Fullness of Beard

[Guest]

Mike and John...
  Saturday, Michael and I had a little discourse on the fullness of beards.  I was admiring a Favorolle Cock and remembered a comment that I overheard about the fullness of the Ameraucana beard.  I believe that it came from you Mike.  
  Can you embellish on what you consider to be the goal when it comes to beards and muffs.  I have always thought that bigger was better, and I am surprised to find that mine may be somewhat \"overblown\".  But then again, I found out that my runner ducks are \"fat\" this weekend also.....hmmmm!

Angela

[Mike Gilbert]

Bigger is not necessarily better.    Those huge  full beards come on looser feathered birds, and the Ameraucana is not a soft feathered chicken.   Neither is it hard feathered, as in Games (the way they used to be bred anyway) or in Cornish.   It is in the middle.  Can you imagine the beards one could put on Cochins?    We are not trying to emulate Faverolles.    The Ameraucana has always been a bird of moderation for type and characteristics in pretty much all points of the standard.   Go for balance instead of extremes.    If someone absolutely MUST breed to an extreme, my suggestion would be to breed for extremely blue egg color.     I thought this was widely known, as it is pretty much laid out that way in the written standard.  

[Guest]

Unfortuneately, I do not have the ability to visualize based on the written word.  This has been a problem for me all along with this breed.  Thus my questions.
  My standard (1998) says the following:
MUFFS & BEARD:  Full, well-rounded, medium length, forming three separate lobes.  
FACE:  Nearly hidden by muffs.  
  Now, in my limited capacity to visualize, I see \"big\"...otherwise, how would it cover?  I\'m seeing less \"full\" muffs and beards on the bantams, and I\'m wondering, should I follow suit on the large fowl.  I\'ve been culling birds with small, sparse birds.
  As far as the \"sky blue\" egg that I keep hearing about...never seen one.  Everything I\'ve seen has a green tint to it.....unless it was out-crossed to a white egg layer.   I have lots of turquoise and aqua blue....but no \"sky blue\".  But then again, color may also be open to interpretation.  I may have the prettiest little blue eggs (they seem to be just about like everyone else\'s)....and just don\'t see it that way.

Angela

[Mike Gilbert]

I\'ve been hearing that a lot (about egg color).   Howz about I boil you a few and send them in the mail after I stop saving hatching eggs?    Then you can compare what you have with what I send.    Those of us who started this breed really have no control over what others may be doing with it, but just because someone has not seen blue eggs does not mean they don\'t exist.     This is not to say I don\'t set aqua or even greenish tint eggs if they are part of an overall plan to improve a variety for some needed characteristic.    But part of the plan is always to get back to the blue egg color.   It may be a two, three or more year plan depending on what all is involved.   If someone doesn\'t have the genetics necessary to do that it\'s time to get some new stock to cross in.     By the way, Angela, didn\'t you look a the entries in the egg competition at Sedalia?   Yes, there were some greenish eggs among the entries, but there were also some blue ones.   Right now I would say the bantams are way ahead of the large fowl when it comes to egg color as a general rule.   But that did not come about overnight for the bantams, and it will only come about for the large fowl when enough people make a concerted effort to accomplish that goal.   I\'m only working on two varieties of large fowl, and don\'t intend to take on any more long term projects.   Shoot, in a few years I won\'t even be buying any green bananas.

Mike Gilbert

[Mike Gilbert]

To address the size of muff and beards, read the standard again.   Notice the words \"MEDIUM LENGTH\".    The muffs can be full and well rounded without being huge.   The words medium length mean the feathers making up the muffs and beard are medium in length, not excessively long nor short.
We are breeding for a dual purpose, well balanced chicken here with nice looking muffs and beards as an accessory;   we are not breeding for grossly large muffs and beards that happen to have some sort of chicken attached.    

[Guest]

No Mike, I didn\'t pay any attention to the egg contest.  I spent most of my time in a chair being ill, as I had just had a chemo treatment two days before.   I used most of my energy reserves just showing up.

I think that I will just take my best shot and interpret your standard to the best of my ability. and cull accordingly.  That includes that 45 degree tail angle whick seems to be going south in the birds that I see in the shows.

And, feel free to send me some egg shells, and I\'ll see how close mine really are.   I would really like to see them.  Mine are currently the same shade a Michael\'s, if that tells you anything.  Some are actually bluer...but not sky blue.

Angela