Attention west tennessee

[cwc362]

Good Morning. Having my coffee getting ready to go to the flea market . Hope they have a lot of chickens ducks and geese there!! Sorry to hear you can't come Rebecca. I understand having to work though- I'm self unemployed and I need to be working right now Also some time you can get different stuff on the yahoo freecycle groups to make coops and stuff out of. I advertised yesterday for old skids on the carrollcounty freecycle and already got a guy up the road who offered me some. Also I have a stack of old tin if you need a couple of pieces for cages or small coops. My pens are thrown together out of odds and ends too . You can let me know. I'll try to ask around about swap meets and shows. Maybe some of the chicken folks down there will have some info. ---Wayne

 

[needmorechickens!]

AAAggghhhh...wish I was going!
I just joined some freecycle groups the other day and I haven't started using them yet.
When you say skids, do you mean like pallets?
I can probably get you some of those for free!
Let me know if you still need some. Maybe I can meet you at Huntingdon with a few some time.
~Rebecca

 

[ginasmarans]

o.k. I have no experience in starting a club,but I would love to be part of one. We could start out just meeting each other and bringing some of what we have,either to sell,swap or just show off. If we do this,I would love to some day do a real show with judges and ribbons and such,like at a county fair. Hopefully,if that's what we want,someone will know how to go about it. I work through the week and Sunday is spent mostly at church,so a saturday would have to be the day for me. I am just South of Jackson and would be glad to talk to the people at R & J feed store(in Jackson) to see if we can meet up at their place 1 day/month. I'm sure they would have no problem with it. We could make it coincide with their animal trade day which would give us exposure. I've sold both eggs and chickens there on numerous occassions. Just let me know what I can do to help.

 

[needmorechickens!]

I just got some great information on how to start a club and start thinking about a show....get ready for it, the amount of work sounds like a lot....we better get started!

First, you will have to come up with some cages. They are the biggest expense.Most clubs work out some kind of deal with the local fair to use their cages. Our club is just a few years old and we started one up after another club in this area folded. The previous club bought the cages. They are stored at the fairgrounds and the club lets the fair use the cages. If you have to buy all new cages for your club that will run about $5000.
Next you will need to get the club into the American Poultry Association and the American Bantam Association. You can go to their websites and they will give you info on individual memberships and club memberships. Poultry clubs must be members with both of the associations before they will sanction your show and award points to the winners.
Judges will need to be lined up to judge the shows and they must be sanctioned by APA and/or ABA before points will be awarded to the winners. After each show paperwork must be sent to each of the associations with the winners.
Most clubs just start advertising at local feed stores, co-ops, local newspapers, etc. looking for members. Also the Poultry Press is the leading poultry fanciers newsletter. It is a good place to advertise starting up a new club. It also has good articles on poultry with stories and pictures of shows and advertisements for upcoming shows.
Once you get a core group of members, you can start discussing what you want to do with your club and how you want to do it, figure member dues and start assigning club President, Vice-President, Sec-Tres and other positiuons along with their duties.
Once you get this far along and start thinking about a date to set for the show you will need to make sure it doesn't conflict with any other shows in the surrounding area. Some people travel 8 to 10 hours to go to a show. It is a good idea to set up a hotel that is close to the show site and try to get them to give a small discount for some kind of advertising at the show. Most hotels will do this. Were usually have 8 to 10 people that arrive the night before and stay at a hotel. You usually have to set the judge/judges up with a room too, at club's expense. Also judges charge about $200 - $250 per show.
My wife is the club sec/tres and she goes around to a lot of local businesses to ask for some kind of donation for the show. Feed stores will usually donate a bag or 2 of feed and/or shavings. It is good to get donations for what you need to put the show on but anything else that is donated can be set up on a silent auction table or auctioned off to raise money for the club. So don't limit yourself to just poultry related stores. You can tell them that you will advertise their company names on your flyers or a big board at the show.
You must also decide what kind of awards to give out and for which catagories. Most people that have been showing for a while are just interested in the points that they earn with APA and ABA, but some people are interested in plaques or trophies. Money also helps.

Let me know what you think about that!

~Rebecca​

 

[timbofarms]

Dang!! Good job!! I'm in if this is what we need to do. I have been in county fair shows and met some people that could help us down the road when we get ready for a show. I also have ties in recycled pallets and other stuff for free. What type of cages would we need, I have wire and stuff at home where i built portable cages, traps, and other stuff for different people. We all need to get together and start us a club so we can do this.

 

[cwc362]

Just got back from the flea market. It was packed . The weather was so pleasant that they had a LOT of vendors and a Lot of Customers. There was all kinds of chickens and ducks and geese + more. I managed to control myself- I only bought one chicken. A little red cochin banty hen. Appreciate the offer of the skids (pallets) . Maybe later on I will take you up on the offer. I'm really not in a position to travel much for shows or group meeting if they are too far away but I really would like to be in a club. Also i have really enjoyed writing and reading these posts . Wayne

 

[linebacker]

It's already October practically, if you blink it will be Thanksgiving and another blink and it's Christmas. Perhaps if we all just got together as a group and got to put a face with a name and got everybody's contact information; we could set up a swap/show day for next spring. I really like the idea of a local club.

Brad

 

[needmorechickens!]

We do need try to alternate where we meet sometimes, so that people don't always have to drive far.

Don't worry, it doesn't matter if you can't be there every time, you can still be in the club.

Since R & J feed is free to setup, then that may be our best bet to get started.

I can't do it this weekend, I just found out that this weekend is the Reelfoot Lake Arts and Craft Festival and my mom wants me to take her to that!

Here's the link to that if anyone is interested. It's huge, but I don't think they have too many animals!
http://www.reelfootartsandcrafts.com/home.php

Edited to change the date: Oct 18 is good for me to meet, how 'bout y'all?

~Rebecca

 

[cwc362]

I have the pliers and the little clips to fasten the wire together on the wire for cages. If you all need these to get started I'll be glad for you to use them. Don't have much wire laying around though. Any that's any good anyway. I'm only a couple of miles from the Wal-mart in Huntingdon. Wayne

 

[timbofarms]

i wish i could have gone over there today. My boxer "Blaze" has been so sick past couple of day's throwing up and runny pooh. he threw up a little bit ago some worms like i never seen before. i took him to the vet yesterday and they gave him some medicine that made his head swell up like a balloon. they said he might had eat something that upset his stomache. i'm taking him to a new vet in three way at 3pm to see if they can figure out whats wrong with him. he is a house dog and i spend all day everyday with him so, he is like my son. well anyway we all should meet and work out something with a club.