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Tim, I think you focus on the hackle barring. In my opinion the focus should be on "type," meaning the shape of the body and head first and foremost. In the pictures you showed the thing I noticed (differences) is the hackle barring. Is that what you are talking about? Perfect barring is not gonna happen every time, with even the best matings. Smutt is another issue that crops up. I just don't see that as a big deal myself. Not where I am anyway ..... building the barn. Guess I will deal with that when I am painting it.
Do you look at your birds' bodies .... width between the legs, size of head, angle of tail, "bowl shape," etc? Or are you looking the color of the feathers?
To answer your question .... can a bird fit the standard and not be perfect .... Of course they can! There is no perfect bird, but you can get darn close with careful breeding practices and lots and lots of hatching. I do believe this. It may take years, but it is possible.
As far as hatcheries go, I believe Sandhills is one of the better ones, from what I read anyway. But, a hatchery is a hatchery is a hatchery. You simply can not expect quality SOP stock from retail stock. After all, they breed in quantity, not quality. Most hatcheries do not even have their own stock, ya know.
Tim, I think you focus on the hackle barring. In my opinion the focus should be on "type," meaning the shape of the body and head first and foremost. In the pictures you showed the thing I noticed (differences) is the hackle barring. Is that what you are talking about? Perfect barring is not gonna happen every time, with even the best matings. Smutt is another issue that crops up. I just don't see that as a big deal myself. Not where I am anyway ..... building the barn. Guess I will deal with that when I am painting it.
Do you look at your birds' bodies .... width between the legs, size of head, angle of tail, "bowl shape," etc? Or are you looking the color of the feathers?
To answer your question .... can a bird fit the standard and not be perfect .... Of course they can! There is no perfect bird, but you can get darn close with careful breeding practices and lots and lots of hatching. I do believe this. It may take years, but it is possible.
As far as hatcheries go, I believe Sandhills is one of the better ones, from what I read anyway. But, a hatchery is a hatchery is a hatchery. You simply can not expect quality SOP stock from retail stock. After all, they breed in quantity, not quality. Most hatcheries do not even have their own stock, ya know.
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