Can you enter a bird in show that's a mix?

[CS-Flock]

I've never done shows before, and this year I wanted to enter one of my roosters at the Del Mar Fair, but they won't post their rules and regulations until later in the spring. He is a black and painted Silkie mix, and I didn't know if poultry shows required the birds to be "purebred" like you would in dog shows...I honestly don't know much about shows at all, I need to do A LOT of research and get myself informed, but I thought it'd be something fun to try out.

 

[cavemanrich]

Enter it and tell them its purebred. Then laugh your heinie off when they tell you its not pedigree.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Sure, you can enter anything in most sanctioned shows if they have a "catch all" category. We're talking about APA or ABA sanctioned shows, not fairs.

However, only birds that meet the various breed Standard can be and will be judged. There's nothing to judge when there is no Standard and no breed. If you had no tape measure, you could really measure anything nor say how long it is. If you had no unit of time or precise way to measure time, you couldn't very well clock runners in a race and tell them their "time".

If attempting to enter a bird as a specific breed, and yes, when you register for a show you register it according to it's breed and variety, whether Large Fowl or Bantam, and whether it is a C for Cock, H for hen, K for cockerel and P for pullet.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I've never done shows before, and this year I wanted to enter one of my roosters at the Del Mar Fair, but they won't post their rules and regulations until later in the spring. He is a black and painted Silkie mix, and I didn't know if poultry shows required the birds to be "purebred" like you would in dog shows...I honestly don't know much about shows at all, I need to do A LOT of research and get myself informed, but I thought it'd be something fun to try out.



Dogs and Horses have pedigrees and stud books.

Chickens are not concerned about pedigree and there is no stud book. Poultry is judged on how the bird appears, how it looks against the breed standard. It's body shape, legs, beak, head, tail, feathers, body length, breast, and a hundred other closely described items make up the breed's Standard. If a bird fails to match the Standard, the Judge merely writes DQ on the coop tag and moves along to judge other birds.

 

[CS-Flock]

Where would I be able to find information on what the specific standards are? And do you have any personal recommendations on how to prep the birds?

 

[Fred's Hens]

If you are raising and showing bantams, you'll want to join the ABA the American Bantam Association and get the book of Standards from them, purchase at a show or from their website. It simply is the THE book to own.

If you are raising and showing large fowl, you'll want to join the APA, the American Poultry Association and the Standard of Perfection, also by buying it online at the APA website.

Laura Haggerty has 4 or 5 articles on her site that I find to be the best written pieces on preparing for an exhibition and what to expect at an exhibition. I highly recommend her articles. See if I can find that link for you.

Meanwhile 4H has many online guides for preparing and showing. Just google "preparing poultry for an exhibition" or similar.
Here's a short article on PoultryShowCentral: http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Show-Prep.html

 

[Fred's Hens]

Here is the link to Pathfinder's farm page.

Half way down in the articles directory, you'll see topics on conditioning (preparing), washing, and what to expect at a show.
This is best group of good articles I've ever seen.

http://pathfindersfarm.com/Articles.html

 

[poltroon]

If you want to get a sneak peek at the APA standard, it's possible your library system will have an older version. But, it is well worth purchasing. I would also suggest subscribing to Poultry Press, and doing long searches on the internet to find discussion and pictures of winning birds in breeds that interest you.

If you're interested in showing, it's worth the effort to find breeder-bred birds. As noted, there's no studbook so no one cares who the mother and father were. However, there is an expected shape, color, size to each breed, and it's unlikely you'll match those with a crossbred. Hatchery bred birds are hit and miss in terms of how close they'll get to the standard. It may seem like a little extra effort or expense, but the fact is you'll most likely pay more for the gas to get to your first poultry show than you'll pay for the chicken you're taking there, and it's more fun to get positive comments on the birds you bring.