These are the comments and results of Day Six of the March Madness poultry judging. For previous pairings, instructions, and a copy of the bracket, please see our other posts. All of the participant comments are available on our FB page and previous posts here.
Breanna's Comments:
I was surprised by some of the controversy in this one. For me, the female took it easily. Some of it may be the stance of the male in the photo, but without handling both of them in person yet, the hen just had the massive "full, well-rounded, and of great breadth and depth" breast needed for the cochin breed, especially large fowl. Though the standard calls for the hens to be a bit more refined in the head than the cocks', in this pairing I think it trends the opposite way--the hen has that wide, thick skull with a thick brow typical of meat breeds while the male's is a bit more angular. Not to just bash the male--he has plenty of good traits going for him. Both birds are in great condition, especially the foot feathering which is hard to do, and have nice color throughout. I'd argue he is in slightly better condition too. A wide stance, well-rounded and fluffy cushion, and broad breast means that the cock is more than capable of carrying a heavy meat capacity. Just the angle of the photo and the appearance of a flatter breast edge him out. Type and structure come first: in this case, they both have good structure, she just has a better type.
Top Participant Evaluations:
"I would place the female over the male...she has the nice wide skull on her you would expect in a cochin..deep chest..color is good..it would be nice to be able to pull the wing out and see if she just has her wing set like that or if it IS an issue..but her wings are held better than the males..good transition on her from her feet/legs to her tail..the tail does lack a little on shape. The male looks to be not in as good of condition as the female feather-wise. His wings are held a little low...chest could be a little deeper. His skull isn't as wide as the female's...color is good...the area from legs to tail almost gives him the appearance of vulture hocks the way it is sticking out but it could just be the angle of the pic too. His tail shape is better than the females in my opinion."
-Emmy Lineweaver
"I’m going to say on this one LFC33 because I love his body type and I like his color and condition. (What is the fluff by his leg?) I think LFC30 is good just her condition and body and tail puff do it for me... The male wins it. "
-Austin Noah
"The male has a better tail and wing shape. However, while he doesn't have stiff, sharp vulture hocks, his hocks have a defined shape while the hen's hock is more round and diffuse, so she is better in that area. Both are deficient in depth of breast and are leaning forward. Both have excellent head shape and width and correct neck and back length. The beak on the male has a better shape. I didn't make it clear, I prefer the male."
-Jada Spiegel
There also was a bit of controversy over whether the hen actually had split wing or if it was just the angle/position of the camera and a ruffled feather. If the hen did have split wing, it would be an automatic disqualification.
Breeder Comments:
No comments yet from Jennifer Bryant with Bryant's Roost, though I believe more will be coming soon.
Judge's Evaluations:
"LFC 30 takes first as she has the better type overall, and LFC33 takes second." -Judge Brian Decker
Comments