CSU - Chicken State University- Large Fowl SOP

[Lacy Blues]

This slow time is the time to take some. We all know Yellow House has great birds but this isn't a competition. Its strictly for educational purposes... and I'm preaching to the choir here. My breed is up next so I need to get busy on the picture taking too.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

OK, I just saw this. Something educational on Anconas and avoiding to much of a show aspect:

None of these photos are particularly good. We couldn't quite get her to pose, but beggars can't be choosers.



The difference between a Leghorn and an Ancona are few, indeed, many originally referred to Anconas as Mottled Leghorns. They both come from the center of Italy and represent was is basically the Italian chicken, la razza italiana. They evince good capacity in the abdomen. They are basically a rectangle. They are to have "good length of back". The breast is "carried well forward". This keeps it from being chopped off in the front.




The primary difference between a Leghorn and an Ancona is in the flow of the back. Leghorns have a "slight slope down from shoulders to center of back, and rising from center with a concave sweep to tail. Feathers of sufficient length to carry well up to tail." This differs slightly from the Ancona's "slight slope downward from shoulders to rear, then rising in a concave sweep to tail." My understanding of this is that the Ancona has a slightly flatter appearing back with a less dramatic sweep. It is, however, sweeping without angularity.







This exaggerated pose stresses the fullness of breast. In truth this pullet, born on 4/20/2013, is a bit of a moose. She weighs in at 5 1/2 pounds, which puts her a solid pound over hen's weight. I prefer, though, to err on the side of too big than too small. It's easy to get size down, but it's hard as heck to get it back up again.







According to the Standard, shanks and toes are yellow, but it's virtually impossible to remove all traces of black. The ABA Standard allows, "Yellow, or yellow mottled with black," which is more accurate. In Great Britain the mottling on the legs is to be very neat. Fluff is "rather short, [in females] more developed than in males." Fluff is to be "Black slightly tinged with white".



This isn't a great picture to show sheen, but it tends to run strong in our birds. It does give you a sense of width of feather seen in the tail. Her tail is slightly stacked, with which I'm fighting.





Her mottling is well balanced in all sections, but the mottling is not of particularly good quality. Mottling in general can be pretty weak in the States, especially in black birds. The best American mottling, in my opinion, is probably on Spangled OEG bantams. The Brits have a better handle on correct mottling. Hopefully over time we'll see some progress on States' side. The mottling is caused by a stoppage of pigment release as the feather first starts to emerge, leaving the feather white, or, rather, colorless. For clarity, mottling, mo, is the same in Anconas, Mille Fleurs, Porcelains, Speckled, and Spangled (as in OEG). It's all mottling, mo. As the feather begins to emerge no pigment is released, then there is a bar of black released, then the actual color of the feather emerges. In Speckled Sussex and Mille Fleur D'Uccles it makes for a three colored feather. In Anconas, it appears at first glance that the feathers are black with a white tip. However, if you observe the feather closely, you can see that the black of the feather and the black bar directly surrounding the white tip are distinct.




Her head is pretty good, without being fantastic. I'd like to see a longer leader. The wattles are, "Medium size, uniform, well-rounded, smooth, fine in texture, free from folds or wrinkles. The eye is to be reddish bay. The beak "Medium in length, strong, nicely curved; it is "yellow, upper mandible shaded with black." Earlobes are white.

 

[gjensen]

Very nice Joseph. I read through it twice. They are remarkable looking birds. I am sure they are as sharp as they look.

That was an excellent presentation.

 

[armorfirelady]

Thank you for the pictures and explanation of your birds Yellow House. They are beautiful birds.

 

[Pozees]

YHF, do you have any idea how the European breeders and Spangled OEG Bantam breeders have managed the mottling differently? I am curious what selections were made to improve mottling, if you know. I love the pattern.

How long have you been working with Mottled Anconas? They are lovely, and virtually unheard of, a great disservice to the breed. I think I recall you saying somewhere that they are reasonably good layers and the extra males offer a decent enough carcass.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

YHF, do you have any idea how the European breeders and Spangled OEG Bantam breeders have managed the mottling differently? I am curious what selections were made to improve mottling, if you know. I love the pattern.

How long have you been working with Mottled Anconas? They are lovely, and virtually unheard of, a great disservice to the breed. I think I recall you saying somewhere that they are reasonably good layers and the extra males offer a decent enough carcass.

