Author Topic: Silver Standard Description  (Read 35658 times)

Guest

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #15 on: September 14, 2005, 05:46:25 AM »
Quote from: grisaboy
I just went tromping out to the chicken coop with my flashlight to take a look at saddle feathers.  The silver male that I think has the best color, has a lot of striping in his saddle. Curtis


After reading this discussion I went out and looked at the five Silver cockerels I have, and all have striping on their saddles. Some have more, some less, but all have it.

Being new to Ameraucanas, I don\'t have a strong opinion either way, just thought I\'d mention what I have. My boys are all from Barbara Campbell, a well-known breeder of Ameraucanas, and as far as I know she has been breeding Silvers a long time. Perhaps she will make a comment here as well.  But I am leaning towards allowing the striping to exist. (I also breed Dutch, but do not have any silvers, fwiw.)

Blue Egg Acres

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #16 on: September 14, 2005, 03:47:21 PM »
Actually Laura, I\'ve only been keeping Silvers for 3 years(have had wheatens/blue wheatens for 6 years) so consider myself new to them with alot yet to learn. I have 13 silver cockerels in my growing pen and the degree of striping varies a great deal - some with very heavy striping, some with very little. Since it is so difficult for me to see detail without handling each bird, I\'m (hopefully) attaching photos of a couple of them here to let you see for yourselves.
Barbara
P.S. Very nice article in the lateest Poultry Press Laura!

Guest

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #17 on: September 14, 2005, 05:07:09 PM »
Something else to consider, the males get less black stripping in the hackles and saddles as they age, I don\'t know to what point yet. I know our 1 1/2 old has no black in his saddle and his hackle has it more at the base with a clear silver head. Even at 11 months he did not have such clear silvering. This year I have 2 cockerels to we have kept. One has more stripping than the other, but the darker one has a good black body with no white in it. Come spring, I plan on doing pen breedings with one cockerel one month the other one the next and see what the pullets grow out as. These are long term plans but it seems the only way to go. I am wondering if the shafting comes from the white in the males black body color? I am really glad for this discussion since we only have the silver variety and are working hard on things.

Chari

Guest

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #18 on: September 14, 2005, 09:26:27 PM »

Our curent breeding rooster looks just about like Barb\'s
He is the son of a rooster from Paul & Angela Smith.
He seems to have the darker color, but has greatly improved our flock in leg color.  I am guessing their stock has some Dorking blood, as the were shorter legges with longer bodies that ours, and with the newest bbies, we still had a lot of long bodiesin proportion to leg length.  It makes for funny looking youngsters, however I will say they have grown out into very nice stock.
We have only one cockerl that was a throw back to out origional Golden\'s, so he will go as a pet or meat bird, we hope we can sell or trade the rest..however I want to be sure we are heading in the right direction with them befor saying we have \"quality\" stock..Or are we moving in the wrong direction??
I prefer the darker birds, and find ours seem to be improving all the time in gaining stipling, and loosing shafting..but is this the only goal?? or is there so much more?

bantamhill

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #19 on: September 14, 2005, 10:19:50 PM »
Hello all! I will take my turn . . .

My hens and pullets all have shafting in the large fowl and the bantams I have bred this year. I am not quite sure about my preference at this point . . . I need to do some thinking and research, but my gut feeling is to vote for in the male either shafting on both hackle and saddle or none at all (silver duckwing) . . .

A finely stippled hen/pullet is a beatiful thing . . . I hope to breed some in the next 5-10 years and I would hate to give up just because the stippling is difficult to attain! I wonder if the silver blue pullets/hens have shown any interesting shafting vs. stippling characteristics? I only have a silver blue cock at this time . . . he is pretty much free of shafting.

