Considering showing some of my call ducks at the state fair.

[AliciaM]

Im thinking of showing a couple of my ducks at the state fair this year, but have never done anything like that before..

If anyone would like to give me any pointers I would be greatly appreciative...

How do I prepare them for days in a small cage?? How do I get them to stay clean and shiny??

Thanks.

 

[duckyfromoz]

First thing to do is look at the standards and make sure that you have birds that are a good fit for what is written for the breed and colour. Sometimes there may be some classes that can be entered for other birds as well so it pays to know exactly what and how you can enter birds. Here is Australia we have AOC ( Any other colour ) AOV ( Any other variety ) AORC ( Any other recognised colour ) Some clubs will allow these to be used- others dont.

Ducks are so good at washing themselves- theres not a whole lot that needs to be done with them in comparison to preparing a chicken for a show. I am taking a break right now from organising my ducks for a show. 2 Aylesbury in the bath tub and 6 runners washed and preeening in crates up the hall way waiting until they are dry enough that I can take some of them out to the car. 2 more to go... and I am done. I make sure they have extra clean swimming water for the few days leading up to a show. Rather than cleaning the pools once a day- I do it twice. The night before I bring each duck into the laundry and scub their feet and legs in the laundry tub with about 3 inches of water in it. I use a toothbrush on the feet and legs- but no soap although I do know of people who will. I make sure all visable dirt is removed and wipe them dry with a towl before putting olive oil on their legs and feet and bill. the next day i give them a touch up as they go into the pen. Thats pretty much it. I like my routine with the birds to be very simple. I dont keep them locked up out of the sunlight- they run around on the grass like ducks should and i just make them presentable for a show. I probably loose points at times in relation to other people who have birds just for show and keep them in pristine housing conditions- but I want my ducks to be ducks first- and showbirds second. I generally only do one day shows- where they are only in the cages for about 6 hours- but I did recently go to the Australian nationals where they were penned for the better part of 4 days. It was hard in the end to keep them clean- but I just added more straw to their pens each day.

Good luck with the Fair- I hope you do well and have a great time.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Birds generally tolerate the cages and the spectators at the shows without any problems.. If you would like to prepare them, you can put your birds in cages every day and feed them treats while they are there. Put them in, feed them something nice, and let them out in a few minutes. That way they won't fear the cage because good things happen in cages.

Ducks are normally self-bathing. Give them clean water and they will give themselves a bath.

In the PNW, competition at fairs can be tough. So about the standard of perfection: in order to win the big prizes, your birds will have to meet the SOP. However, it is a fair and you will get free passes to go every day. You can have a very good time. It's good to know the standard, so that if your birds don't meet the standard, you won't have hopes too high. But still, enter them and go and enjoy the fair and meet nice poultry people.

I don't know what your birds are like and maybe you have a really good chance of winning big. If not, and you enjoy the show, quality birds really don't cost much and you can buy better birds to have a better chance of winning the next time.

Advice: a couple of weeks before the show, check and see if nails should be clipped. Do it early in case you quick the bird. A week before the show, treat for lice. I treat for lice again the night before. I've never seen bugs on my birds but I sure don't want the inspector to find any bugs when I check in.

In the show premium, you will find information about blood work that might or might not be required. As a generalization, you get right in if you are NPIP and your birds get tested on the spot if you are not. Fairs vary, though, in how they do it.

 

[AliciaM]

I never did show the one I wanted.. I figure id wait until I had more than 1 or 2 to show to make it worth the work and time.. And better my chances...