joining 4-h and plan to show birds next year and tips/advice

[user712746]

so this will be my first time showing birds at the fair. And i want to make a good impression.
any tips for beginners and things i should expect and jsut everything

 

[user712746]

any tips

 

[CCsGarden]

Never done 4-H but @ChickQueen77 has, I believe.

 

[ChickQueen77]

So for showmanship it is better if you have a bird that isn't perfect. My showmanship bird is a 6 year old Barred Rock hen and her coloring is muddled and smoky and she was missing a bunch of feathers at state fair. But you can use you birds imperfections to your advantage you just have to make sure you tell the judge for example: her barring is smoky and muddled where it should be clear barring and not smoky where the black and white run together.

 

[ChickQueen77]

So I start showmanship with my name, county, club and years in poultry project. I will say what breed my chicken is and then I will say some facts about the breed like where they originated from, weight and how many eggs they lay a year and I will say any other facts I can think of about the breeds and then I will say which class she is in like my bird is in the American class.

 

[ChickQueen77]

Then here I will identify as many parts on her as I can and I will lift up her feathers and make sure her vent is clean. I spread her wings and point out her primary and secondary feathers and flip her around and do the same to the other wing I will also point out any feathers missing. Then I flip her upside down so I am holding her kind of like a baby in my arms and I will point out her keel bone and breast then flip her back up and then go down to her legs and count her toes and show her toenails and check that they are all there. And then I will usually end by saying what I feed her and what my favorite part of the poultry project is.