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Egg Color
Guest:
You may be laughing; it\'s healthy to laugh and I can laugh with you, but nonetheless,this is a VERY serious topic for me, as a new member. I hope to raise these birds not because they are cute ,have beards, or are pretty colors but because they lay Blue (shade of blue/blue tinted whatever!) eggs and I would hazard to guess that is the SOLE REASON most people are attracted to this breed.
I have experience with a breed of animal, Missouri FOXTROTTING Horses, that has a performance trait, FOXTROTTING, defined in the breed standard. The MFTHBA is having problems attracting new people to the breed, one of the main reasons being \"breeders\" selling horses to \"newbies\" that do not foxtrot (These breeders can be sued if ANY claim was made toward that fact). This breed closed their registery in \'84 and now any papered horse can show. There are other breeds of horses that have to individualy \"qualify\" for breeding and showing purposes by exibiting certain performance characteristics (like an Oldenburg). These people get TOP$, and the breed is growing well.
I seriously hope that we work towards showing ONLY those animals that satisfy all breed characteristics or we will have the same problem in attracting people to this breed. Breeding is ALWAYS a work in progress. How many millions of birds have been raised since people started working on this breed? How many more do we need to go through before we can be held to our own definition?
Guest:
OK, John......Laughter did not work, so you may want to difuse the situation.
But..... My two cents (by the way, I\'m NOT new to the breed) I don\'t know anyone who is working \"against\" the breed standards diliberately, but recessive genes DO surface on occasion. Generally these birds are culled, but sometimes, they are needed to complete a project.
Egg color is a hidden trait, and in my mind it is secondary at this point. That\'s MY opinion as a breeder and an exhibitor. You don\'t have to agree. As a matter of fact.....you go for it. Somewhere down the line, your pretty little blue eggs will need the proper lacing and body type......I\'ll be there.
Until then, I\'ll just have to learn to love \"olive drab\".
Guest:
--- Quote from: --- I hope to raise these birds not because they are cute ,have beards, or are pretty colors but because they lay Blue (shade of blue/blue tinted whatever!) eggs and I would hazard to guess that is the SOLE REASON most people are attracted to this breed.
--- End quote ---
I think it\'s a little bit of a stretch to ONLY be interested in this breed for a trait that is only mentioned in the INTRODUCTION in the standard- and is mentioned first as a \'pastel colored egg\'. only later does it say a \'blue egg\'. all of the things you think are NOT important- beards, colors,- ARE things that are actually being judged and are grounds for disqualification. if egg color is your sole purpose, then you may be happier with Araucanas- they lay blue eggs already. I had a beautiful pair who layed beautiful blue eggs- too bad they had no ear tufts! but I felt those were important, since they are mentioned as disqualifiers in the standard.
--- Quote from: ---I have experience with a breed of animal, Missouri FOXTROTTING Horses, that has a performance trait, FOXTROTTING, defined in the breed standard.
--- End quote ---
and speaking of horses, the American Quarter Horse association has denied registration for decades to otherwise PUREBRED Quarter Horses SOLELY on the basis of \'too much white\'. the Paint Horse breed exists because of this color-based exclusion. and the AQHA has recently decided to stop denying horses for registration based only on their white content. because color has no reflection on performance.
--- Quote from: ---Breeding is ALWAYS a work in progress. How many millions of birds have been raised since people started working on this breed? How many more do we need to go through before we can be held to our own definition?
--- End quote ---
obviously, we need to go through enough generations to get all of the parts right, not just the egg color. because I am aware of NO source of Ameraucanas that can make that kind of offer/promise/guarantee.
just like when we are buying our 4H lamb or pig the breeder never promises that they will have a perfect loin, a wide enough stance, or whatever else. even if it does not end up being the definition of a perfect pig or lamb, that doesn\'t mean that it is \'cheating\' to take it to the show. the judge is capable of deciding that animals fitness to be there.
I\'ve been disqualified for showing a pullet without enough beard. :o I\'ve never been DQ\'ed because the judge asked me how blue her eggs were.
Guest:
Well put....
Besides, just to show how contrary I really am.....I raise quarter horses AND paints!!
Hehehehehhehehe!
Guest:
I would disagree that is well said as I was discussing the role of PERFORMANCE, when it is part of a breed standard, not COLOR in a breeders responsibllity. The future of any breed requires new membership/growth and the largest segment of that will not be SHOW people. Of all the people owning Ameraucanas now, how many do you think worry about being disqualified for not enough beard verses how many look for that blue egg every day?
I will stick by my previous observation that MOST people are attracted to this breed for the BLUE EGG and thus as breeders it is our responsibilty to only show those individuals we know meet the requirements. Otherwise we\'re just going for the \"win\" and doing nothing for the breed.
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