#its a speciality breed

[theborzoiarebackintown]

The professional handler announcer straight up saying handlers don’t influence the judge’s choices is hilarious

[fjordfolk]

Finally put this years' ribbon crops up with last year's, technically our last shows are this weekend but mentally I think we're both done for the season and doubt she'll place. Still can't believe she grabbed a CC at a specialty show with 85 entries tho

[to-be-a-dreamer]

I can't even explain why but this is one of the funniest screencaps I've ever taken

[lobotomy-lady]

a dude in my state got mauled to death by his pitbulls but to be fair he was a back yard breeder

I can't say I have much sympathy for backyard breeders (lmao that autocorrected to backtard breeders which is...fitting) who get mauled, esp if they're breeding pits. bybs are so irresponsible. & I seriously do NOT get the point of breeding pits to begin with. shelters are already bursting at the seams with unwanted bully breeds, most of which will end up euthanized.

[bitchfitch]

tbh I'm never going to stop being mad about the Manx syndrome that makes Manx cats manxes. It's an easily, Visually identifiable trait that causes the afflicted animal life long discomfort and mobility issues so severe many need specialized care and equipment to give them a normal life. And that isnt even taking into account how many die as kittens or who need to be put down because they'll never have the minimum quality of life needed to subject them to their difficulties.

there's 2 genes that can cause shortened tails/no tail in cats and while it's debatable how ethical the other one is, due to how important tails are for cat communication, the bobtail Gene is at least not devastating to the animals welfare. Unlike Manx syndrome it just causes the kittens to be born with fewer tail vertebrae. All the other vertebrae are unaffected.

Manx syndrome, in the more severe cases, which to be clear are the breed standard and are considered Desirable, cause the back half of the spine to fail to form correctly. This causes the cats to "hop like bunnies" bc their hind legs are partially paralyzed. they have severe nerve issues bc their spinal cord isn't fully encased in bone like it should be. The paralysis effects their guts too, making many of them incontinent or unable to relieve themselves properly. which leads to chronic UTIs and them needing frequent baths. which, they are cats, they do not like baths.

The main defense of the continued intentional breeding of manxes is that it is a naturally occurring mutation, as in its a landrace breed that initially happened on its own in the feral cat population on the island of mann. "if they were able to survive and reproduce under those conditions then surely it's ok" type of argument. A dominant trait spreading through a feral cat population on a small island that has no predators and plenty of small animal prey to eat, is not a defense. it's the law of large numbers.

[pennaraptor]

the "Ideal Chicken" according to tumblr user pennaraptor

I have a number of things i'd like to do with regards to breeding chickens. i'm extremely excited and curious to see what i can create from simple crosses between breeds and colors - even if they arent new or exciting and i know what to expect, to see the reality of the gene interactions ive learned about play out in my own birds will delight me. before i knew anything about it at all, hatching out hybrid chicks from my very diverse flock of bantams almost a decade ago was thrilling, baffling, a mystery of colors and patterns i couldn't have predicted. i needed to know more and do more, but i didnt have any idea where to start learning it and i'd reached a point where it wasnt feasible to keep getting more chickens, and my interests changed. but now i'm back, and more than anything what i want to create is a chicken which pleases me aesthetically while not causing undue problems within the flock.

i have several favorite colors and patterns, but these come secondarily and a mix of them is more interesting, since its the genes of color that i most want to experiment with. in terms of my "ideal" birds, i have a list of traits, physical and temperamental. these will be bantams. for the build: slim to slightly more muscled (gamey), tail carriage normal/medium to low, legs medium to long, pea or rose comb (pea preferred), feathers medium to short, beardless and uncrested. in disposition (of importance above all) vigorous, intelligent, bold and outgoing, personable and sweet towards people, with minimal male on male aggression and minimal bullying of other breeds.

