The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Exhibiting & Promoting
South-Central District and Fayetteville, Arkansas club meet Nov. 4 & 5, 2017
Susan Mouw:
I started with a "pattern" variety - wheaten and blue wheaten. Worked with them for five years and I think I made some progress. But, I realized last year that I didn't have the facilities to keep going forward with 4 accepted varieties and two project varieties - blue, black, splash, wheaten, blue wheaten, and splash wheaten - so I had to make some tough choices. With only five breeding pens, it's tough to maintain genetic diversity on 4 varieties! And, I wanted to be able to help out with the splash variety process coming up, which kinda made the decision for me.
I learned a lot from those wheatens, though, and have not made the same mistakes with my blues and blacks...at least not yet, though I'm sure a few new surprises are still in store.
I'm pretty active on FB and one of the things I see a lot are birds with pretty coloration, but their type is...well, disappointing. I've said "type trumps color" so many times, I think folks may have given me a new name. :) But, until we turn a blind eye to color and look at type first - we will continue to see the solids, and primarily the blacks, taking home the big wins.
I would love to be there when a, say, brown red, takes top honors at a show, in the open class, with some good competition!
Paul:
I don’t see color (variety) as being the error. The large fowl Black Ameraucanas win more shows than the 7 other varieties combine! Nineteen years of showing, we have had one blue wheaten hen, one wheaten cockerel, one wheaten pullet, one blue hen, and one white cockerel to win BB, and too many blacks to count-(never less to remember), win BB. In my opinion the error is type. Unfortunately, most of the blacks that have been winning BB the past few years don’t align with the Standard of Perfection. Most are extremely over sized. When an Ameraucana cockerel requires a double coop-he is too large framed. Most are too low at the point of their shoulders making them level backed rather than having a sloped back. Most are very loose feathered making them a term that I call fluffy. However they have a lot of eye appeal and are very pretty, so they win. I’ve set on the sidelines until now. The straw that broke the camel’s back was what Clif showed me on Facebook while at Fayetteville. Someone posted a couple photos of blue cockerels and requested critiques, so they would know which one to use on their pullets. Someone answered that they didn’t like them because they had slope to their back. Apparently the one responding must have seen too many of the level back incorrect winners. Granted the two blue cockerels had much more slope than what the Standard of Perfection requires. However that is what is going to be needed to get some of the level ones back on track. Most likely the photos showed the two blue cockerels in an excited pose, which will cause them to be more elevated than what they actually are.
Paul Smith
Ernie Haire:
Still ain't saying a word, but it is hard to do.
Ernie
Susan Mouw:
Since we're on the subject of type, I'd like to hear some opinions on this cockerel. The color is grayed out and somewhat tinted to hide the variety. I will say this is one of mine, so it could be : wheaten, blue wheaten, splash wheaten, black, blue, or splash. At the time this pic was taken, this bird was about 8 months old. He weighed just over 5.75# at that time.
Here are the things I like about this bird:
1. Slightly elevated at the shoulder, with a smooth transition from neck to back to tail.
2. Correct 45* angle tailset.
3. Nice prominent breast, but not out of balance.
4. Slight arch to neck, though could probably use a bit more length.
5. Wings carried on near-horizontal.
The things where I think he needs work:
1. Comb is correct pea comb, but oversize.
2. Could use fuller muffs and beard.
This is, basically, the model I use for all varieties bred here. Thoughts, Comments?
Paul:
He looks great! I agree with your assessment. From the grayed out photo his wings are not visible to access the carriage or tips. Cockerels raised in hot regions will have larger combs than cockerels raised where it is cooler and doesn't stay hot for long periods of time. A few years ago we only missed a day or two seeing 100 or above for 100 consecutive days.
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