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Dixie Classic

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Paul:
  Normally I visit with the exhibitor and find out if they are showing purchased chicks.  I didn’t get a chance to visit with Lindsay and assumed they were from the boxes of chicks that we sent in 2016, April 10, 2017 and May 23, 2017.  The blue wheaten pullet has a slit in her left inside web which would be a # + 2 bw.  I didn’t check the self blue hen or pullet as they look just like our # +12 Sb, which we sent several.  I had Angela correct this.  It will not happen again.

  I don’t have a problem with someone showing birds from us or someone else!  We all had to get them from someone.  We did the same thing nineteen years ago when we started, also showed buff last year from Christine & Will Kitsch.  There will come a day when I won’t be able to make the long trips due to leg cramps.  Then the sold birds will be all that can be shown from us.  I see it a win for both the one who showed them and the one who produced/bred them.  While at the Dixie Classic we had the opportunity to meet Jack Cushenberry who purchased a box of chicks from us and won champion large fowl at the Kentucky State Fair on a black pullet.  Those on Facebook may want to check out Jack’s Happy Hens.  Its reports like this, that make it all worth doing.  I’ve tried to express that I don’t have a problem with anyone showing birds bred by someone-else.  What I do have a problem with is an older couple that I know, who have spent most of their life raising and breeding a breed of bantams (not Ameraucanas), won numerous awards and NEVER sold any due to the fact, that they don’t want to show against their own.

  Paul Smith

Susan Mouw:
Up until the Dixie Classic, my blacks have only been beaten by birds that either came from here, or were bred from birds that came from here - it really is a win-win when that happens!  I love seeing Sand Castles Farm birds going out, getting shown, and doing well!

Lindsay Helton:
No problem at all. A win for us is a win for you. The two blue wheaten pullets that I showed were from Susan Mouw’s stock that we picked up this past summer. We drove down to South Carolina and brought back around two dozen birds. I’m not sure how we were able to fit them all in the SUV, but we made it work. We stopped at Chick-fil-A on the way home for dinner (kind of funny that it was our preference for food now that I think about it), and when we got back in the car all I could smell was chickens. Show quality chickens....they have a slightly better smell. Lol. Several breeders use a similar toe punch system so I am sure it is confusing! Many of the self blue hens we used in our cross were from your stock that we purchased in 2015, so a win for us is a win for you, because our line wouldn’t have happened without you. Unfortunately I am unable to keep birds past 2 years of age because it is too expensive to keep the feed paid for. I raise around 200 or so grow outs each year and feeding the young pullets and cockerels on top of the breeding stock gets really expensive for me. Right now we are paying around $15.50 per bag of feed plus tax. I am looking for ways to get the cost down. I was using a different supplier and getting feed for $12 per bag, but I have noticed a considerable difference in the quality and growth of the birds since the switch in feed, so I guess the extra $3.50 per bag seems worth it. I think I would rather raise less birds on higher quality feed than the reverse. You have some of the best quality self blues that I have ever seen, and my program would absolutely not have progressed without your help. You have patiently answered dozens and dozens of questions the last few years and are a wonderful advocate for the breed. I hope you are able to travel to the shows for years and years to come. It was nice to meet one of the people that brought the joy of raising Ameraucanas into my life at the Knoxville show. Thank you Paul and Angela.

Susan Mouw:
The Dixie Classic Meet report is now posted:

http://www.ameraucanabreedersclub.org/meet_reports/12-2-17%20Dixie%20Classic%20Knoxville%20TN%20Self-Blue%20PreQ.pdf

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