These are the comments and results of Day Twenty-Eight 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:
My judgment for this one is a little more solid. Fun fact: the US quail standard is officially being published in a month from yesterday!! Very excited for it. A lot of work has gone in, from breeders to APA judges to avian professors and animal geneticists from all over the world and all sorts of different species.
Back to judging. Two nicely rounded quail here. Both are very clearly dual-purpose, and I think this may be one of the closer pairings of quail in the bracket. TUX10 and Sunny were a match, but these two are just a bit further beyond that.
I should start off with flaws: I don't particularly love the coloration on either. Rose2 comes off as a bit red (likely because of the lighting, but some of that could be natural as well). Rosettas are EB, they should be dark brown, even in Het. form. Sunny has her own issues too that I've touched on before. She's got the right base color, but far too little markings. I like black markings on the back of every single Italian feather, with breast spots at least halfway down and consistently on each breast feather as well. She's got almost none of that. The mask by the eye could be darker and more prominent through the chinstrap, and overall more black instead of red.
Rose2 has a nicer condition (I know, Martin. "Conditioning is what's ruining show animals these days." Too bad.) Sunny's neck fuzz is from breeding, and it's actually accommodated for in the standard but still doesn't earn her any points here. Rose looks like she's younger, fresh out of a juvenile molt with clean plumage that may or may not have seen the inside of the breeding pen for long. Sunny has definitely gone through at least one adult molt already and is clearly in a pen now from the condition and coloration of her feathers.
I actually like both bottom lines, though I believe Sunny's is filled out a bit better. I like the topline on Rose2 a bit more, though it is not held at a good angle here because of the rocky and uneven surface she's standing on. The feet on Rose2 are solid, and not seen on Sunny, though I can personally tell you that her hips are pretty wide and I really like her stance when moving around. Sunny has a bit more length to the back, allowing her more meat today, but Rose has the better build for laying that will allow her offspring to accommodate more meat and last longer in a breeding pen but doesn't follow up with bulk right now. Into the heads: Sunny has a smaller head that makes her body like disproportionately big in the photo, while Rose's does the opposite and diminishes her body size. A balance between the two is very much needed.
Overall, they both come close in flaws and strengths, but I think Rose2 just walks away with better breeding potential and would place in my bracket.
Top Participant Evaluations:
Right about now, I realized I never posted this one on Facebook for comments... Oops. I just put it out, hopefully will get a few explanations before people realize the results are up here. I'll update with participant comments as they come in.
"Sunny has a better pose and wing carriage but Rose2 is heartier overall with a strong head, beak and eye, while Sunny does have a nice body she is weak in the head and overall less robust than Rose2 so even though I placed Rose2 lower on the bracket I think I will go with her today."
-Jada Spiegel
"I like feather sexable but Rose2 is extra thick in the neck. And look at that beard."
-Sara Brown
"I can't tell the the back on rose2 looks better because it's standing more upright or is just like that. I like the head more on rose2 it looks bigger. Plus sunny has their beak a bit overgrown idk if that will always happen or if that's something related to conformation. I think Sunny's wings may be better because they don't seem as close to touching the ground so I'm not too sure, it may just be the photo angle. "
-Maya Abueg
Breeder Comments:
See my thoughts above
Judge's Evaluations:
"Sunny takes the win for champion quail." -Judge Brian Decker
Congratulations to Sunny for winning Champion Quail in this bracket!
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