be surprised to get Blue, Black and Splash - be informed about what you want before you order it.

They hatch only what their hens lay - if the Dorkings all suddenly go broody, then no Dorkings will be shipped. They will refund your money. Birds are not machines, and if you want a guarenteed order, then get if from one on the mega hatcheries that have thousands of birds.

And if you have concerns, I have found them to be very nice helpful, but they also have full-time jobs in addition to a large bird and seed operation, so they may not respond quickly.
 
But it makes no sense they do not contact the person if they couldnt complete orders... my friend went several months waiting and several times they told him his order is being sent out. And then it wasnt.. when he tried contacting them, they never contacted back. I am not dissing their quality. And show quality birds are birds more correct to the standard. It might be a preservation, but they still have faults in their lines. But who doesnt.
I am glad you had good experiance and Im wure many have. But there is a lot more with bad expierences.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom