Two SOP Questions

[ejcrist]

I'm a new breeder - just started this year. I'm currently hatching eggs from my Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks, and I hope to be breeding SC Light Brown Leghorns, Ameraucanas, and Black Copper Marans this fall. I have two questions regarding the SOP and coloring.

1. What does it mean in the SOP when it says "...free from shafting?" Like on page 51 of the 44th Edition for RIR male color, it says under plumage, "General surface color, lustrous rich, dark red, except where black is specified and free from any shafting or mealiness." Also, what does "mealiness" mean?

2. For Light Brown Leghorns, color-male, under Legs and Toes it says, "Lower thighs-black shanks and toes-yellow. But I've never seen black shanks on any brown leghorn. They have black feathers on their lower thighs but the shanks and toes are yellow. That's even what the picture in the SOP indicates.

If someone could point me in the right direction I'd be grateful.

 

[BantamLover21]

Shafting is a lighter or darker colored feather shaft (the central part of a feather) than the surrounding feather web's color. It creates lines in the center of each feather, when instead the surface color should be uniform. Shafting is a defect in most breeds/varieties, but desired in others. Mealiness is when a feather is speckled with another color, as if dusted by flour. This, again, is a defect that ruins the proper surface color.

To me, it sounds like the legs and toes color description means black lower thighs (the feathered portion of the leg above the shanks) and yellow shanks and toes. The shanks are the unfeathered portion of the leg, beneath the lower thigh.

 

[ejcrist]

Shafting is a lighter or darker colored feather shaft (the central part of a feather) than the surrounding feather web's color. It creates lines in the center of each feather, when instead the surface color should be uniform. Shafting is a defect in most breeds/varieties, but desired in others. Mealiness is when a feather is speckled with another color, as if dusted by flour. This, again, is a defect that ruins the proper surface color.

To me, it sounds like the legs and toes color description means black lower thighs (the feathered portion of the leg above the shanks) and yellow shanks and toes. The shanks are the unfeathered portion of the leg, beneath the lower thigh.

Many thanks for the info. I'm totally clear on the shafting and mealiness now. I'm also totally clear on the Leghorns' leg description now that I read it for the umpteenth time again. You're right - I was just reading it wrong. Where it says, ""Lower thighs-black shanks and toes-yellow" it's in fact saying Lower thighs - black, shanks and toes - yellow. There should've been a comma after black. I thought it was saying lower thighs - black shanks, toes - yellow. That was confusing but my bust. I'm good now - thanks again.

 

[RCleghorn]

On leghorns the entire leg should be yellow. The lower thighs that the sop is referring too are what hangs down from the body. Between the legs and the underside of the bird. In light browns this area should be black.

On a side note be careful how many breeds you attempt to raise. In order to move forward you need to hatch out TONS of chicks. To raise 5 breeds and actually improve them you will need hundreds of birds on the ground every year. The most successful breeders raise and focus on only 1 breed and variety. Just my 2 cents

 

[ejcrist]

On leghorns the entire leg should be yellow. The lower thighs that the sop is referring too are what hangs down from the body. Between the legs and the underside of the bird. In light browns this area should be black.

On a side note be careful how many breeds you attempt to raise. In order to move forward you need to hatch out TONS of chicks. To raise 5 breeds and actually improve them you will need hundreds of birds on the ground every year. The most successful breeders raise and focus on only 1 breed and variety. Just my 2 cents

Thanks RC. I agree with you on breeding more than one breed - the less breeds you're working with, the higher the number of chicks from that breed you can hatch and the higher the odds of hatching a couple of high quality chicks. My problem is that I can't help myself. I've just been having too much fun up to this point. I do plan on hatching high numbers of chicks so I got the Sportsman 1502 and 1550 last year, and I've spent the last year and a half building coops and breeding/brooding pens. I still have five more pens to build but then I'm planning to take a break for a little while - that's what I told my wife anyway. Seriously though, I will more than likely pare it down to around 2-3 for the sake of keeping things simple, but we'll see how it goes. If I could only work with one breed though it would be Brown Leghorns hands-down. They've always been my favorite. I do want to expand and improve upon the breeding stock I acquired but most importantly I just like having fun, and raising/breeding chickens really does it for me.

 

[RCleghorn]

Agreed. Self control is hard.but foe the betterment of the breed it is necessary. It is a very addicting hobby. I fight with myself over getting new breeds all the time. I enjoy building new pens also. They seem to fill up as quickly as they can be built