People new to chickens have many good questions to ask. We believe this is the perfect place to come loaded with a stack of them! The main objective at a Poultry Exhibit is to “show” your birds against your friend’s birds and win. Chicken Shows are very much like dog shows, cat shows, horse shows or even cattle shows. We work from a book called the Standard of Perfection that describes in detail just what the breed of bird you own is supposed to look like. It’s similar to a recipe. In essence the bird that most closely fits the breed description is the winner.
One
thing that sets us apart from other animal exhibitions is that chickens are
accessible. You don’t have to spend
thousands to acquire good stock and build a sturdy coop. In the Spring of the year a breeder pairs up
what he or she thinks will be the best parents of the most perfect bird that
can be bred. Hopefully if the mating
worked out well the progeny for that mating will compete in the show hall with
others that also made the cut.
Of
course a good portion of a winning bird is the management behind it. A great bird that was not well taken care of
will not shine or show well. Its
important to note it’s not only the breeding that makes a bird a winner. It’s the work! When you’re looking at the birds on Champion Row, you’re looking
at countless hours of work on the part of the exhibitors.
Towards
the middle of the day of any given show; winning birds in the Open show
(exhibitors over 18 years of age ) are
grouped into categories; for Bantams they are; Best Modern Game, Best Old
English Game ( including American Games ), best SCCL ( single comb clean leg),
best RCCL ( best Rosecomb clean leg ) best AOCCL ( best any other comb clean
leg ) and Best Bantam Duck.
Large
Breed fowl are divided up as American Class, Asiatic Class, English Class,
Mediterranean Class, Continental Class and AOB (All Other Breeds).
Waterfowl
are grouped as Heavy Weight Ducks, Medium Weight Ducks, Light Weight Ducks,
Geese are grouped as; Heavy Weight, Medium, and Light.
Turkeys
are in their own class. Some of the
recognized breeds are; Bronze Narragansett, White Holland, Slate, Bourbon Red,
Beltsville, and Royal Palm.
After
the judges have handled every bird, he or she picks a class champion and a
reserve class champion in each of the classes.
Then it’s crunch time for the judges.
They handle their top choices again, this time together with the goal of
picking the cream of the crop.
Then
the elite of those top winners goes on to compete for the following: Reserve Champion
Bantam, Champion Bantam. Reserve
Champion Waterfowl, Champion Waterfowl, Reserve Champion Large Fowl, and
Champion Large Fowl.
Most
shows then choose from these a Super Grand Champion and Reserve Super Grand
Champion of the Show.
The
juniors have there own show that is set up the same way. Most clubs require children to be under
18. They also have to be present at the
show to compete, and old enough to care for the bird they have entered. Kids under 18 can enter birds with the
adults in the Open show is he or she wishes.
While
the Open Show and the Junior Show are being judged, the junior exhibitors are
taking part in what’s called Showmanship.
This is a class designed for the kids to compete on their knowledge and
how well they prepared their bird for show.
Showmanship is very popular in our area, so if a kid wants to win, they
had better do their homework!
Around
this time the Raffles are brimming with tickets in cans. Hopeful winners vie for a chance to win
something home made such as bread, jams, honey, a bag of apples, vegetable
plants, poultry equipment or what have you.
Our
Annual Spring Show is a one-day show.
Our hall opens at 8:00 am for exhibitors. They have until 9:00 to primp, clean and buff up each of their
birds before the deadline, which is called “Coop In”. After Coop In, the judging begins.
How
long is the judging going to take?
Well, as you have read, there is a lot that goes into picking out the
best birds. It’s one of those jobs
that’s done when it’s done!
After
the judging is finished, the secretaries require some time to compile and
process the results. As soon as this
task is done, the awards are handed out and then its time for “Coop Out”.
Exhibitors
clear out quickly. Most woke up pretty early and have a long drive home. While there is no set time for coop out,
it’s generally between 2 - 4:30 at a
one day show such as ours. The 2008
show coop out was 3:00 for example.
Most
visitors also want to know when the best time is to attend the show. I tell them around 9:30 – 11:00 am. The earlier side is even better.
Chicken Shows are not
multitasking Events!
I
am fond of saying this, as I have many times had to deal with frazzled parents
who have over scheduled their family’s day.
If you have two things to do that day PLEASE choose one. Poultry shows date back many, many years to
a time when life was slower. Work was
back breaking and a day off that included your birds and your friends was to be
savored.
And so the tradition
continues. In fact this is one of my favorite aspects
about Poultry Shows. They have changed
little over 150 years. It’s a family
hobby and a clean hobby. It’s a slow
and thoughtful hobby.
