AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

yes well put and I agree with your Daniel

I made this post yesterday but in the heat for some reason it crashed and was lost, so will try again, here goes.
The written standard is a guide as to what a breed or variety should be,it is a description of the ideal or perfect specimen, as written by the founders of a breed/variety or in the case of an old or ancient breed by what was/is understood by experienced enthusiasts what that breed/variety should be.
The Scale of Points or Pointscore shows us where the emphasis should be placed when assessing any bird against the breed ideal.
As an example if Legs & Feet are worth 5 pts, Head 10 pts and Body 20 pts then when we are determining a birds worth or quality, Body is 4 times more important than Legs & Feet and double what the Head is worth in our appraisal of that birds quality.
The failure is where greater emphasis is placed on colour and markings as is the case in some standards where these are given as high as 40 pts or 40% of the birds total score, this usually is at the detriment of breed type and shape or utility traits and we wonder why some breeds/varieties have regressed in these areas but are a lovely colour and perfectly marked.
In my own breed of Malays colour is only a minor consideration as against the higher scores for Size, Bone, Reach and body Shape because the old breeders recognised these were the unique and distinguishing characteristics that set them aside from many/any other breed.They were the unique traits that had to be preserved at all cost to ensure the survival of the breed in it's true form.
With some breeds colour alone was/is given preference and sadly to the detriment of other unique breed characteristics.
The other important thing to remember is that these standards were written by old hands with long first hand experience of that breed/variety and should not be changed without careful consideration of the long term effects or outcome and should never be changed on a whim or personal preference, and when thay are changed only after long and careful consideration and discussion.
They are all open to personal interpretation and application but the essential essence of what is contained must be preserved to ensure that any breed/variety survives and is recognisable as what it is supposed to be.

I breed to my standard not the bench and it works for me but then I don't go to shows as I dont need trophy's

Is the standard open to a judges interpretation or not? I ask because the same bird at 2 different shows can get 2 different results

I guess judges are just like other poultry enthusiasts and do put thier own interpretation on the standards.
The judges role is to apply the standards to each exhibit and come up with results that reflect what comes closest to the standard.
They should be our conscience and point out where we are excelling and also failing in our breeding endeavours and thier commentary should reflect this.
Unfortunately many people show nowerdays for the ribbons/trophies not for the comparison of thier birds against the written standard and to those of other exhibitors, under a judge who's opinion we respect.
Ideally the judges role is to be completely impartial in thier deliberations, putting aside all personal preferences and bias but we don't live in a perfect world and things are not always the ideal we would hope for.
I know when I judge I apply the standards as diligently as I do here in the breeding pens, each bird is weighed up individually against the standard, best of breed/sex is the bird with a higher total score.
Then when judging one breed against another for higher awards then the fowl that comes closest to it's respective breed standard is placed up.
When all things are equal then you have to consider the pointscore and take into consideration the degree of difficulty of achieving some characteristics.
To do the job properly takes a high degree of concentration and attention to detail, most judges take thier responsibilities seriously but am sure that in most cases some degree of interpretation does come into play.
Can not see a judge placing up a fowl that deviates to far from thier personal preferences and they would select a fowl similar to what they aim for in there own breeding programmes.

Judges interpretation applies to all animals that are shown to any standard. I have shown 2 bulls and the royal and 2 Judges gave similar yet different opinions of both but both were right because that was their interpretation of the standard on the day

Yes I agree so easier to buy a trophy

Is there a date yet for the new standard to come out?

No date as yet. But when there is I am sure someone will let everyone know.

I won't hold my breath then