Is it possible to show hatchery chickens? Oops wrong forum

[Nicole01]

I just bought 5 chicks from a farm and garden store. I'm pretty sure we bought all hatchery birds. I brought home a Easter egger(not showable), dark bramha, rhode island red(kinda flighty), speckled Sussex bantam, and a golden laced Wyandotte. The RIR I don't think would be a good one to show due to being so high energy and flighty.

My girls would like to show at the State Fair. I'm now looking into getting my two youngest girls into 4H. I do know it's best to buy from a breeder, but it's really hard to find people that breed certain breeds. Perhaps our luck will change when we look into it more and actually sign up for 4H.

Is it possible to show hatchery birds? We would like to show the brahma, Sussex and Wyandotte if they grow to have the standard requirements. Anyone here show their hatchery birds?

Oops, I posted in wrong forum. Can someone please move this thread into the right place? Thanks

 

[LeaderStorm]

Yes. We actually have gotten a wyandotte, two black australorps and a golden laced polish that were pretty good. We didn't get to show them(except for the Polish and the Wyandotte) because they died/we got rid of them. The Wyandotte and the polish didn't place though. I was showing in the cockeral class for roosters under a year and the judge didn't like him because he didn't have a big enough chest(perhaps it was because he was only like 3 months old xD) and the Polish's crest was lopsided because of how he held his head.

The judge we had was REALLY picky. He didn't give out a single grand champion, except for like in two classes. In the cockeral class he placed a like... 2 week old (which should not have happened. It didn't even have all it's feathers yet) and I think they placed a silkie in one of the bantam classes.

But I think you should be able to get some decent hatchery birds sometimes. I got some Jersey Giants from Mt Healthy and they aren't grown but their beaks and feet and feathers are all correct. Now we just have to wait on the height/weight to see how good they are

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are liklely to get a whole lot of really unpleasant answers, but I'll give my opinion. Not all hatcheries and not all breeders are the same.

Many (not all) hatcheries do use the SOP when selecting their breeding flock, but they use pen breeding. This means that they have maybe 200 hens and 20 roosters in one pen and have no control over which rooster breeds with which hen. It depends on the skill of the person selecting the breeding stock too. Some are better than others. Some hatcheries do a better job than others, but your odds of getting a chicken that will not be disqualified from a hatchery are pretty slim. Occasionally you get lucky, but it is really pretty rare.

Not all breeders are the same. Some have different goals and some are just better than others. If you can find a breeder that knows what they are doing and whose goals match your own, you stand a much better chance of getting chickens that will not be disqualified. These breeders carefully match a specific rooster with specific hens to try to get offspring that will be showable. Even with all this care, they still hatch many chicks that do not meet the correct standards. The good breeders have a tremendous amount of knowledge and work hard to achieve and maintain the quality of their flocks. But even with that careful knowledgable matching of parents, they cull a lot of birds. Not every chick they hatch is going ot be a champion bird. It is no surprise that the hatchery birds usually have disqualifying features.

Something else to consider. Hatcheries do not charge show quality prices. In spite of what some of them advertise, if they were breeding show quality birds, they would be charging show quality prices.

So the odds of you getting a chicken from a hatchery that can be shown are not absolutely impossible but they are really thin. Heck, a few months back, someone posted that they had crossed two separate breeds and got a rooster that was not disqualified when shown as a New Hampshire. He did not win but he was not disqualified. Lightning can strike, but maybe the judge was not top quality either. The judge can be another variable.

This does not necessarily leave you totally out of the picture. Talk to the 4-H folks. They may have information about certain breeders in your area. Also, many county fairs have separate sections for "production" chickens. These are specifically intended for 4-H'ers to show chickens that do not meet breed standards. I don't know what the criteria is for judging, I's suspect the health of the chicken and the knowledge of the person showing it, but I really don't know. Our county fair has that "production" section.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck!

 

[schellie69]

If this is just for your fair through 4-H I would not worry to much, most of the kids here that show at the fair get their chickens from the farm stores. I have seen an EE enter as an Ameraucana now most of these birds would not even be in a APA show but we are talking about a fair show which looks at things a little different.

 

[lotzahenz]

Definitely, you can show them at your State Fair. That show is set up for local folks showing their backyard birds and you can even win. I have done this before myself. One thing you must do though (I did NOT) is check out the Standard for the bird you want to show and make sure it does not have any disqualifications. Such as having white ears when it should have red, or having the wrong color legs, etc. When we have shown our hatchery birds before, we bought 6 of each breed and showed the best of the 6 in it's class. BTW, RIR are not usually real flighty, it may not be a real RIR, might want to check before taking her to the show. Good luck and I think the showing experience is worth more than winning for kids, so do it anyway! It is a lot of fun. HenZ

 

[Nicole01]

Thank you everyone for your information. You are all very helpful!