Any 4-Her's out there with tips on showmanship?

[birddog]

looking for any pointer's on working wth my daughter on her showmanship skills. this is her first year and i would like to help her out as much as possible. thanks.

 

[playswithfowl]

Last year was my first year in 4-h/showmanship. The key is practice practice practice with your showmanship bird. Learn as much as you can about poultry. What level of 4-h is your daughter? I started when I was 14 so a little bit of a later start than some, but I still got lots of blues, champions, and reserves

Hope your daughter has a great time in 4-h, I know I LOVE it.

 

[()relics]

<----My daughters have sucessfully shown chickens for years at the 4H level and beyond.
I would suggest taking your kids to any available clinics or workshops in your area dealing with poultry; 4H and others. The instructors ,alot of the time, are some of the judges that you will see at shows and it helps to know what they are looking for and what they expect from an exhibitor.
On show day always dress like a professional...no open toed shoes,collared shirt. Pay attention to what the judge says and does, not only to you and your birds, but to everyone. You probably won't win the first year but that isn't what 4H is about. But your second year, after applying the tricks you learned the first year, you will be alot closer to the top...and so on until you are the top exhibitor.
Don't get caught up in buying high priced birds for a showmanship class...Get an older mild mannered bird (faverolle, d'uccle) and it will make you look alot better until you get the expertise to show a more flighty bird(leghorn,pheonix)that will try to get away from you all day.
4H is about having fun and learning...sometimes though learning doesn't seem fun eg. chasing your wild leghorn rooster around the show arena.

 

[Run-A-Muck Ranch]

Abby and Emma were in 4-H for the first time last year...They did very well (with no help from there group--I had to hunt and search for information because the parents had the attitude of 'if I tell you/your kids you are gonna place better than us/our kids..) So anyway Yes work with the animal. Handle the animal, get it used to being flipped over, man handled (so to speak), walked around with. During Showmanship the judge will be looking at the animal, but more importantly YOU/YOUR CHILD (or that's how it is here). Never stand between the judge(s) and the animal. Always have the animal closer to the judge. Know the breed, sex, age, colorings(or markings). Know a little history on the animals breed. Make sure your child knows what is required when caring for the animal and uses for the animal as well. The standard of perfection books would have good information on the animal--I seen alot of kids carrying them around last year (for poultry and rabbits).
I told our girls if they were going to show animals they HAD to take Showmanship along with it...So right away if they have no intention of doing showmanship then I say they can't show the animal...Plus in order to sell the larger animals (sheep, pigs, cows) the kids need to have taken Showmanship at the fair.
Around here things are pretty easy and the questions are probably a little simpliar than other places...Kinda of country fairs (so to speak)...Always think of "Babe" or "Charolette's Web" when I think of the fairs around here..lol
Good luck

 

[chicken_boy_Kurt]

In first year showmanship (at least in my club) they don't ask really hard questions. I didn't get any breed questions, just some really basic questions. I put the bird in the cage, took her out and it all took less than 10 minutes for the first yearers. However in the senior group it could take half an hour for each.

 

[horsechick]

aside from knowing your breed and chicken parts......
My daughters first year showing chickens, was last year, one thing that impressed the judge so much she actually stopped and took time out to speak to everyone about it.

My daughter was ............gasp.........smiling and happy!!!!!!!

The judge said it was almost a rare instance for her to see someone who was smiling and actually looked happy and like they were having fun!

I think there is a lot of stress put on most kids to win, win, win...parents are guilty "sometimes" for pushing the kids and it moves from what it is supposed to be, FUN, and turns into something altogether different. Pretty soon the kids are so competitive they are no longer even friendly or willing to help or learn from other kids. A pretty poor environment for what is meant to build better leadership skills and confidence.

My daughter won First place for her age division! She got her ribbon and a big trophy and even competed for Showman of Showman, (didn't win but the judge said it just came down to experience there.) and an even bigger SMILE!!

That is what it is all about. AND she wants to keep showing!
Best of luck this year!
Angela

 

[playswithfowl]

Also keep good eye contact with judge, I have noticed a lot of the other kids look everywhere except at the judge. The judge will definitely notice if she has good eye contact. Definitely smile, I know being at the table and having people watching can be super intimidating but smile and look happy I had problems with this at the smaller shows I went to, but by fair I was pretty good at this. Try to find and attend smaller 4-h shows before fair. Look presentable; good posture, white button-down collared shirt, etc. Really really work with your bird it goes a long way. Even at my first show ever last year I think I got a reserve champion because my bird was really used to being worked with (however she did to start some trouble with the bird next to her

 

[DawnSuiter]

This is DD's second year showing.. first show in a couple of months. I'm suprised to hear so many say that they are allowed to be there when their birds are showing.

So far here they ROPE OFF the section the judge is in and no one I mean NO ONE is allowed over there. In fact, they get annoyed if everyone crowds around the rope straining to hear whats being said by the judges.

It appears to me here so far that the judges have no idea whos birds are whos, except for recognizing them perhaps from previous years.

 

[()relics]

In the showmanship class the it is the 4Hers job to handle the bird and demonstrate to the judge that they are capable of setting up the bird and interacting with the judge...the best "showman" wins the class reguardless of the bird quality....We aren't talking about the individual bird classes in which the judge selects the best bird in the class.

 

[birddog]

thanks to everyone who replied. this web site is a huge help. my daughter (6 yrs.) went to her first fair yesterday to support her club members who competed in showmanship. she could not show her birds because we have not owned them for 30 days prior to the show. we will get in the next one. she loves to practice with her b.b.red (bantam). thanks again for the advice. do ya'll feed them treats when practicing?