April 2008 Poultry Shows

South Arkansas Poultry Club - April 5th - El Dorado, Arkansas - Contact: Bill and Debbie Atwood 1.870.942.7361

Heart of America Spring Show - April 12th - Kansas State Fairgrounds - Hutchinson, Kansas. Contact: George Robbins 1.785.863.2184

2008 ABA Semi-Annual Gateway Poultry and Pigeon Show - April 12 - 13th - Monroe County Fairgrounds - Bloomington, Indiana. Contact: Rick Bond 1.812.988.8815

Missouri State Poultry Association - 26th Anniversary Show and Swap Meet - Double Sanctioned - One Day Show - April 19th, Missouri State Fairgrounds - Sedalia, Missouri. Contact: Bernita Miller 1.660.647.2474

Dayton Fancy Feather Club - 102 Annual Show - April 26 and 27th, Greenville, Ohio. Darke County Fairgrounds. Contact: Gary Overton 1.937.839.5626

Tags: poultry, poultry shows, april 2008 poultry shows, poultry association

March 2008 Poultry Shows

Muskingum County Poultry Breeders Association - 1st Annual Show - March 1st, Zanesville, Ohio. Contact: Carl Baker 1.740.453.1583

OEGBCONC - 28th Annual Unifour All Breed Show - March 1st, Rowan County Fairgrounds, Salisbury, North Carolina - One Day Show. Contact: Neil Mahaffey 1.336.769.4392

Northeast Oklahoma Poultry Club - Pryor, Oklahoma - March 1st - Contact: Kenneth Kvittum 1.918.476.5613

Carpet City Bantam Club - 7th Annual Double Spring Fling - March 8th, Dalton, Georgia. Contact: Jeff Wilson 1.706.695.7092

Heartland Classic Poultry Association - March 15 - 16, Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Contact: Kirk Keene whtrock@hotmail.com

Delmarva Poultry Fanciers Club - 32nd Annual Show - March 29 - 30, Delaware State Fairgrounds, Harrington, Delaware. Contact: Rich Barczewsci 1.302.659.1211

Southeast Ohio Poultry Breeders - 7th Annual Poultry Show, March 29th, Washington County Fairgrounds - Marietta, Ohio. Contact: Jeff Oxley 1.740.593.6537

Tags: poultry, poultry shows, march 2008 poultry shows, poultry association

February 2008 Poultry Shows

Tri City Bantam Association - 16th Annual Show - February 2nd - Muscle Shoals, Alabama contact secretaries Stewart and Melody Pearson 1.256.356.8599

Hart County Bantam Club - 11th Annual All Game Show - February 9th, National Guard Amory, Hartwell, Georgia - Information: Keith Sokol 1.706.376.3211

The Chattahoochiee Valley Poultry Association - 4th Annual Show - February 16th, Coweta County Fairgrounds - Newnan, Georgia - Contact: Beth Smith 1.770.251.6510

West Alabama Poultry Club - February 23rd, Tuscaloosa, Alabama - JC’s Fairgrounds. Contact: Robert Tyler 1.205.339.0888

Tags: poultry, poultry shows, february 2008 poultry shows, poultry association

Look at my pretty birds

Go ahead, admit it — mama’s got the pretty birds!

And they’re no bigger than a pigeon. Easy to care for and make wonderful pets.

Tags: dutch bantam, cream blue light brown, cream light brown, blue light brown, hen, pullet

Winterizing poultry

Whether we own and care for 200 cows or a horse and two goats, come blizzard, ice storm or power blackout, we farmers brave the elements to provide for our stock.

The beef rancher in northern Montana may be more concerned about ice and snow than his Arkansas-based meat goat breeder cousin, but both get cold—as do their animals. And when warmth is the objective, preparation is everything.

To learn more

Central Indiana Poultry Show

This is one of the best organized shows we have been to. They had 193 showmen and 1439 poultry and waterfowl an turkeys. For their first show this was a good one, i really liked the one day show in and out. The kids did really well;

Trey’s Partridge Cochin got a First and a Second roosters.

Denton’s Dark Cornish rooster got a First and his Royal Palm Turkeys tom received BB,BV,first and Reserve Grand Champion of show.

Coty’s Silver Dutch received BB,BV hen and RV,RB rooster

Areil’s Light Brahma rooster received a First.

We are very proud of the kids and there poultry and turkeys. Now for the old folks placings. We wil start with Gayla’s Dutch Cream Light Blue rooster wich received BB,BV. Her Light Brown hens received First and Second.

Now for mine, Lets just say old dad got a real razing. Three hens placed Second, Third and Fourth.

Diane Jacky poultry Art Gallery

You are about to enter the largest
poultry breed art gallery on the web!

Tour selectively or sequentially all the
poultry images available for purchase as
prints and t-shirts.

This is a great site for unique poultry paintings. Get more here

How a Poultry Show works in North America

How It’s All Laid Out

Poultry shows are generally open to three types of fowl recognized by the American Poultry Association. Turkeys and waterfowl are shown at most shows, but we will focus on chickens here as they are by far the most common type of fowl at most shows.

It may appear at first glance that there are wall-to-wall chickens in no particular order. However, someone has worked hard to organize the birds. The pattern may not be apparent, but once you know what you are looking at, it will start to make sense.

Large Fowl or Bantam?

