Is there a Reason breed attributes vary so much?

[hobbitlady]

Hi All
My first Australorp years ago was a nice "dumpy" hen,looking like breed pictures of girls from the time she was 6 weeks old. My second one a few years ago had all roo attitude,upright,inquisitive etc and my only hope for months was her red comb stayed smallish. I doubted that girl almost up until she laid an egg! She always did stay slightly slender and quite upright too. Now I have the same thing going on with an Orpington. My first one was a plump passive girl looking chick,always heavy,looking like breed pics for her age. Now I've got one that's all upright and energy-cocky but she's 8 weeks and no red on her little short comb at all and I'm "almost" certain she's a girl...her legs are a bit fat but not long like a roo (I don't think). Are some "teens" simply more active and stay thinner and more energetic....or did the breeding get crossed "way back" somewhere or parents with "off" traits get kept by hatcheries?  I guess I thought it would be a Lot easier to keep breed traits with proflific chickens than other types of animal breeding for "show" traits.........

[bergere]

Some people are not out to keep the breed true to type, or just out to make a buck. Sadly, this is happening to the d'Uccles... most I see for sale now a days... are really Booted Bantams, not d'Uccles. Is depressing.

If you want a true to type, of any breed, you need to find private breeders. Might even have to hatch eggs out. That is what I do now... only buy from breeders that have true to type birds.. and hatch them out myself.

[hobbitlady]

Thank you bergere
Yeah I figured it was laziness of mass breeders....just hatching Any eggs. I guess I should have said "traditional" traits,not "show" since I don't need show birds at all. It's just confusing for a person that keeps only a few hens to have the same breed a few years later grow and look So differently. Ha. I repeated my favorite "heavy looking" hens,that were quite docile, and the new ones have both had more jumpy personalities as well as looks. We Did move,and I think my original small town feed store was more careful about getting their chicks from a "tried and true" hatchery. Oh well, the eggs are still great!

[bergere]

Not talking about show birds, just birds with the traditional traits/conformation/egg laying/mothering ability.

Had some Speckled Sussex last year, went broody...put some eggs under them but as soon as the chicks hatched they ate them. So what ever the hatchery did, did not improve the breed.
Or the Buff Orpingtons I got from a hatchery,,, they were the most mean, most aggressive birds I have ever been around. Even as chicks they were nasty. They were also much lighter in build
than the Orps I had in the past.
I sold them on too.

[katievt]

My little sister was over recently and asked if my Buff Orpingtons were purebred. I asked why and she said some of them have muffs! Sure enough some have more of an Easter egger looking face.

Oh well! Hopefully they'll be good egg layers. Maybe next year I can get a couple nicely bred birds.