I dabble in naked necks. I raise some of the red bantams, but do raise a lot because they do not show real well. The red naked necks I have are my most resilient of all my birds.
Things seem to have gotten away from your question. first, runner ducks are judged differently than other fowl. Most, not all, but most of the time they are placed in a small ring so thejudge can look at them in a natural upright state and observe them walk. Only then can a runner be judged...
We've shown turkeys for years and every judge does it differently. I think the main thing are the numbers entered. The more entered the more the judge has to handle in inspect for defects.
It is not necessarily the temp, but whether you can keep drafts off them. You'd be amazed how cold a chick at a month old can take, but what gets them is cool drafts.
If you are looking for egg layers, then the"crosses" may be your best bet. They were bred for this purpose. Unfortunately, too many people try to show them as RIR. A real RIR is a deep, rich red color, more like mahogony. A lot of time the true show birds are not the better layers.
Go to Amazon.com and look for a book by Mark Fields on the breed. He had the best in the nation at one time and his book will give you all the info you could want.
Every year 1,000's of birds are taken to shows and some get sick when they return home. Most blame this on the other birds from the show without any real knowledge. Many times the "illness" is not from the other birds at the show, but from the trip to and from and the stress of being in a...
Some people swear by DE. Some wormers say you should not eat eggs or the birds. Personally, I show, so I use a wormer on my birds after the first heavy frost in the fall and again after the first big thaw in the winter. De is suppose to be more of a natural wormer. Twin Cities Poultry supply...
Dub when the combs and waddles are near fully grown.Too soon and the comb will get a little bigger and you may have to take off the excess. As far as show quality, I'm not anexpert on the variety, but I can say it is hard for a Mille to beat most of the other varieties. In fact, I have not seen...