Quote: Changing all the time. That's why Harold Tompkins who was from Concord Mass would let his birds go through a molt before he breed from them for his show birds. He then might even keep a female three to five years if she kept that youthful look as a old hen They can change on you and when they are older they look like a Wyandotte or a Orpington.
In regards to Beetle Green that is what I see on my reds and was a term used in the old days. Black dull black you will not see..
If you have a Red that is very dark in Surface Color. Has Black or blood red quill color, a beak that is almost 95% horn color, They will have beetle green in their tail, the neck feathers or Ticking of the female and the main tail will be green on the females but on the male they will be very rich beetle green. In the main tail area of a male you want the green or black to not only be on the outside but inside the main tail feathers. A good colored Red needs to have black going to the skin on the inside. Many have one to two inches of Red in the inside feathers a bird that has black to the skin is a sound colored Red. Just cant get any darker or better. Very rare to see but can be done with good breeding. A female because of her sex may not have black all the way like her brothers or sire but you don't kill them if they have strong black going down to the skin with a little bit of red showing at the base. This is color 104 don't worry about this beginners just focus on type. If you have a good strain like most how have them on this tread you can get away with color for three to five years as you learn how to breed for type. When I shrunk the red bantams from large fowl I did not for 15 years worry about color. It just kind of tagged along. The color is as good as ever. Now if I live long enough I may get these little Mohawks to have color like my old large fowl did.
Bill Mr. Kittles line and or his dads line where not very popular in the last thirty years. His father had a strain in the early days but it was not one of the top winning strains like the Harold Tompkins Strain. However, there where some very good Red Large Fowl in Penn. twenty or thirty years ago. Some where from Harold's old line. The secretary of the Red Club in 1968 had Harold's birds however he died in office and that's when the Secretary Mr. Rachel's from Florida took over. I am having a memory loss this am at least I am calm and not cranky. There Mr. Rachels Emmett good old boy his name came to me.
None the less all the Reds on this thread are nice. Fred the Tee Pee tail you pictured is a good one. It is a classic look from the rear when you see one you will know it.
We have another cold front coming thought today. Its May and still have cold front.
