Author Topic: Crow Head  (Read 2325 times)

Lindsay Helton

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Crow Head
« on: April 15, 2019, 12:16:16 PM »
Crow head is defined in the standard of perfection book as “a narrow, shallow head and beak.”

Can someone explain what shallow means in this definition? Does it refer to the length of the head from the top to bottom?

Also, does anyone have any pics of “less obvious” crow heads on Ameraucanas that they would be willing to share? I can identify really obvious crow heads, but I am trying to train my eyes to identify the less obvious ones better.  8)

Thanks!

Suki

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Re: Crow Head
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2019, 12:30:51 PM »
Shallow means that the beak is longer than the vertical (from the neck to the forehead) portion of the skull or it is longer than it is wide.  They should be culled mercilessly -- once in your flock, they are very hard to breed out.

Sue
NePA

Lindsay Helton

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Re: Crow Head
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2019, 01:13:21 PM »
Shallow means that the beak is longer than the vertical (from the neck to the forehead) portion of the skull or it is longer than it is wide.  They should be culled mercilessly -- once in your flock, they are very hard to breed out.

Sue
NePA

Thanks. I searched online for crow head and sifted through the examples that popped up. I thought some breed specific pics/examples would be good to review, but I am having a hard time finding any. I enjoy reading through the defects and disqualifications and am a visual learner.

Suki

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Re: Crow Head
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2019, 02:41:30 PM »
I thought some breed specific pics/examples would be good to review, but I am having a hard time finding any. I enjoy reading through the defects and disqualifications and am a visual learner.

Understandable.  As the chinese proverb goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so in that vein I recommend taking a shot of your own and then using the effect called Reverse Negative.  It will whiten out all the black and blacken the whites and you will see via your own flock what is a crow head.  Use the metric side of the ruler and then measure vertical and lengthwise if eye-appeal does not work.  Cull the absolute the worst and slowly graduate downwards until the big heads dominate --  Kraig Shaffer on FB has some gorgeous examples of perfect heads. And btw, he doesn't sell.

Lindsay Helton

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Re: Crow Head
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2019, 03:25:17 PM »
I thought some breed specific pics/examples would be good to review, but I am having a hard time finding any. I enjoy reading through the defects and disqualifications and am a visual learner.

Understandable.  As the chinese proverb goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so in that vein I recommend taking a shot of your own and then using the effect called Reverse Negative.  It will whiten out all the black and blacken the whites and you will see via your own flock what is a crow head.  Use the metric side of the ruler and then measure vertical and lengthwise if eye-appeal does not work.  Cull the absolute the worst and slowly graduate downwards until the big heads dominate --  Kraig Shaffer on FB has some gorgeous examples of perfect heads. And btw, he doesn't sell.

I automatically select for good head width on day olds, and am pleased with the heads on my adult breeders thus far, but I think it would be beneficial to have some pictorial examples on the forum if we can come up with some. Any takers?! A poultry friend purchased a trio from someone a few years ago. Unfortunately, a long time breeder identified some of the birds as being crow headed. They no longer own the birds, but it brought to mind that it might be beneficial to review. I am sure there are cases where it is less obvious.

I think it is good for the forum to be active so I am going to try to generate topics every now and then.  8)

Do you mean Kraig Shafer? He sold me some birds several years ago. Great guy! I look forward to hopefully meeting him at a show one day.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2019, 04:52:02 PM by Lindsay Helton »

Suki

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Re: Crow Head
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2019, 05:16:58 PM »
Quote
Do you mean Kraig Shafer? He sold me some birds several years ago.
     Wow, you rate.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2019, 07:04:08 PM by John W Blehm »

John W Blehm

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Re: Crow Head
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2019, 07:39:23 PM »
...I think it is good for the forum to be active so I am going to try to generate topics every now and then.  8)...

Right on!

The University of Florida, Fact Sheet PS-33, Selecting Chickens for Show, Jacqueline P. Jacob and F. Ben Mather, figure 1 is a drawing of the chicken with a "crow head".


Lindsay Helton

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Re: Crow Head
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2019, 11:31:18 PM »
...I think it is good for the forum to be active so I am going to try to generate topics every now and then.  8)...

Right on!

The University of Florida, Fact Sheet PS-33, Selecting Chickens for Show, Jacqueline P. Jacob and F. Ben Mather, figure 1 is a drawing of the chicken with a "crow head".

Thanks for sharing this!