Quote: I think it is actually easier to define Show Quality than to define Breeder Quality. Show Quality, to me, means that the bird comes very close to the standard and should compete reasonably well in competition with a good judge.
Breeder Quality does not, in my mind mean a lesser bird that is just a bit lower in quality. Rather, it means a bird that has something valuable to add to the breeding. There are some birds that aren't quite up to top show standards, yet don't really add anything to the breeding. To a very large extent, this is quite subjective. A bird that is a valuable breeder to one person might add nothing extra to someone else's flock. For determination of breeder quality, you not only need to look at the bird itself, you need to look at the flock as a whole and see how that bird fits in, and ask yourself, "what does this bird bring that will add to the quality of my flock?"
A bird that you know from experience throws fantastic chicks can be considered breeder quality. One with such outstanding foot feathers, beard, crest, colouring, etc can be breeder quality. Maybe the bird has great type but lacks foot feathering, or maybe it is too large or small.
A breeder quality bird can be very far from the standard, or very close to it. It may have defects or DQs. But in some way it has a traits that will benefit your flock.