Hi Guys, Just a few words on how I approach the privilege of judging. I have not done a lot of judging, but, I took it very seriously when I did. BE SURE YOU KNOW THE STANDARD. The first thing I do is walk past the birds to be judged and get a "feel" for how they look in the show cage. Then I go back to the left side and pick up each and every bird. I feel that an exhibiter has paid an entry fee and has a right to have his bird evaluated and at the same time I can get a feel for cobbiness, check for lice, holes in the feathers etc... And by the way a lot of our Helmets have terrible bodies. It will soon be obvious which birds are of inferior quality. Although with good birds being spread around, inferior birds are fewer and fewer.
I check the eyes, make sure they are pearl. Nice high crest, full mane without breaks and rosettes over each ear. Look for a nice rise off the waddle and a round head. Not flat as in a lot of cases. I usually push the crest back to check the top of the head. I also pay close attention to the color. I LOOK FOR A BALANCED BIRD. A high full crest is beautiful but, it must be a BALANCED BIRD. If you have a bird that has all the things we look for and then they are as long as Old German Croppers that's not what we are looking for in a Helmet. Another thing I do is try to give reasons for placing one bird over another. I used to be a 4-h leader of our local dairy club and one of the things we taught our kids is you have to give reasons for your placings. At least in the top half of the class.
I feel that everyone watching the judging can learn something this way, and maybe the judge sees something that someone else didn't. I try to adhere to the standard I believe that is very important. At some of the shows I have been to I sometimes wonder what the judge is looking for because they keep moving the birds back and forth. I feel that the judge loses some of his prospective and becomes frustrated. I also think that we do too much comparison judging (including me) that takes us away from the standard. To compare one bird to another instead of to the standard.
At one of our nationals I showed a plainhead & the first thing the judge did, was throw my bird out "too big," Okay he was too big, but in my opinion the judge looked at that and that only. I think he used that as a crutch, that way he did not have to look at the rest of the bird. In other words, he did not look for balance. In closing let me repeat, KNOW YOUR STANDARD, AND LOOK FOR BALANCE. Be a good loser as well as a good winner and remember it is only one guy’s opinion today. Lets all have fun |
