These are the comments and results of Day Sixteen 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.
NOTE: Due to delays from Mr. Decker, the deadline for final brackets has been extended until results are posted for the rest of the ducks.
Breanna's Comments:
I am still waiting on the comments from Mr. Decker on some of the ducks yet--it has been a long night for me again and I am catching up on work. They will hopefully be posted this evening or tomorrow morning, as soon as he gets back to me.
The last set of quail! A few things right off the bat that are hard to look past: TI84 is not posed nicely. The low head throws the whole bird off balance a bit, and makes him look more hunched than I believe he actually is. I love that dark leg coloration--that all black foot (minus a touch on a the middle toe) is very hard to achieve in any form of EB, but is closer to the pure EB look that I like to see. He also has the legset in the right place--TUX10 has the legs a bit too far back for my liking, as it means she will likely wear out quicker in laying life. She does have a wide stance though, that indicated width through the pubic bones. 82 has that rounder, full face that I like to see in birds. TUX 10 does have nicer coloration, EB (Tibetan expecially) is known for that really dark, almost black color and TI82 has a bit lighter brown though it could be just lighting. The dotted white throughout do little to change the tibetan across her back, though it likely is a contributing factor to the lighter feet. The wings on TUX10 also, while a touch large, are held much closer to the body than the 82, giving her something else going for her.
I am choosing TUX10 today. The combination of her stance, the posing, and the wings make her appear larger and overall a better meat score than TI82, though I do not believe he is nearly as bad as first glance in the photo.
Top Participant Evaluations:
"TI82 has a better head, beak and eye shape. I do wish it was standing more upright. Both birds have good lines and are filled out well. Both have strong/ thick legs, could just be the stance but TUX10 legs appear a little wide set. TI82 has tighter feathers and would overall be my preference."
-Jen Jordan
"I’m not really sure but TUX10 poses better and has a stronger legset and a full breast. It is a little flat in the back while Ti82 is has a better slope and it has a stronger head and beak, however, since TUX10 looks like a stronger meat bird overall I am going to go with that one."
-Jada Spiegel
"TUX10 looks better to me, I like how he is holding his body the only thing I would change is his wing carrying. The body to me of TI82 looks small, I’m not really good with quail but it looks small. It has the color of a hawk tho so that’s cool. But I like TI82 head, I like how it flows with everything. I would say the body and condition for me is the reason why I chose TUX10 over TI82"
-Austin Noah
Breeder Comments:
Waiting on Mrs. Rebecca Lynch to have a spare moment and share some of her comments, having worked with them both.
Judge's Evaluations:
"TI82 takes second and TUX10 takes first, solely because TUX10 has more body on it today." -Judge Brian Decker
Comments