10/24/2024
While I can appreciate both styles of birds, I am trying to keep from getting my birds too short in the back, where the head touches the tail. Granted, depending on the moment and just how peppy the bird might be feeling, their stance can vary quite a bit. This year I selected birds to keep that had the "Graceful U-shaped curves" in their backs (most of the time). I'm also keeping an eye on wing carriage and choosing birds that hold their wings high enough as to not completely conceal the hock. This is a little harder to achieve on the males I find as their vertical stance, tends to make the wings drop a bit lower. The last picture is from my birds a few years back. While they're beautiful, I'm trying to avoid getting them quite that short, and trying to do a better job of referencing the Standard of Perfection for the breed.
