These are the comments and results of Day Twelve of the March Madness poultry judging. For previous pairings, instructions, and a copy of the bracket, please see our other "blog" posts. All of the participant comments are available on our FB page and previous posts here.
Breanna's Comments:
I am still waiting on the comments from Mr. Decker on some of the ducks yet--it has been a long night for me and I am catching up on work. They will hopefully be posted this evening.
It's the quail again, so be prepared for a long one...
I've only worked with one of these birds here. To be honest, Italian is my favorite color. I had a very long conversation with Ms. Jada Spiegel about the ASIP/Agouti genetics that make this one up (fun fact: it's the same gene that can make someone's hair blonde and also lead to obesity in mice and likely humans with some alterations, but anyways). Back to quail. As much as I like Italian, I do not like the coloration on either of these.
Sunny loses plenty of points on the lack of breast patterning required on Italian hens as a feather sexable trait. If I didn't breed her myself and know it would be impossible, I would have said she's Manchurian (two copies of Fawn). Davis, on the other hand, has more of that black markings that distinguish the variety (or breed, depending on who you talk to. I also had a long conversation with Dr. Guianluca Marini in Italy on this). However, he has that brown face I personally cull against in all of my birds. I do not like this coloration, as I find it leads to a large variation of colored molts (in winter, I'd bet this bird feathers out even darker with patchier coloring whereas I know personally that Sunny stays consistent all year round).
But type matters more than color. They both are bred for two different things. I like the length in Davis across the back. He's got the legset that isn't visible in Sunny, and set up to have some lean, nice egg-producing daughters. Sunny is a meat bird, through and through. She's got the breast, she's got the more compact skull, she's got the width. I also like the tuck in the wings on her better than Davis, whose wings seem just a touch too long for me. She performs now, where Davis will perform better in a breeding pen for the future, and for that reason she takes the class for me.
Top Participant Evaluations:
"Sunny defintely takes this one. She has a fuller breast and is nearly better in every way. Davis has a flat back without the correct slope that sunny has and his wings aren't properly tucked in like Sunny's. He does have a better eye, though. Sunny's is a bit sunken."
-Jada Spiegel
"Sunny's tail appears to drop off at a sharp angle, and her face markings are broken. She's lightly marked for an Italian, if it were a fawn category I would have assumed she was Manchurian. Her shape is more filled out but her top beak looks a little long and thin on the tip (it could be a little overgrowth with age but if she's young I would shy away from it. Also cannot see her legs so don't know how to rate them. Her overall fullness and correct shape except for tail/ rump would be preferable to me. Davis has good lines and strong well placed legs. I think the posture makes him look more horizontal in the back than he really is. His chin straps are well defined but muddied (don't know if he has slb) His beak is a good shape. Overall Davis is the pick for me."
-Jen Jordan
"Can't really see the profile on the cock because he's ruffled his booty feathers but he's got good solid legs which I like, but neither look here nor there."
-Tamara Roswell
"The one on the right (Sunny) . As I'm talking to my Papa it looks healthier . They both are very beautiful but my choice would be the one in the right . From a distance it even looks more perky."
-Sophia Cooper
"Neither."
-Martin Yardley
Breeder Comments:
See above
Judge's Evaluations:
"Sunny takes first, as she has a better body than Davis does." -Judge Brian Decker
Comments