Are my Mottled Cochin Bantam & Silver Laced Wyandotte show quality?

I would like to get my kids into showing. These girls are about 18 weeks old and currently free rangers. If they have potential I can get them in their own enclosures and start doing whatever is needed to get them looking better. There combs and such are much darker than these pics show. Any constructive feedback would be much appreciated. My youngest daughter wanted to help out as you can see.

Both appear to be well kept, well-conditioned birds. However, they are not really showbirds. There are two main types of poultry: commercial poultry, which are usually bought from hatcheries/stores, and exhibition quality poultry, which are bought from breeders. Commercial poultry are bred mostly for egg production, with less attention to body shape, size, and color. They make great backyard/small farm birds, but at a poultry show, they won't do well. Both of your birds appear to be of the commercial type.

On the other hand, exhibition poultry are kept and bred by breeders who want them to look just like what is described in the Standard of Perfection American Poultry Association book. They may not all be the most productive birds in the world (though many are), but they are the birds that will be competitive at shows.

Even though your birds are commercial type, that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't show them--it depends a lot on the type of show you want your kids to go too. And any poultry show is fun! If they are going to be showing at county/local fairs, these birds would probably be fine. At smaller shows (not real open shows), there is more emphasis on how well the exhibitor cares for his/her bird, and less on how well it fits the Standard. If you wanted to really get into showing, though, I would definitely recommended purchasing some exhibition birds from a breeder.

Thank you for that info. What is the best resource to find shows near me?

702marine said:

Thank you for that info. What is the best resource to find shows near me?

Click to expand...

Well, this website can be helpful: http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/

There is also a poultry newspaper called The Poultry Press. It advertises various shows throughout the United States.

Actually, there is also a fancy poultry class in most places.

at some show, birds are shown based on breed. At most small county fairs, their are three classes, meat, production, and fancy. Both of your birds could be shown as fancy.

I have my own sl wyandotte, and made the mistake of showing her as production pullet instead of fancy.

depending on whether you want to show your birds as exhibition or commercial, depends on pretty much where you show. Your wyandotte has beautiful structure and lacings.

They are only 18 weeks old somI'm sure they will clean up much more... Thank you for the info. Every bit of info is very helpful. Still learning the ropes of showing.

PoultryQueen101 said:

Actually, there is also a fancy poultry class in most places.

at some show, birds are shown based on breed. At most small county fairs, their are three classes, meat, production, and fancy. Both of your birds could be shown as fancy.

I have my own sl wyandotte, and made the mistake of showing her as production pullet instead of fancy.

depending on whether you want to show your birds as exhibition or commercial, depends on pretty much where you show. Your wyandotte has beautiful structure and lacings.

Click to expand...

Yes, most county fairs do have a fancy, production, and meat class. The competition is much less that county fairs than regular poultry shows, so you could still enter your Silver Laced Wyandotte in the fancy category. She would probably get a red or blue ribbon, depending on the judge. However, it would be better to enter her in the production class. Birds in that class are not judged as much on how well they fit their breed standard, but are instead judged on how good they are at producing eggs. In such a class. your bird's commercial type/coloring wouldn't count her down. She is very beautiful, but if you saw a exhibition quality Silver Laced Wyandotte, you would realize that she just isn't competitive with birds like that.

Your Cochin would do better in the fancy class, obviously (Cochins aren't known for egg production, and besides, yours is a cockerel). He would probably do okay, too, depending on the judge, competition, and his condition.

BantamLover21 said:

Yes, most county fairs do have a fancy, production, and meat class. The competition is much less that county fairs than regular poultry shows, so you could still enter your Silver Laced Wyandotte in the fancy category. She would probably get a red or blue ribbon, depending on the judge. However, it would be better to enter her in the production class. Birds in that class are not judged as much on how well they fit their breed standard, but are instead judged on how good they are at producing eggs. In such a class. your bird's commercial type/coloring wouldn't count her down. She is very beautiful, but if you saw a exhibition quality Silver Laced Wyandotte, you would realize that she just isn't competitive with birds like that.

Your Cochin would do better in the fancy class, obviously (Cochins aren't known for egg production, and besides, yours is a cockerel). He would probably do okay, too, depending on the judge, competition, and his condition.

Click to expand...

Its a she. She was DNA sexed...

702marine said:

Its a she. She was DNA sexed...

Click to expand...

Oh. Oops... For some reason I thought it looked like a cockerel.

BantamLover21 said:

Oh. Oops... For some reason I thought it looked like a cockerel. 

Click to expand...

I had big questions about it to thats why I had the test done.