show quality speckled sussex ??

[math ace]

Here are my thoughts on pullet #16,

VERY nice back and tail angle.
Nice comb and head,
beak has the downward tip - good.

What she is missing is size. I would like to see a wider backside.

It looks like I didn't grab a chest pic ... I will need to get one.

Coloring . .. I D K, she does seem awfully white for such a young age.

 

[Howhardcanitbe]

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What a pretty young lady! Love the head shot. So pink and rosy! Many of mine seem so pale in their combs and wattles. What causes them to turn a deeper red and when does this happen? Is it hormones? The "painting" shows a very red comb and wattles on the "ideal" hen. Most of my cockerels have that deep of a red coloring; my pullets definitely do not. #16 seems paler than the standard in this regard as well.

Her beak is definitely what I'd call horn colored. Light, not at all dark. Nicely curved too. I agree with you on the tail angle and the amount of white on her. (I have many that are this white. some much less so and a few even more so. But never having seen this breed age, I have no idea just how much white they tend to add with each molt.) She's sporting her spots all over except the wings, just like the standard pic. She doesn't seem to suffer from white flight feathers. Lucky you. Her shanks appear appropriately pale and lovely, though the legs seem closer together than maybe they should be. Maybe her body shape isn't as wide across the bottom as it should be.

Now, questions. Is the back supposed to be perfectly flat or is that very slight hump in the middle supposed to be there? I see the same thing in my birds. It's slight, but the hump is there.

Is the neon orange in running down the spine of some of the feathers permissible? #16 has a touch of this. Some of mine have this color splash, some don't.

Also, I don't know if it's the way she's standing on the roost, but she seems . . . shallow, (for lack of a better word) in the chest. Will she get bustier as she ages?

At 5 months, how much does she weigh? And where did you get this pretty girl? Is she hatchery or did you breed her up yourself from private stock?

Thanks for sharing with us, Math Ace. Hope I didn't offend. I also hope to get some new pics up soon, but right now life is all about seeing the animals (and me!) all survive the heat.

 

[math ace]

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That rosy color is the indicator that they are getting ready to lay. It is hormone related.


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Between your observation of leg width and mine on the back side . .. I think we are looking at an example of a bird that needs to be "Supersized, please". I am watching my roos for the biggest size for this reason. With my marans, using a big and WIDE roo did help the hens produce offspring wider than thems selves. I am hoping to breed the children back to the wide sire roo and produce grandchildren that are even wider.

I can tell that most of these speckled sussex pullets are lacking size... This will be an issue that I will have to work with. From talking to other Speckled Sussex breeders, this will be an issue MOST of us are going to have to work with and try to improve.


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I think the slight hump you are seeing is where the tail is starting to rise. There should be a smooth transition from back to tail.... so if we are looking at the same thing . . . it is suppose to be there.



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I am sure there will be a point deduction for it, but it should not be a disqualifier.


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I think between the narrow backside and other indicators.... she is not built for the big chest. She is only 5 months old. She still has a lot of time for growing, but I don't think she is going to ever be as busty as she should be.


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I have not weighed anyone yet. I just got the leg bands on them 2 weekends ago. I am going to work on taking photos of them all . ... . and then I will worry about the weights. They don't feel as big as my marans that are the same age.

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You absolutely DID NOT OFFEND. I was very pleased to read your thoughts and answer your questions. NONE of my birds are show quality and I KNOW IT. It is my hope that we can help each other learn what to look for in our own stock and in future purchases. By discussing a birds faults..... you can determine the breeding strategy you need to develop to address the issue. Sometimes culling is the only solution....

I have 16 pullets and need to identify the top 5 to work with.... this is my way of working through that selection process.

 

[snowbird]

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Lisa, I am gonna assume this is your best pullet. The pullet is still small and from the looks she will be on the small side. You have to be careful with these small females as they are where the size comes from in the chicks. The color for a young pullet seems to be very good. I would prefer that the tail section was a little more open and not so close together.

At the age the pullet is I can only see the size fault. What is the weight of this pullet. Her overall type for her age looks to be pretty good in the picture. A lot will depend on your own judgement when making decisions as we can only see the picture. Pictures leave a lot out that you can see in person. Is this pullet related to the pullets pictured earlier that had the extra welsummer black marks ?

 

[snowbird]

Lisa, On any of these spangled fowl you will need two lines if you are showing at a young age and adult. The birds that show good at a young age usually are too white at adult.

 

[math ace]

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I don't think she is the best, but I don't think she is the worse. . . .
I will try to do the pictures in some kind of order... so the next one I post will be pullet #15.

I think we are on the same page.... she needs to be bigger, but she is workable.

She is part of the group that had the extra welsummer black marks.

 

[Inkheart]

Thank you for doing this Math Ace - watching this with great interest

 

[Howhardcanitbe]

After staring long and hard at the Sewell print (on page 1 of this thread) and the picture of the show-winning hen posted earlier in the thread . . . and staring at #16 and my pullets, what's really jumping out at me today is the mask effect. In the Sewell print, the comb, the wattles, the ear lobes, the skin around the eyes all sort of run together to make both male and female look like they are wearing a red mask and are off to commit some mischief. I see it on #16 and some of my pullets, but not on the reserve champion on http://washingtonfeatherfanciers.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=65367349. Just an oddball observation.

And thanks, Lisa, for the heads up on the comb color. I've got a pullet out there that's turned bright red in the last few days.So bright and prominent, I thought she was a really short roo for at first glance.

 

[math ace]

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Good to hear! Keep watching - - I am posting a cockerel next.

 

[math ace]

This boy is 17 weeks old.... It may be to early to tell anything.
This is # 22 ...

It was hot and he is holding his wings away from the body . .

NO WING SHOTS.... Sorry, but these boys are afraid of each other and there is no getting near them right now.
I have 6 SS cockerels to choose from. Once we narrow the field now to at most 3, I will try to get wing shots.


This guys is bigger than some of the others, BUT he has this for a comb!