The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Exhibiting & Promoting
Feathers between toes
Guest:
I questioned a judge about this subject over the weekend, and he said pulling any feather or stub is faking................ and also that a bit of down between the toes is easily removed by rubbing a bit of oil on it so plucking isn\'t even neceessary. :p
He said he and many judges are hesitent to call such a serious offence; not only is that bird to be DQed, but every bird the exhibitor entered has to be DQed also.
John:
--- Quote ---questioned a judge
--- End quote ---
Steve,
As someone posted earlier, it would be nice to hear comments from Judges. We have ABC members that are judges, but they seldom (if ever) post on the forum and maybe wouldn\'t want to comment publicly.
The letter of the law in the APA standard appears clear, but from all the research I\'ve done removing stubs is an accepted practice that is as old as the written standard.
http://books.google.com/books?id=v8BJAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA5-PA50&lpg=RA5-PA50&dq=removing+stubs+from+exibition+chickens&source=bl&ots=HOFAgxxGiY&sig=D5-8VWhF3I9nweQTfXT7oG8SnM8&hl=en&ei=BfaATvWoJciCsgLhzoT3Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
\"Conditioning and Faking Different\" is one heading from an old article. The author says \"removing stubs on the shanks and filling them with beeswax\" is faking, but also claims...
--- Quote ---There is a certain amount of conditioning that can be done that is considered proper and legitimate such as washing white birds with soap and water and fluffing the feathers on the saddle, etc., pulling irregular penciled, laced, barred or spangled feathers, removing off-colored feathers and otherwise conditioning a bird.
--- End quote ---
http://books.google.com/books?id=8-1EAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA2086&lpg=PA2086&dq=removing+stubs+from+exibition+chickens&source=bl&ots=9NYJY_o95D&sig=BbhsgWiuakDuPA1TbT8-MS7Jcoc&hl=en&ei=3feATuvdIIuOsALSyaCeDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
In an article from 1916 entitled \"Fitting Birds for Show\" the author says...
--- Quote ---The amount of work that a prospective exhibitor will do in removing defective feathers and making changes in the shape of the comb, and so on, depends upon his definition of faking. Illegitimate practices, such as removing feathers from the shanks and plugging up the holes, performing surgical operations and on the combs, and dyeing feathers, are one class; while debatable operations, like removing stubs and down from the toes, washing white birds in weak chemical solutions, and removing discolored feathers from among the body feathers, are another class. Most of these practices have become rather common, and faking is acknowledged only upon discovery.
--- End quote ---
I know these are very old articles, but they show removing stubs from between the toes isn\'t anything new and is an accepted practice by experienced exhibitors. I doubt that it is as common today as it was a century ago because most exhibition strains/lines are purer today.
I feed carrots to my birds in the fall, because they are cheap and available in 50# bags as deer bait at the gas stations. Anyway, I\'m hoping they make the shanks of my yellow shanked chickens more yellow before show time. I don\'t see anything wrong with it, but some might. Some things are going to remain \"debatable\" and I respect your position.
NGaAmeraucana:
--- Quote ---I feed carrots to my birds in the fall, because they are cheap and available in 50# bags as deer bait at the gas stations. Anyway, I\'m hoping they make the shanks of my yellow shanked chickens more yellow before show time. I don\'t see anything wrong with it, but some might. Some things are going to remain \"debatable\" and I respect your position.
--- End quote ---
I wouldn\'t see anything wrong with this. Color by feed is a natural occurance in wild birds is it not? Flamingos come to mind.
How common are stubs? I\'ve never seen it on any of my ameraucana chicks. I did have one PR chick with them.
Beth C:
I\'ve heard about the carrots - is that only supposed to help w/skin color or would it affect plumage (say on a buff)? And would it give a white-skinned bird a yellow tinge?
Also, another conditioning question: due to limited space my young birds are outdoors most of the time. I didn\'t realize just how sun bleached they were until I looked at them side by side with the 4 that hatched under a broody and were raised indoors. I\'m guessing there\'s not much I can do besides bring them in and wait for them to molt?
Guest:
--- Quote ---The letter of the law in the APA standard appears clear, but from all the research I\'ve done removing stubs is an accepted practice that is as old as the written standard.
--- End quote ---
JMO, if the letter of the law appears clear, there is nothing to debate. History has long ago prooven that rules and laws do not make immoral people moral. Saying other\'s are breaking the rules does not make it right, nor the rule wrong. I doubt that anyone here will state that plucking a feather was not a deliberate attempt to decieve the judge, though some might not want to be honest about it even to themselves.
--- Quote ---I feed carrots to my birds in the fall, because they are cheap and available in 50# bags as deer bait at the gas stations. Anyway, I\'m hoping they make the shanks of my yellow shanked chickens more yellow before show time. I don\'t see anything wrong with it, but some might.
--- End quote ---
Feather plucking is clearly written as a very serious breach of acceptable \"preperation\" to hide flaws that woud lower a bird\'s placeing or even disqualify it from the show. Improoving a bird\'s diet is simply not comparable. I really don\'t know if carrots can deepen yellow pigment or not; though free ranging certainly does on my Cornish. I can\'t free range, and the only birds of my recently purchased Cornish with shanks even close to the color they had when I got them are those in the movable growing pens.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version