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Hey there Mr. Walt I do agree with you on the fact that the wing and tail angles will not change but also its a picture being judged too and boy sometimes I get so aggrevated at trying to get the perfect pose or stance (whatever you want to call it) captured while taking a chicken picture. Just about the time you think you've got it you pull the trigger then go back and look at it and darn if it didn't move just the instance you squeezed the shutter. I looked at the video and yes # 28 (the one in ?) does seem to have a slightly high pitch to his tail but to me it looked as if he was holding his wings correctly, the comb is a good 5 point comb, the rest esp. in the body area still looks like a 14 week old bird not much to go on there yet in fact this is their gangly (velisoraptor) lanky stage right now. Give the boys another month or so of filling out and there WILL be quite a bit of difference in looks for sure, the hormones have got to kick in stilll yet and sart putting the rooster look to them. The pullets have some great coloring on them I like that dark stippling in the hackles haven't been seeing much of that as of late my
IDEAL pullets have great tail black with the white trim on the tail coverts but the hackles more closely resemble columbian markings (striping) more than slight barring (stippling). Anyway cool video there keep us posted on your adventures there Stevenson.
bt2000 sorry for you with the dog situation I too get way to attached to my animals esp. my pooches also there IS a special sort of bond there that compares to no other for sure.
Good pictures of chickens are very difficult and I don't consider a lot of things in a picture for that reason. I just watched the vid again and most, if not all of the Dels have pinched tails. This is very easy to identify in the vid. While the birds are young, they are not so young that certain things will get better with age. I have no idea how they will ultimately fill out, but I have never seen a young bird with a pinched tail become a bird that has width that follows through to the tail as it gets older. I have watched a lot of chickens grow. It just doesn't happen.
I was asked early on by some of the Del folks on this site to give my evaluations as a longtime APA/ABA judge and while I don't want to hurt feelings, I don't want to mislead people either. This is a nice healthy flock and there is certainly enough to get started with here.
Walt
Thank you Walt and everyone else for the comments! You are not going to hurt my feelings! I am trying to learn and the only way that I know to learn is to figure out what is good and what is bad about my birds. Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone nearby who is extremely knowledgeable that could assist me in developing these birds, so I will rely on everyone here. Bring the bad comments as well as the good! Thanks again!
I will say that I do think that #28 was stretched out in the pictures. I kept trying to get good pictures, but he wouldn't give me the best pose.
I figured that his tail was at the wrong angle. I see what you all are saying about the pinched tail...I had not recognized that on him yet (although I had noticed it on most of my hens). I feel like he is wider than the pictures appear, but I am still very much in the learning stage, so I don't know what I am supposed to be looking at.
So, I know that everyone is saying that we should build the barn before painting it, but I would like to know what things take the most importance in this first round of birds? Does a tail at the wrong angle or a pinched tail automatically make the bird not a good breeder even if many other qualities are good? As you can see, I am extremely new to all this.
I really do appreciate the comments on the pictures and the video as well. I do plan on continuing to post videos as well as pictures and I hope you all will feel completely free to say whatever is on your mind about them. I am trying to honestly breed this breed. They are not my pets, they are my project. I have broad shoulders
Michael
