A question about entering Isa Brown hens at my local show

[username taken]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I am from Australia and I raise goats - angoras, boers, crossbred commercial meat goats, harness goats, saanens and british alpines. If you cant tell, I love my goats! I also raise LOTS of orphaned lambs each year, all the local sheep farmers here just bring their orphans to me. They will start arriving in May and go through till December lol

I dont know all that much about chickens, but I have a couple of Isa Brown hens, 7 weeks old. I'm very into self sufficiency which is why the two hens came to live here. I know about the nutrition requirements, plus health regimens etc. but the bit I dont know is the technical terms for the different breeds and such.

I wanted to enter them at my local show, just for a bit of fun. Question is, where do I enter them?

The schedule is as follows:

Soft feather Large:


Ancona
Australorp
Langshan
Leghorn
Minorca
New Hampshire
Orpington
Plymoth Rock
Rhode Island
Sussex
Wyandotte
AOV S/F large

Soft feather bantam


Ancona
Australorp
Belgian
Langshan
Leghorn, white
Leghorn, aoc
Orpington
Pekin, black
Pekin, aoc
Rosecomb
Seabright
Sussex
Wyandotte, white
Wyandotte, aoc
AOV S/F bantam

Hard feather large


Australian Game
Indian Game, dk
Indiam Game, aoc
Modern Game
OEG, black-red
OEG, duckwing
OEG, aoc
Pit Game
AOV H/F large

Hard feather bantam


Australian Game
Indian game, dk
Indian Game aoc
Modern Game
OEG, black-red dl
OEG, black-red ll
OEG, wheaten
OEG, blue-red
OEG, brown-red
OEG, duck-wing
OEG, ginger
OEG, spangle
OEG, aoc
Pit Game
AOV H/F bantam

Then there is a section for breed pairs, waterfowl and a junior section.

So what do they mean by hard and soft feather, I know nothing so sorry for the dumb questions, I am thinking that Isa Brown is a soft feather and that i would have to enter in the AOV class. Also, I think they would be large, not bantam.

Is that right?

As I said, I know squat about chicken breeds.

 

[Carolina Chicken Man]

ISA Browns are a hybrid, bred specifically as a egg layer.

I'm not sure what breeds are crossed to produce them.

Not sure about the soft vs hard feather, but they are not a bantam, so I guess large.

Does AOV mean "all other varieties"?

 

[Carolina Chicken Man]

I just wikipedia'd them.
It is a cross between a rhode island red and rhode island white

 

[nzpouter]

Doubt you can... they're the same as what we call brown shavers in nz... mongrels.

The AOV class is for any other recognised standard breed not mention in the list like your brahma, frizzle, etc....

 

[silkiechicken]

Depends. You'll have to ask your local show.

Big types or "real" probably won't take them.

If it's something like 4-H or FFA in the US (youth programs), where showman ship and such is graded and it part of a school type project or county fair, then would be fine.

 

[blackdotte]

You can not enter hybrid layers in Poultry Club Shows. Neither can you enter them in Agricultural Shows unless there is a Utility or Production Class, which most don't have.
Isa Browns are designed to only live 2 or 3 years at the most, when they die you might consider a pure breed,
David

 

[HorseFeathers]

You have a cool username LOL

 

[crazyhen]

I saw in practical poultry magazine that they are thinking about this and what the standards should be. Some are really pretty birds. Jean

 

[username taken]

Hey thanks everyone

Wow, so much activity on the chicken boards! I'm gone for two days and I have to search to find this post lol

In all honesty, I just bought what was available at an open day at my feed store ... didnt research breeds or anything like that. I like em though, they are funny little guys and Jean, you are right they are very pretty. I have to admit I picked the pretty ones (how come there's not blushing embarresed smiley on these boards?) my two have heaps of white and speckles on their rumps.

I've been googling and reading up about this breed/crossbreed. Hopefully I get more than a couple years out of them.