my idea of the best looking chickens tend toward a fairly generic, medium to slim built cleanlegged bantam; hatchery stock old english game bantam, rosecombs, and sebrights, and leghorn and hamburg bantams. slightly more exaggerated in type (more muscled and with shorter feathers) are my hatchery cubalaya bantams. they have too long legs and too high tail carriage for cubalayas (i love the long legs and the tail is fine, though i would appreciate lower). i enjoy them immensely but the hens can be aggressive amongst other hens and i have to assume the roosters would fight badly. my 1, Arthur, was unfortunately stupid and rude, both to me and hens. old english games are fantastic on almost every point, except that the roosters will fight each other to the death, which is my major problem - i LOVE game types, but the male on male aggression is awful. i want the attitude and confidence and general look of gamey bantams, without that fighting instinct. and so, that is my prime objective (alongside generally having fun with colors).

i have limited choices buying from a hatchery (i'm going with that rather than finding more specialized breeders, i have my reasons) but i'll try a few breeds and see what i get. i've spent the last few years zeroing in on what matters most to me in a chicken. it allows a fair bit of variation in form and color and so is hopefully achievable. either way, i'll have fun.

[ne0nwithazero]

Aggie stuff from last night 💕

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

I am absolutely OBSESSED with the Imperator breed I would be so grateful for any scrap of info you wish to spare 🙏🙏🙏 Atrocitas is GORGEOUS

Thank you!!! And trust me if I weren't working 12-hour shifts I'd have already posted a full ref sheet alongside the roi-de-vitesse one 😔

But i can share some notes for now

Additional note: their breed name comes from the shape of their tail featuring a leaf-shaped blade resembling the spear used by soldiers during the early Roman Republic

Also their classification of heavyweight is based on Roman era standards and for a good portion of the early middle ages when dragons were smaller. In the modern era (at the time of Skies over Jura and canon Temeraire) they're comparable to a large middleweight

Here's some concept art that's already slightly outdated but I haven't managed to draw more yet

[fairyoctopus]

i kind of hope one day, when all the ancient breeds are done  (i cant imagine they’d keep making them forever. at most like, 2 for every flight?) that we’ll get apparel for them.

i didnt realize how much dressing up a dragon helped me figure out who they are lore-wise til i had 15 ancients laying around that i dont know a thing about. i dont know who they are. or how to make them be a character.

[toytulini]

does Tumblr know about seahorses requiring a full moon for their mating rituals

EDIT i was close but not quite correct so im turning reblogs off. i will make another post w more info when i can, and i will link it here.

basically, most seahorses and pipefish are fine to fuck whenever, leafy sea dragons tho need specific moon placement

[sidhedust]

Too tired to even color, but I wanted his tag to have SOME tangible art for people to see.

But yeah. Here’s him in one of his casual fits, feeding a pigeondrake a muffin.

[fjordfolk]

rlly torn abt whether to actually pursue that major CC for troj for a championship (very few shows that give them, most very far away, very high entry numbers, mostly allround judges which tends to not be Troj's audience) or just idk. retire her for now, bring her back out in 4yrs time as a veteran if she ages well

[kuudiwad]

I love herrrr 🥺💖

Tbh they are all baby but she's so barbiecore I'm crying

[popstart]

i am going to fucking kill you

[erythristicbones]

At this point I think it's safe to say Im just fuckin' obsessed with loaches. I would die for all of my soggy noodle children

[fallowfield]

unironically the elf yuri post with the high fantasy x santa's elf girls scratches an itch in my brain because it literally is like. dog breeds to me. the genetics that went into building one for survival and for the species to thrive and propogate in a mild forest setting and the resulting culture that followed (camoflauging into the trees with their willowy appearances, hair they grow out to imitate the growth of wisteria and willows and other types of tree, the silk clothink that is easy to manouvre in their cities and tie up to work in the underbrush, etc.) vs the harsh winter climates of the other (the small builds to withstand polar winds and hide from large predators under the snow, the rosy cheeks likely from higher body temp. to keep them warm in the cold, the knitwear and heavy clothing to prevent them from freezing to death). it all means so much to me when varying types of one species exist simultaneously in one universe. [shaking you by the shoulders] you understand. you HAVE to understand.