Alex... bad pictures, but you can see her lovely width through the belly. She is a very solid hen and feels like a real chunk when picked up. She's sensible in temperament and the oldest of all the PC.
This is Carey, the bird I think I'd use on her. The biggest faults I've been able to pick out in my blatant inexperience is a short back and narrow set legs, both of which are places I think Alex is decently strong in. Sorry for the bad image, he's a squirmypants.
I have two other males. One looks better on the outside. He has a very smooth comb, small and straight wattles, a good length of back, and the dark colour judges swoon for.
BUT...
He's not healthy. He sits on the roost all day in cold weather and he sneezes sometimes. Plus his back is narrow. I may be an idiot, but I am not a super-idiot; there's no way I want THAT in my birds. So he gets the axe. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum, I have another male that is vigorous, has profuse feathering, and is massive in size. I think his back length is okay too. His problems? He's more red than any other colour and his headgear is massive, almost rose comb in size, if not bigger. I think Carey is a good compromise, with good vigour and back width but slightly smaller and shorter. He feathered out fairly slow but that might have been a result of his bad start into the world.
The third cockerel is the mostly red bird in the middle here. He got some pretty nasty frostbite this winter, and the whole reason I got Chanteclers is so they WOULDN'T get frostbite. So, overall, I am thinking it might not be a good idea to breed him either.
And some dux, just because I enjoy tormenting Ralphie. Ignore the bare backed hen, I need to get her a saddle or something... not sure why she lost her feathers when she's not a favourite. I'm thinking feather quality issues. Some hens seem to drop them all if a cockerel even looks at them funny.
This is Carey, the bird I think I'd use on her. The biggest faults I've been able to pick out in my blatant inexperience is a short back and narrow set legs, both of which are places I think Alex is decently strong in. Sorry for the bad image, he's a squirmypants.
I have two other males. One looks better on the outside. He has a very smooth comb, small and straight wattles, a good length of back, and the dark colour judges swoon for.
BUT...
He's not healthy. He sits on the roost all day in cold weather and he sneezes sometimes. Plus his back is narrow. I may be an idiot, but I am not a super-idiot; there's no way I want THAT in my birds. So he gets the axe. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum, I have another male that is vigorous, has profuse feathering, and is massive in size. I think his back length is okay too. His problems? He's more red than any other colour and his headgear is massive, almost rose comb in size, if not bigger. I think Carey is a good compromise, with good vigour and back width but slightly smaller and shorter. He feathered out fairly slow but that might have been a result of his bad start into the world.
The third cockerel is the mostly red bird in the middle here. He got some pretty nasty frostbite this winter, and the whole reason I got Chanteclers is so they WOULDN'T get frostbite. So, overall, I am thinking it might not be a good idea to breed him either.
And some dux, just because I enjoy tormenting Ralphie. Ignore the bare backed hen, I need to get her a saddle or something... not sure why she lost her feathers when she's not a favourite. I'm thinking feather quality issues. Some hens seem to drop them all if a cockerel even looks at them funny.
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