Michael (bantamhill)

Mike Gilbert

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #20 on: September 14, 2005, 11:19:15 PM »
Michael,
I don\'t think we are even considering going to silver duckwing as a color.   The only question is whether or not to have the male saddle free of striping, or have it with striping.   The hackle must have striping either way.   Based on what I have seen here, and without having a really strong preference either way, it seems that most prefer to see the striping in the saddle as per the current A.B.A. (but not the A.P.A) standard.
I can live with that, in fact I think I prefer it.   So if we go that way, our Ameraucana standard would be closer to the Dutch color description than the A.P.A. Leghorn description.   Do we need to put this to a vote?   Does anyone strongly disagree with having male saddle striping in the Silvers?

Mike Gilbert

bantamhill

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #21 on: September 15, 2005, 07:00:45 AM »
Does this have any future impact on the Ameraucana version of Blue Silver and having it accepted? I do not have an APA Standard, but the ABA Standard indicates \"silver duckwing\" . . . just wondering.

Michael

Mike Gilbert

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #22 on: September 15, 2005, 06:25:18 PM »
Unless the A.B.A. has put in a change without my knowing it the Ameraucana standard still refers to \"Silver\" not Silver Duckwing.   The latest version I have is the 1997 looseleaf edition.   On page 29 it refers the silver\'s description to the silver color as described on page 237.  That description calls for striping in the hackles, and the saddle description just says \"same as hackle.\"    They also describe the silver duckwing color as found in O.E. Games and a blue silver duckwing color which is essentially a blue version of silver duckwing.   They don\'t describe blue silver, but that would be just a blue version of silver.   Note that the color is blue silver, not silver blue which is a completely different color.

Guest

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #23 on: September 15, 2005, 08:07:28 PM »

Hi Mike,
I am not sure about a vote, but personaly I don\'t like the silver Duckwing look, I like the striping.  And my unscientific observance is that the males with good striping seem to have pullets with less shafting, and more of the stipled look..not sure if it is just a coincinence, but that is how our tiny flock seems to be progressing.
Silver duckwing\'s look ok, but I just prefer a lot of color and contrast.

bantamhill

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #24 on: September 15, 2005, 09:55:12 PM »
I am totally okay now . . . I was assuming we would try to fit into a color instead of propose a new color standard . . . I missed that somewhere! :o

From time to time I still switch my blue and silver around . . . I know better . . . really I do! :rolleyes:

Blue Egg Acres

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #25 on: September 16, 2005, 11:39:20 AM »
Does the APA Standard have pictures of the Blue Silver and Silver Blue varieties? In what breed(s) do these varieties occur?

Michael, are you bringing some Blue Silvers to the National? Sure would love to see some!
Barbara

bantamhill

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #26 on: September 16, 2005, 12:26:57 PM »
Barbara,

I will be happy to bring the cock along or we could drive to my house to visit.

Michael

John

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #27 on: September 17, 2005, 09:01:27 AM »
Quote
I am totally okay now . . . I was assuming we would try to fit into a color instead of propose a new color standard . . . I missed that somewhere!

The same here and I\'ll repeat what I said.  Assuming we were sticking to an existing description and not knowing if the Leghorn description would change to include saddle striping I said duckwing would be better than hackle striping without saddle striping.  I would like to have striping in both areas or neither.  It\'s just my opinion and I have no reason to believe the ABA has changed the silver description that now applies to Ameraucanas.
Now if the Dutch silver description works it would be fine and don\'t know why a new one couldn\'t be written to include full striping in the hackles and saddles if we so decide.

Blue Egg Acres

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #28 on: September 18, 2005, 11:06:43 AM »
I too think the hackles and saddle should match. Either both have striping or both without. I\'m partial to the striping but have to admit my eye is drawn to those males that are \"clear\" white at the tops of the hackles and saddle with the striping at the lower ends of the feathers, as in the photo of the LF silver on page 197 of the APA Standard.

Mike Gilbert

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Silver Standard Description
« Reply #29 on: September 18, 2005, 02:26:24 PM »
I agree with Barbara\'s latest comments, and it seems like a good compromise.   So then the APA standard picture is correct, but the wording is incorrect in that it refers the silver color to that of the Silver Leghorn, which calls for no saddle striping at all.    Sam, when is the next deadline for proposals to change the A.P.A. Standard?