In
general Spring Shows tend to be smaller than Fall Poultry Shows. The reason for this is that the Spring is,
of course, breeding season. Feathers
get broken and an exhibitor has less birds to bring to the show. While the number of birds is less than the
Fall shows, the number of exhibitors is always up as folks are just dying to get
out to see their chicken friends.
People who come to visit our
show are usually looking for something. A poultry
show is the best place to get resources.
You will get your questions answered!
We have folks in our club who have been raising chickens for 35
years. Seems like there is nothing they
don’t know!
Chicken
people come in several different varieties.
Some want chickens for eggs or meat.
Some want chickens for pets.
Some just enjoy keeping a rare breed to help insure it’s future. And now I have learned there are people who
just like to chat on line about chickens!
All of these aspects of poultry are very enjoyable and enriching. At a Poultry Show, you will find people who
love exhibition poultry. How ever people who like poultry of all types love
coming to our shows. We hope that you will be interested in joining us!
If
you decide that this hobby is right for you, you’re going to have to acquire
quality stock. So, say your looking for
Speckled Sussex, Rhode Island Reds or Runner Ducks. You may or may not find a breeder at the show… but you will most likely find a friendly exhibitor
who is willing to help you find what your looking for.
Patience makes the best
flock.
Research at home as much as you can about the type of birds you’re looking
for. Then come to our show loaded with
questions and ask away. Even if you not
interested in Exhibition Poultry, patience makes the flock stronger. If you have to wait to acquire quality
stock, then by all means do so. It will
pay off quickly. If a Heritage Flock is
what you’re striving for, keep in mind pet birds will take space away from your
original goal. No one has a big enough
coop - ever. And of course that’s
noting against the pets! They are great
too.
When
considering a new breed, be sure to ask about temperament and special
management required for that breed. We
have written another article that goes into more detail on acquiring stock. You can read it at the Poultry Congress’ web
site Poultrycongress.com Check out The
link “ information for visitors and new exhibitors”.
You really need to think
about zoning!
Do
your local zoning laws allow keeping poultry?
If so, do they let you keep males?
There is nothing more heartbreaking than to find out your neighbor hates
you and wants those birds out! Here is
a thought; give the neighbor eggs every
week. Hey, some times it does work!
In
building your coop, consider the beastly roaming Husky as well as the usual
predators when building a sturdy coop. Now we even have black bears to worry
about as well. I don’t really have any
good suggestions for keeping them at bay.
The point is, make it strong so it will last long.
Chicken people are very
approachable.
…more
than other livestock events I should think!
In fact, I estimate that 98 percent of exhibitors are fine friendly
people who are happy to answer questions.
If you stumble upon someone who is not feeling too friendly to you… well
then just keep going and ask the next person!
That person will help you with your questions. In fact most exhibition poultry people go out of their way to
help new people.
If your interested in
Showing Your Poultry for the first time we would be thrilled to have you join
us.
I
have heard a lot of people say they are worried that there birds are not good
enough! WELL HOW ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO LEARN? We all had a first show after all! You will catch up to everyone else quickly if you’re keen on the
hobby. Keep in mind that if you are
doing something wrong, the quicker you discover it the quicker you can fix
it.
As
far as the State of CT is concerned, you will have to have the proper paper
work to exhibit poultry. The rules and regulations are not as bad as you may
think. Annoying perhaps, bad no.
The Connecticut Poultry Breeders show catalog clearly states the rules
in our show booklet. Your part is a
phone call and some scheduling. All you
need to do is contact your local state inspector. Please realize that the good people working as testers need some
time to complete your request. Please
give them at least two weeks (preferably more) to work with. If you have read the rules and you have
questions, you should contact the state of CT for an explanation of the
rules. But beware - you could call 5
times and get 5 different answers!
The
Poultry Fancy is over 150 years old in New England. In fact the Poultry History in Connecticut is fascinating and
worth an article. Any chicken history
buffs out there reading this please note we could use an article to post here.
Connecticut
Poultry Breeders Society is proud to be part of this family oriented
hobby. Showing Poultry is a ton of
fun. The life long friendships we have
made are just an extra benefit.
If you
don’t know how to fill out an entry form, email me and I will be glad to help
you. If you have any additional questions that I have not covered here you can
contact me at U16582@snet.net
Please be sure to add CT Poultry to the subject line.
Please
email me several weeks prior to the show.
Keep in mind that I am very busy with preparing entries and paperwork
the week prior to our show.
We
hope to see you and your family in the show hall next Spring.
Happy
Hatching
Cheryl
L. Barnaba
At the time of writing (May 2008), there is not an admission fee to
come to our show! I doubt there will ever be one, but with the instability
of insurance and rent fees, who knows?
We may have to someday. We are
located at the Chester Fairgrounds in Chester Connecticut.
Your donations are gladly accepted!
As of today they have been keeping the club afloat. We happily accept
donations of poultry related items or homemade items for our raffle.