County fair--diseases and show prep questions

[RedheadErin]

We are showing our birds at the county fair this year. I could only find one picture of the poultry barn. Here it is:

As near as we can remember, the barns are long and skinny with 4 double rows of cages running lengthwise through them. The birds will be separated by species (ducks, chickens, etc) and penned in the barn for 6 days. All birds at the show will be tested in advance for Pularium-Typhoid. Each family farm will have an area for each species (all Smith chickens will be together near all the other chickens, all Smith's ducks will be together near the other ducks, and so on) and they will be placed as far from other Birds as space allows. Visitors will be able to wander through the barns from 10 am to 10 pm every day. The biggest farm there by far will be my neighbors, former home of Brigid the Wonder Chicken. Wr got Brigid last year before I knew about quarentine, and i just put her in the shed with the others. Nobody got sick that time.

How worried should I be about diseases? What can I do to help prevent them?


In other news, how do you get chickens clean for the show? Can you give them a bath? How do you make the white ones really white? And how do you get the poop off a poopy butt? A friend suggested feeding black oil sunflower seeds to make them nice and shiny. Any other ideas?

Also, I use big gallon feeders and waterers at home. What is a good cheap way to provide food and water for several small pens of birds? I have seen feeders and waterers made out of pop bottles but I can't find the parts on the internet. Does anybody know where to get them? My chickens know how to drink from a water nipple.

Any more tips for first-time exhibitors?

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

We have a much smaller poultry show (about 30 birds total) but here are some tips:

I wouldn't worry too much about disease, but lice and mites might be a bigger problem. I would use whatever you normally use for pest control before you take them to the fair.

Give your birds a bath for sure. I fill up our bathtub or utility sink with warm water so that it hits them just above the bottom of their wings. Put in some gentle shampoo, or flea and tick shampoo to help with lice and mites (I add just a little Dawn to get some bubbles going, but some people say not to). Put the bird in and scrub 'em good. Get their tail, underside, under their feathers, their breast, and their neck feathers really good. Then wash all the soap out really well. I blow dry all of the birds, but some people say not to on tight feathered breeds, although I've never had a problem. Definitely any Cochins, Frizzles, or Brahmas. Just turn it on low and hold the cool button, and dry them like you would your hair. For the others, if you chose not to blow dry them, dry them with a towel well, then put them in a very clean kennel (no litter for now) and let them air dry (you could set up a fan on low, probably).

For waterers, I just use the quart red/white ones. And some rabbit feeders that clip on the side of the cage. If you don't have those then you can wire a tin can to the side, just make sure no birds or people will get hurt.

To keep them entertained I give mine a little fruit/veggies and tie a bright colored string horizontally across the cage so they have something to peck at, but so they won't get caught or choke.

I always put padlocks on my cages when I will not be there. On year I had a girl let my flighty cockerel out when she wanted to hold him, luckily my friend was taking care of her rabbits in the same barn (how small our fair is) and caught him.

Good Luck!

 

[Kansas Prairie]

I would at least zip strip the cage shut. About 20 years ago, some mornings when I went in early to get the cage clean and put in fresh water and feed, there was strange stuff in the cages, horse apples, steer hoove trimmings, duck feathers, lambs wool, pizza, cotton candy, pop cans, chocolate bars and the the list goes on and on. This tells me the doors had been un-wired and opened several times, they could have got out and been injured, it sure was a pain to clean out. I believe they teased my Rooster, he was never the same after the County Fair. I found some young boys getting a hen out of his cage, I'm sure they were attempting to breed their hen. He was Grand Champion of the Poultry and I had to cull him a couple months after the fair.

I took pictures of the mess in the cages and talked to the fair board, the next year things really changed, poultry barn had set up live stock fencing and would close and lock the gates at 10 pm until 6 am. If anyone was in there they ran them out and talked to their parents.

I love the county fair!

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

ugh, I wish our fair board would change some things. Like the best herdsman award going to the girl who knows nothing about chickens (Lady: So how do you know they are girls? This Girl: When they lay an egg), had to have me catch her hen because she was afraid of it (when she let it out) and had two chickens die (because they didn't have food or water for 3 hours, then I noticed). Oh but wait, her MOM is on the fair board, that can't possibly be biased!