D'uccle Thread

[CFellows]

I went to the Open Poultry show at the State fair today. No d'Uccles officially entered, one "Booted" bantam that had a small beard and muffs, but with very little feathering on the feet, none on the middle toe. Not even fuzz....

Very odd to not see any of these beautiful creatures there.

Makes me realize how badly they need to be shown off around here. Lots of folks walking around the poultry barn for early morning on the first day of Fair, too who should get the chance.

I went both to talk to owner/breeders and to see what a chicken show looks like. Obviously no O/Bs but now I'm not afraid of showing! Not too much to do except have the birds healthy, clean and comfortable in a cage as far as I can see. I've communicated via email with the NPIP person at the state agriculture dept about getting my birds tested, and that doesn't look complicated either.

Soooo.....is there a good book or web site or magazine or something that teaches people how to prepare fully for showing chickens? Teaching them how to pose and whatnot? Heh, I'm a little past 4-H age, plus I did horses not chickens way back when. I might as well practice with the flock I have now, I figure!

Handle them lots, put them in cages approximately the same size as the ones at the show, and give them treats and snuzzles when they behave well as you handle them. Getting NPIP certified has made showing way less stressful for me & my birds.

When you enter your first show, tell the folks that run it that you're a n00b, and may need a little help. Someone will be delighted to show you around. There's usually an older man or woman nearby who will not only be pleased to show you around, but will talk your ear off as well.

When you handle the birds, spread their wings, look at them from beak to butt, look at their feet and make sure their nails aren't too long or sharp. Trim their beaks if they need it. (or put in a cinderblock, and they'll keep their beaks polished and trim on their own)

Yes, we need more people showing these beautiful birds. As many chicks as I sell at shows, I still don't have the competition that I want. There are a lot of people that don't sell chicks, not wanting to take a chance at being beaten by "their own birds". I would welcome that, since they're still "my birds", but no such luck.....

I went to my county fair last weekend, and I was very sad to see the amount of birds there. Literally 9 cages with chickens, 1 duck and 3 turkeys. That was it! There was no one around to talk to or anything.

I wanted to talk to someone about getting my boys into 4h and showing chickens when they are of age, but whats the point if there is no one to compete with?

 

[JulieNKC]

I went to my county fair last weekend, and I was very sad to see the amount of birds there. Literally 9 cages with chickens, 1 duck and 3 turkeys. That was it! There was no one around to talk to or anything.

I wanted to talk to someone about getting my boys into 4h and showing chickens when they are of age, but whats the point if there is no one to compete with?

I'm taking DD and our d'uccles to our state fall show I think. The d'uccles are hatchery quality, and will only be 4 months or so but at this point we just want to learn what to do at shows, see what goes on, learn showmanship, etc. Then, once I know for sure this is something she likes and wants to stick with I'll get better stock. At the county fair here it's mostly horses and goats, I think we're going to have to travel a bit for her to do any "real" showing.

 

[wegotchickens]

County fair shows can often be disappointing. It depends on how the show is run as to what is there and what kind of quality.

Our county fair show in Knoxville is actually pretty good. The man running it knows about poultry shows, so he makes sure to get good judges, and to get breed clubs involved so that people can earn points if they belong to a breed club. You can even win money for 1st, 2nd & 3rd in variety. The catch? You have to leave your birds there the ENTIRE fair, which is a week-long event.
I just dropped off 19 birds, 13 of which were d'Uccles. There are over 1000 birds entered. The judging is Monday, and I have to work. So I will learn how they all did on Monday afternoon.
There is a back wall for sale birds, but so far I've only put some silkies up for sale.

I have one competitor, who may've bought her birds from me. We'll see!


Thes better shows are straight-up poultry shows, not fairs. There's a web site where you can see show listings, and I also highly recommend getting a subscription to The Poultry Press newspaper.

http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/ isn't a bad site.

http://www.bantamclub.com/site/index.php?option=com_eventlist&view=eventlist&Itemid=77&limitstart=15 if this link works, it's to the ABA website, and you can see the Tennessee Valley Fair is listed as an official show.

 

[coffeekittie]

I'm taking DD and our d'uccles to our state fall show I think. The d'uccles are hatchery quality, and will only be 4 months or so but at this point we just want to learn what to do at shows, see what goes on, learn showmanship, etc. Then, once I know for sure this is something she likes and wants to stick with I'll get better stock. At the county fair here it's mostly horses and goats, I think we're going to have to travel a bit for her to do any "real" showing.

If the fair you went to was State, only the top winners from the previous smaller fairs will be there (for 4-H). I say do the showing anyway, regardless of how much competition there is, because of the great learning experience. Yes, the winners earn a bit of money. I did when I showed my horses way back when.

At our State fair, you only have the birds there for part of the time. It's a 2 plus week long affair.

 

[JulieNKC]

If the fair you went to was State, only the top winners from the previous smaller fairs will be there (for 4-H). I say do the showing anyway, regardless of how much competition there is, because of the great learning experience. Yes, the winners earn a bit of money. I did when I showed my horses way back when.

At our State fair, you only have the birds there for part of the time. It's a 2 plus week long affair.

The county one, locally is just for 4Hers. The state show is spring/fall held at the same place as the state fair, but I haven't gone to that since getting chickens. So I'm not sure how big it will be, but I'm hoping the kids will like you said, get some experience. I'd like to know if they even enjoy it before getting more into it. I though about just going to look around and ask questions, but think the kids will have more fun if they are actually involved, even if our birds are nowhere near what they should be.

They like showing off their chickens.

 

[coffeekittie]

The county one, locally is just for 4Hers. The state show is spring/fall held at the same place as the state fair, but I haven't gone to that since getting chickens. So I'm not sure how big it will be, but I'm hoping the kids will like you said, get some experience. I'd like to know if they even enjoy it before getting more into it. I though about just going to look around and ask questions, but think the kids will have more fun if they are actually involved, even if our birds are nowhere near what they should be.

They like showing off their chickens.

My experience and the experience of every single 4-Her I've ever known greatly benefited from being in a club, learning about (whatever the focus of the club was), making friends, learning confidence from showing, etc. Having d"uccles as their bird would be a wonderful way for them to be with others doing the same thing, yet also having their own niche.

 

[coffeekittie]

Handle them lots, put them in cages approximately the same size as the ones at the show, and give them treats and snuzzles when they behave well as you handle them. Getting NPIP certified has made showing way less stressful for me & my birds.

When you enter your first show, tell the folks that run it that you're a n00b, and may need a little help. Someone will be delighted to show you around. There's usually an older man or woman nearby who will not only be pleased to show you around, but will talk your ear off as well.

When you handle the birds, spread their wings, look at them from beak to butt, look at their feet and make sure their nails aren't too long or sharp. Trim their beaks if they need it. (or put in a cinderblock, and they'll keep their beaks polished and trim on their own)

Yes, we need more people showing these beautiful birds. As many chicks as I sell at shows, I still don't have the competition that I want. There are a lot of people that don't sell chicks, not wanting to take a chance at being beaten by "their own birds". I would welcome that, since they're still "my birds", but no such luck.....

Excellent, and thank you once again for helpful information. I did try to find someone showing, but no one stood out at all as being an owner, at least not at this Fair. I bet it's different when the 4-Hers are showing later on.

I'm going to start teaching my flock today!

 

[kiaa]

breeder kamfar

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

breeder kamfar

Those are surely beautiful birds, especially the ones where you mixed the partridge AND mille fleur.

 

[kiaa]

thanks