I don't know, but I've got in in my brain to be in touch with the other side of the pond. I have the contact information for a prominent gentleman in the Ancona club over there. Hopefully he'll give me some hints. One aspect is that the white is more controlled; it has no black or grey leaching into it, which is our Standard, too. There is a strong, beat division between the white, ideally V-shaped, tip and the black bar. For clarity, the tip of the V is to point up into the feather. Female Spangled OEG bantams are often very well marked, and one can see the ideal. I fear there's more than a little bit of a numbers game in the whole thing.

Another difficulty, is frequent absence of mottling in the head, hackle, and saddle of males. Apparently this is do to excess melanizers, black pigment makers, in Anconas that must be bred out if one wants well marked males.

I think Anconas, like most Mediterranean and Continental breeds, suffer because of their perceived temperament, which receives such a ridiculous treatment. Beginners' books and beginners themselves are always so quickly to call them flighty. In truth there are some that are, but many are not, and if bred correctly it doesn't take much time at all to breed the flightiness out--if it exists at all. Folks shy away from these amazingly beautiful and graceful breeds on the advice of folks who, n truth, have no business giving advice. Then, they select a "calm" breed. Frequently eggs are their ,major concern, so essentially they select a breed less suited to their needs because their afraid of the "flighty" breed. By the time they know enough about chickens to realize that the "flightiness" is not a breed trait, it's a bit too late. They've been raising such and such for so many years, and they've grown attached to them.

It cannot be stressed enough that Mediterranean and Continental breeds need more dedicated breeders and that Mediterranean and Continental breeds are often more apt at filling the niche if egg production is the primary focus. Meat, though, as you've mentioned isn't necessarily bad. Folks will often say, "They're not worth eating." I disagree; they're just not centerpiece roasts. Here's a comparison shot of an Ancona roaster against a Dorking roaster. It's not as large, but one can see that it has something to offer. Given, I do select for size and fullness of body. The Ancona is to the left. Note the yellow-tinged skin:






Something for which excess young Ancona cockerels are idoneous is the spatchcock for summer grilling. At 13 weeks, they're delicious:














I honestly think that many more folks need to give Mediterraneans and Continentals a second look. We raise Dorkings and Anconas, their difference is what makes them complementary. Don Schrider has Buckeyes and Brown Leghorns. The combo of a meat chicken and an egg chicken is pretty sweet.

 

[Pozees]

Hear, hear! If anything, the Meds are much better suited to free ranging and thus feeding themselves and reducing the feed bill while providing more eggs - win win! I have thought I wanted colored Leghorns for the longest time, but every time I see your Anconas I swoon.

 

[gjensen]

They have grown on me. I have come to appreciate the style. They have a way about them on the yard that is hard not to notice.

A well managed flock is not difficult to manage.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Absolutely true Yellow House. Most of my Andalusians are not flighty either. True, they don't enjoy being caught but I don't think I know of many birds that come and ask to be picked up (though I did have ONE a long time ago). They're certainly not Orpingtons or Rocks but they don't leap into the rafters every time I walk into the barn by a long shot.

 

[Yellow House Farm]

I don't like it when people put labels on birds especially the temperament.

What I find most frequently is that people talk about traits in a definitive manner as if the represent a breed in fact. Really the only breed traits are SOP traits, for that is what hold their breed as breed. Almost everything else is strain based. A particular breeder is breeding for such and such or he or she's not; that's all.

I sit with chicks everyday for a good 5 minutes, just sit, sit and be present so that they become accustomed to me. When our birds reach an age that they need to start running, I open the door and then sit 3 or so feet from the entrance. At first they're nervous, but then eventually they make their way to the door. After a week or so, when I open the door in the morning, I sit closer. Once they're used to that I actually sit in the doorway and make them walk over me. NO--it's not to pet them and call the cutesie. Rather, it's to help them lose fear of contact. When I walk into the breeding coop now, they all jump up on the nest boxes to be about eye height with to see what's up. The pictures of that pullet? I walked into her pen in the middle of the day and, gently walked her into a corner and grabbed her. She squawked for a moment, but once I was holding her securely she calmed right down. As one can see from the photos, I'm not holding on to her and had to repeatedly pick her up and reposition her. Not all that flighty, but I'd wager night 100% of all beginners' sites and books feel the need to slip in how flighty they are.

When I lecture on cooking, I remind , "There's no such thing as tough meat; there's only bad cooking." This is a reminder that the chefs responsibility is to know how to manage the cookery. This goes for chickens, too. Now, it is true that there is a kind of screaming flightiness that is linked to genetics. My understanding is that it is thought to be a recessive trait, i.e. those birds that when held go into blind panic and scream and scream. This is, however, the exception, not the rule. I would wager that a vast majority of flightiness is really the sign of mismanagement or inexperience.