Show duck???

[20123001]

My county fair is next week and i have to decide on which silver appleyard drake to take.

number one is almost completely done, with a green head and sex feather, his only problem is that he is as small as a cayuga which is a medium duck.

Number two has about 1/4 of his green head and no sex feather he would only need a couple more weeks to finish out but sadly i only have one week. His body is really huge!

so should i take the finished small one, or the unfinished large one?

they both will be marked down one for size and one for being unfinished! any suggestions on what i should do???

 

[agregg15]

I would take the finished smaller one.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I would take the larger one. Small size is a very serious fault in Appleyards and your small duck will be severely penalized. I also suggest that you remove the little one from your breeding flock.

Maybe you will be lucky and the judge will mentally see through the unfinished plumage if the drake is nice enough in body and style. Don't count on any good prizes, either way.

I'm thinking mostly along the lines of "do not establish yourself as a breeder of sub-size, non-standard Appleyards." You don't want people saying "Don't bother to go to 2012. His Appleyards are no bigger than Cayugas."

Take your drake. Don't get your hopes up, but have a good time. Meet people, make new friends, enjoy looking at the other poultry.

 

[20123001]

Thanks, your words of advice have really helped me!!! thanks again!

 

[ugly ducky]

I agree with Oregon Blues. Take the more correct drake even if he isn't fully colored out yet. I'd rather be faulted for immaturity than poor quality. Hopefully the judge will see the potential in your young guy. I also would not use the small drake for breeding. Always use the best you have, and try to improve from there. Good luck!!

 

[agregg15]

Quote:
Huh. I thought they would rather have one that's fully colored. I didn't know that size was a serious issue in showing Appleyards. Well I learned something new

 

[Oregon Blues]

agreg,

Color is the frosting on the cupcake, and if you want to show, you must have a very nice cupcake to begin with. The breed standard will call for a certain body shape, a certain size, a specific head type. Any duck that does not come close to meeting all those requirements is not going to show well.

Noticeably undersized is a fault. Youth is not a fault. So to me, the young drake, not fully feathered is not showing a fault with immature plumage. But the undersized Appleyard is really severely out of standard, because the Appleyard is supposed to be a large heavy duck.

Also, if the judge knows his birds, he will know that size can be an issue with Appleyards and so "small" is more of a problem that needs to be bred away from. (He has a point system that he must use, but he will take off every point he can for wrong size))

I wouldn't expect either of those ducks to win any grand championships. One is out of standard for size and the other might be difficult to assess the color pattern. Appleyards should be hard feathered, but if that drake is close to being full plumage, the judge should be able to assess the quality of the feathers. Neither one, being young, is going to have a mature body, so won't be as deep bodied as an older bird, which will make it difficult for them to compete for top prizes.

Think of Calls, whose standard calls for a very small bird. If you show up with a Call who weighs 8 pounds, it isn't going to win any prizes. It works the same in the other direction. If the Appleyard should be 9 pounds and only weighs 6 pounds, it is badly out of standard.

I will say it again: it is a lot of fun to go and hang out with the other poultry people and to meet and talk and learn. As long as your bird isn't so badly out of standard that you end up embarrassing yourself, go to the show. Have a good time. It's a fun hobby and 99% of the people there showing their birds are going to be wonderful people. The 1% who are sore losers or bad sports, just stay away from them.

 

[20123001]

Awesome Advice!!!!!

 

[sourland]

Update us about your experience.

 

[agregg15]

Quote:
Well I guess if I show any of my Welsh Harlequins or Mallards this will be really helpful. Thanks for the tips