Tolbunt Polish

[jeremy]

Quote:
I like him.

Overall his color looks good, he doesn't have excessive amounts of white in his body, hopefully when he molts and grows his tail back in it'll be a bit darker. He also doesn't have a squirrel tail, definite plus!

 

[nurse_turtle]

"Illia" has the sexiest Tolbunt roo ever!

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Nice color so far, but remember, all Tolbunts get more white as they age.

His tail is going to be higher in angle than you want though. He's got no sickles right now and it looks perfect, but sickles always add a lot, and trust me, my smooth had a tail like that too without sickles. Once they come in, he'll be squirrel tailed. It is common in Tolbunts. His body and crest appear really nice, but I can't tell much on lacing. Have any other photos? How's his comb and nostrils?

The thing with him and just about every other Tolbunt I know is way too smudged and too much white in the primaries and tail. It has been mentioned before, but the mottling of Tolbunts reminds me a lot of the irregularities in the mottling of Morgan Whitehackles (a type of gamefowl) But don't worry, I haven't seen one in the US without such trait!

So in a nutshell he's very nice, but as always, can always use improvements

ETA - Wow did I miss a chunk of this thread? Went back a couple pages and notice several posts I've never seen before

 

[jeremy]

Wouldn't sickle feathers add more weight to his tail and potentially lower the angle of it even further?

I can't see how they would turn that tail with a good angle into a 90 degree squirrel tail...

 

[Illia]

For my Marans, Polish, and almost any mutt I've had - That's not the case. I'll get photos tomorrow to show. My smooth Tolbunt has a serious squirrel tail, but when he doesn't have sickles (like now) he's got a perfect tail. Same with some of my Polish mutts, same with a couple Black Coppers I had (except for them it wasn't quite squirrel, but still, the sickles raised the angle) and even an Ameraucana I once had. When the opportunity arrives that the sickles are missing, I notice it.

I doubt the sickles would weigh a tail down. I think what they do do is set the structure though. Think of it, if they're the center top, they probably have more control, in fact that's where the muscle control of the tail mostly resides, so with the sickles sets the angle. Without them the tail possibly lets loose a little, and droops just a tad bit. Also, many Polish have sickles slightly higher than the rest of their tail. Not saying this is the case for all, but it's the case for any of my boys.

I'll get pictures tomorrow to show examples.

 

[jeremy]

Hm, I was thinking about Sumatras when you mentioned the sickles raising the tail angle.

I've been told when selecting Sumatra cockerels to keep for future generations that you want to keep the males with a slightly higher than horizontal tail angle. When he then grows in his sickles they will weigh down the birds tail and put them at a completely level horizontal angle that you want in the breed.

I just thought maybe that would be the case with other breeds as well, sickles lowering the overall tail angle. I dunno though.

 

[Illia]

I don't think Sumatras, Cubalayas, etc (the low angled semi-long tailed birds) count the same. Their tails are in fact longer, heavier, and the main factor here is that their sickles hardly curve compared to breeds like Polish, Games, etc with a very pronounced curl to the sickle, and a lot of strength to keep such a big tail upright. Polish and the likes have pretty large tails, and to keep those tails large probably requires more strength, where the sickle might carry most of such. I don't know for a fact but I'm assuming that is the case.

 

[DancingHen]

Quote:
Nice color so far, but remember, all Tolbunts get more white as they age.

His tail is going to be higher in angle than you want though. He's got no sickles right now and it looks perfect, but sickles always add a lot, and trust me, my smooth had a tail like that too without sickles. Once they come in, he'll be squirrel tailed. It is common in Tolbunts. His body and crest appear really nice, but I can't tell much on lacing. Have any other photos? How's his comb and nostrils?

The thing with him and just about every other Tolbunt I know is way too smudged and too much white in the primaries and tail. It has been mentioned before, but the mottling of Tolbunts reminds me a lot of the irregularities in the mottling of Morgan Whitehackles (a type of gamefowl) But don't worry, I haven't seen one in the US without such trait!

So in a nutshell he's very nice, but as always, can always use improvements

ETA - Wow did I miss a chunk of this thread? Went back a couple pages and notice several posts I've never seen before

I don't have more pictures at the moment because he is in transit to me right now. I will take a bunch and post them in the next couple days. He is about a year and a half old. I will take some close ups from different angles as soon as I can. Thanks, though, for the initial input. I just wanted to know if he made a good impression or had some really glaring flaws. I have a few other tolbunts, and other colors of polish, but am new to the whole breeding thing. I will keep you guys posted. I realize Tolbunts as a group need a lot of work.

 

[Illia]

As a starter bird, he's very nice. I'd be questioning the comb/nostrils though if I bought him.

 

[welasharon]

Dad blast it! I got two GL/tolbunt crosses and one turned out to be a roo and now this past week he started sporting a wry-looking tail....that or he is persistent about making a sharp left turn.....