The first thing you may notice is that there are very large birds and very small birds. You might even notice that some look almost identical except for the size. The large birds are known as large fowl or standard size. The small birds are bantams, sometimes called “banties”. A few types of birds come only in large fowl or bantam, but most can be either. The relationship is similar to “toy” or miniature dogs and their “normal” size counterparts. The goal is to have virtually the same bird, except for size. Typically large fowl will weigh in at 9 to 12 pounds while a bantam will weigh 2 to 3 pounds. Large fowl are the standard size for a chicken, but bantams are popular because they are smaller, easier to handle, take up less space, eat less food and still provide many of the benefits of owning chickens. In the show, large fowl and bantams will be shown separately.

Class

The next thing you may notice is that birds are broken down into classes. For large fowl, the classes are named after the area of origin. You will notice an American Class, Asiatic Class, English Class, Mediterranean Class, Continental Class and an All Other Standard Breed Class. For bantams, classes are named after physical characteristics. These include Game Bantams, Single Comb Clean Legged (S.C.C.L.), Rose Comb Clean Legged (R.C.C.L.), All Other Comb Clean Legged (A.O.C.C.L.), and Feather Legged Classes. Every breed will be listed in one and only one class.

Breed

Within each class will be several breeds. Each breed will have specific characteristic(s) that differentiate it from all other breeds. One example of a breed is the Plymouth Rock. Breeds will differ in shape, feather characteristics, comb and other attributes. Some breeds originated for meat production, some for egg production, others originated from Asian or European fighting cock stocks, while a few breeds were developed for ornamental qualities. The Standard of Perfection will provide information on breeds, their characteristics and history.

Variety

If you look at a breed you will find that there are often many color patterns represented. Both large and bantam Plymouth Rocks are recognized in the Standard in Barred, White, Buff, Silver Penciled, Partridge, Columbian, and Blue varieties. The black variety was recently admitted, but for Plymouth Rock bantams only. Each of these varieties has distinctive traits that set it apart from other varieties. You may find some of the same varieties appearing in a number of breeds, for example, there are also Buff Cochins, Buff Cornish and Buff Orpingtons as well as a few other breeds. The Standard of Perfection will list the characteristics of each variety.

Gender & Age

Within each variety, birds will be divided based on sex and age. A cock (C) is a male bird over one year old while a cockerel (K) is a male bird under one year old. A hen (H) is a female over one year old while a pullet (P) is a female under one year old. Birds might also be placed in a trio, which will be either an old trio (2 hens and a cock) or a young trio (2 pullets and a cockerel).

Scoring Birds

Judges score birds using a detailed point system that compares various physical points on each bird. Certain characteristics are disqualifications and preclude a bird from being considered for placing. The closer a bird approaches the standard of perfection, the more points they will score and the better their chances of placing. For more information on the point scale, see the Standard of Perfection published by the APA. A copy should be available at the information desk at a show.

Placing

Judges will review the birds and place the best specimens. The first step is to look at all of the pullets of one variety and rank from first through third or fifth place. The same will be done with each age/gender group and the coop cards will be marked with a 1, 2 etc. After all of the birds in a variety have been judged, the official will select the best and second best representative of the variety and mark them Best of Variety (BV) or Reserve of Variety (RV).

After all of the varieties of a breed have been judged for Best and Reserve, the official will pick from those birds the two that best represent the breed and will mark them Best of Breed (BB) and Reserve of Breed (RB).

After all of the breeds in a class have been judged, the official will place a Best and Reserve in class from the Best and Reserve and of Breeds. Typically a show will have a Champion Row where the best bird in each class is displayed. From Champion Row, the judges will select a Champion Large Fowl, and Champion Bantam. Finally a Grand Champion, or Best Bird of Show, may be selected from among the best of the waterfowl, turkeys and chickens.

Judges

The judges of a show are licensed either by the American Poultry Association or the American Bantam Association (or both). The licensing process requires years of practice, an apprenticeship, and passage of a strenuous written and practical test. Judges are poultry fanciers who have taken the hobby to its full extent and are a wealth of knowledge. It is considered good etiquette not to talk with or interfere with a judge while they are judging.

What if a bird is not in the Standard?

There are many breeds, varieties or hybrids that are not recognized in the APA or ABA standards. (If they are not of a recognized breed, they may be placed but can not win champion if they are entered into a show.) If the standard of perfection for the breed has not been officially determined, there are no standards by which a bird can be judged. To be admitted into the APA standard, a breed must have several supporters that have been working with it for at least 5 years and are able to have a minimum of 50 birds exhibited at a show. If all of these conditions are met, a breed or variety may be admitted to the standard and written up in the Standard of Perfection. It will be eligible to compete in shows from that point forward.

This page is the reformatted text from a pamphlet that I created for our poultry club. It is geared towards those new to the poultry fancy or visitors to one of our shows. I have tried to cover some of the basics I remember finding mysterious as I joined the hobby seven years ago.

The original pamphlet is tri-folded, two sided, and has a few graphics thrown in. The reverse side has a cover, a panel on resource groups available, and an application to join the Pacific Northwest Poultry Association.

I have donated the pamphlet to the PNPA, but will share a master copy with individuals or organizations that will use it for free, educational purposes.

PUMPKIN TIME ON THE FARM

We have been in the pumpkin patch get pumpkins out for a fall festival. We will have some pictures up with the chickens and pumpkins.

ROYAL PALM TURKEYS

A remarkably attractive bird, the Royal Palm displays some of the nicest colors of all turkey varieties. These birds are quite small compared to other turkeys. Mature toms weigh 15-20 pounds and hens are considerably lighter at 10-12 pounds. They are striking in appearance. These beautiful birds have a white base color and most feathers are banded with a bright metallic black color. The contrast of this black/white combination is truly radiant. The Royal Palm is not a common variety.