Critique please

[Ontario Chick]

This is an 18 month old hen out of Blue over Blue breeding.
Please feel free to comment on the color and type.

[Sharon Yorks]

Can we see another picture or two of her? It's kind of hard to comment on just one picture. From what I can see her coloring is very nice. Would like to see more pictures and angles of her comb and muffs, though.

[John]

The comb looks way too big and the eye color should be different, but overall the type looks nice and the color looks extra nice for a blue.

[Ontario Chick]

I am afraid that's the best 'close up I have. All the rest are 'crowd pics.
When I was choosing hens for breeding last year, I didn't use her because of her 'gypsy' comb, and what seemed to me too dark color, more slate then blue.
But somehow this spring she seems to have improved and now I wonder if I should use her for breeding after all?
Thank you for taking the time to comment.

[Mike Gilbert]

Follow this link to see what decent blue coloring on a chicken looks like.  Just scroll down to find the photos.  http://showbirdbid.proboards.com/thread/3575/breeding-blue-chickens?page=1#page=2

[Ontario Chick]

Thank you for the link.
If my head wasn't exploding before, it's well on it's way now. 

[John]

the color looks extra nice for a blue

By that I mean for a blue "Ameraucana"...it is closer to "standard" blue than most blues (Ameraucana) I've seen. 
Of course we still want to aim for the Standard as Christie is working toward.
  http://ameraucana.org/forum/index.php?topic=1797.0

[Ontario Chick]

I am going to get few more close up pictures of her and post them.
I seem to have gotten sucked in to this by accident. I was breeding Columbian Wyandottes (still am) and just wanted a few Ameraucanas "for Fun"!
The Black/Blue/Splash split, has sucked me in to some vortex and now I wish I had paid more attention at school when genetics were discussed.
My aim isn't too ambitious, just breed as close to the Standard as I can, which is proving way more complicated then I could have ever imagined, but these birds are downright irresistible.
My Splash chicks and 8 weeks old Blues

[Ontario Chick]

Well this has certainly been couple of days of discovery.
After taking about hundred 'smudgy' pictures of very uncooperative hen, I went thru them quickly to narrow it down before downloading. After erasing most of them, it occurred to me that several had whitish smudge around the head, so back to the barn I went and sure enough, she has 'whitish' ear-lobes.
This hasn't really been obvious before, but about a month ago I have put a cock in with the hens and they have been lovingly 'grooming each other, so everybody's muffs are becoming sparse.
So I guess that gives me a pretty good idea of where the good Blue color comes from.
I doubt I would have noticed it, if it wasn't for this forum help, well worth the price of admission. thank you.

[Jean]

If it is just skin color that is ok.  You just don't want enamel white on the ear lobe.  It will look iredescent like "mother of pearl".

[Ontario Chick]

It's almost as if just the surface is white-ish, and there is a suggestion of red in the 'lower areas' (folds)  of the skin.
I spend an awful lots of time with my birds, can't believe I missed it.