OMG I dont know which way to turn or what to do.
I have 1 pullet, 1 cockerel, 1 hen and 1 cock at a show. This morning when I dropped them off, there was no vet check as advertized in the procedure manual for this show. People were just driving up and putting their birds in cages marked with their name. The Woman in Charge (WIC), when she finally returned, told me its OK because she knows who most people are. I asked if she wanted to check my birds since she had never met me before and she said no. I was informed that I would have to be there to feed & water them twice a day myself as no one will even water them. The dishes are too high for my birds and are plastic human drinking cups held there by clips above my birds head. Of course they spilled them as soon as they tried to drink or eat from them so off to the store I went to get my own cups for their cages. I wasnt going to allow them to be there in what was expected to be 90 degree heat without water!!!
So when I come back this afternoon, the Woman in Charge (WIC) is not there but the 4-H showing has already finished. I see a white Ameraucana has a blue ribbon on it. Lovely white bird with puffy cheeks, willow legs and a single high comb. I also see that my birds have the classification of American Breed not AOB as they should have been.
Earlier, WIC told me they she had hired the best judge the vice president of the American Poultry Association. Well I am impressed. But now I am confused. So I ask her why the judge gave a blue ribbon to the previously described white EE. I told her I knew that it was an EE and she asked me how. I told her. She told me Well its 4H and we give them latitude. If we didnt they would never show again and get discouraged. I said how could the judge give any ribbon to an EE? She asked me to look in my SOP and I told her it would not be in an SOP as EEs are not there. She told me of course they are not there Im glad you know this. DUH? I think at this point she was trying to double talk me. She said the bird was judged by the SOP again and I told her that it was an EE. She said well whats an EE but an Ameraucana that is not quite perfect. I finally said the word to her .an EE is a MUTT bird and cannot be shown as a purebred. To which she said an EE is perfectly OK to enter as an Ameruacana , go buy a current copy of the SOP. I gave up on that point
I ask the WIC to correctly categorize my birds. She cant. I said well I dont know why I am here. The judge cant tell the difference between and EE and an Ameraucana She said the judge is the best and he is the Vice President of the American Poultry Association and knows what he is doing
I say well my birds are incorrectly categorized and cannot compete in the category they are in and the judge will rule against my birds anyway so I should probably take them home now before they have more of a possibility of contracting something She tells me that if I pull my birds now, that I will be barred for life from any further competition ever sponsored with the American Poultry Association.
What The Heck Have I Gotten Myself Into??????
What do you advise?
I have 1 pullet, 1 cockerel, 1 hen and 1 cock at a show. This morning when I dropped them off, there was no vet check as advertized in the procedure manual for this show. People were just driving up and putting their birds in cages marked with their name. The Woman in Charge (WIC), when she finally returned, told me its OK because she knows who most people are. I asked if she wanted to check my birds since she had never met me before and she said no. I was informed that I would have to be there to feed & water them twice a day myself as no one will even water them. The dishes are too high for my birds and are plastic human drinking cups held there by clips above my birds head. Of course they spilled them as soon as they tried to drink or eat from them so off to the store I went to get my own cups for their cages. I wasnt going to allow them to be there in what was expected to be 90 degree heat without water!!!
So when I come back this afternoon, the Woman in Charge (WIC) is not there but the 4-H showing has already finished. I see a white Ameraucana has a blue ribbon on it. Lovely white bird with puffy cheeks, willow legs and a single high comb. I also see that my birds have the classification of American Breed not AOB as they should have been.
Earlier, WIC told me they she had hired the best judge the vice president of the American Poultry Association. Well I am impressed. But now I am confused. So I ask her why the judge gave a blue ribbon to the previously described white EE. I told her I knew that it was an EE and she asked me how. I told her. She told me Well its 4H and we give them latitude. If we didnt they would never show again and get discouraged. I said how could the judge give any ribbon to an EE? She asked me to look in my SOP and I told her it would not be in an SOP as EEs are not there. She told me of course they are not there Im glad you know this. DUH? I think at this point she was trying to double talk me. She said the bird was judged by the SOP again and I told her that it was an EE. She said well whats an EE but an Ameraucana that is not quite perfect. I finally said the word to her .an EE is a MUTT bird and cannot be shown as a purebred. To which she said an EE is perfectly OK to enter as an Ameruacana , go buy a current copy of the SOP. I gave up on that point
I ask the WIC to correctly categorize my birds. She cant. I said well I dont know why I am here. The judge cant tell the difference between and EE and an Ameraucana She said the judge is the best and he is the Vice President of the American Poultry Association and knows what he is doing
I say well my birds are incorrectly categorized and cannot compete in the category they are in and the judge will rule against my birds anyway so I should probably take them home now before they have more of a possibility of contracting something She tells me that if I pull my birds now, that I will be barred for life from any further competition ever sponsored with the American Poultry Association.
What The Heck Have I Gotten Myself Into??????
What do you advise?
