These are the comments and results of Day Eleven 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.
NOTICE: These are the final results for the first round of eliminations. The brackets will be due tomorrow (3/21/2024) at 22:00 (10 PM) EST. You can submit your brackets via chat or email (pipsnchicks@gmail.com) alone with your chosen winner, name, and explanations.
Breanna's Comments:
This was personally my hardest decision. I don't dislike ducks, but I don't raise them either (they're a bit too messy for my current set-up). I have never seriously worked with them for exhibition either, though I have spent many, many hours plucking duck feathers and cleaning pens on other farms. Both of these ducks are very clearly top-show birds. They both have a very nice type and structure to them, immaculate conditioning. The structure is very, very similar between the two, and it's hard to call out many, if any faults in the shape alone. So, all things being equal for type and conditioning, I turn to color.
I believe overall the color on the drake is a bit easier to achieve than on the hen. He's got the yellow-green bill, while the hen's is a bit brown compared to the orangish-brown called for. The grey on the bottom of the breast leading into the back is much more uniform and easier to breed for than the penciling needed in the hens. With the hen, her penciling is a bit blurry and softer, rather than the crisp markings shown in the standard. For that reason and that reason alone I'm going with the male over the female, but make no mistake--these are two very impressive birds and I would be happy to have either.
Top Participant Evaluations:
"I went back and forth on these two probably longer than I should have. They are both for me that close in a decision. The male is overall a good looking boy, cant say much about him. The girl, is a nice compact little duck, her feathers are throwing me a little bit and I wish her bill wasn't cut off in the photo. If i could call them a draw I would, but by a very slight margin I will go with the male today."
-Catherine Cleveland
"So...I am just going to say I am not great with gray call ducks... these both look really good...both have great shape..male has a little better shape than female...both have a good head shape for a call duck...female has good coloring throughout and a nice wing bar. The male has good color..brown on the chest could go down a little farther on his chest..ring around his neck seems to cut off on the back of his neck..both have good bill size and shape..so while I like the male body shape a little better I am going with the female bc she also has a really good shape and her color I think is better than the males."
-Emmy Lineweaver
"The hen is better than the drake. Initially, she looked unbalanced to me, but I just realized that is because she is angled away from the camera. She has a shorter back and her eye is set lower in her head, which is more proper for a Call. The drake's neck appears a smidge long but if I was lenient to her posing I must also extend grace to him. Overall, two nigh-perfect birds, excellent depth on them both."
-Jada Spiegel
Breeder Comments:
"I hope these two will make the cut, lol."
-Ken Miskimon Jr.
Judge's Evaluations:
"Two good birds. GCM99 takes first and GCF92 takes second." -Judge Brian Decker
Comments