Jr. Showmanship Question

[L&Schickens]

My 5 y/o son will be showing his Serama roo, Baby Sarge Dec. 18th. What do I need to know to get him ready and what kind of things does Loren need to know? What would a judge ask him? Baby Sarge is very tame already, but we are bringing him in every day to work with him anyway and make sure he is nice and tame.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I'm not sure about someone that young, but usually a jr. showmanship judge will ask them a few questions about the bird. Ex. Parts of the bird, what breed, what class the bird is in, when it was admitted to the poultry class. Judges will also want the exhibitor to be able to hold the bird with one hand and pull out the wing to show the judge with the other hand. A 5yr old might find this difficult, then maybe if all the exhibitors are that young, they might do something totally different. Our kids are at least 8 yrs. If the bird is dirty, give it a bath a few days in advance. This will give the bird time to get it's natural oils back. Also, trim toe nails and a little oil on the comb will make it shine a little.
I hope this helps.

 

[L&Schickens]

Thanks! That is good to know about pulling out the wings. I will work on that with him too.
Yes, this is just a regular poultry show and so the age is 5 to 18 for Junior showmanship and exhibitors.
I am so excited!

 

[dixiechick]

My kids participate in Showmanship as much as they can. This is a good site for practice:

http://www.apa-abayouthprogramsite.org/Edu_Material/Junior_Showmanship_Knowledge.pdf

 

[Attack Chicken]

What they usually do is ask you to put your bird in a cage the right way and take it out the right way. Ask some questions about your breed of bird and ask some of the anatomy like axel feather and oil gland. At my county fair they just mainly asked about your breed of bird. But at the Lebanon show they asked about ducks and other breeds of chicken that I had no information about. It all depends on the judge. But the main thing is the cage.

 

[L&Schickens]

OK, so HOW do you take them out and put them in and set then up to be judged?

 

[huppfarm]

howdy, i am a 4-H poultry leader and this is what is done: the bird is already in the cage(you are either at a county fair or a poultry show, the judge will ask the child to go and get his bird from the cage. your son will carefully bring the bird out head first so as not to damage the feathers which would happen if the bird catches it wings or tail feathers on the cage door coming out backwards. depending on the judge he will have a table for your son to work his bird. the judge will ask to see all the parts of the bird starting with the head to check the correctness of the wattles, comb for spike numbers or correct comb for the breed, earlobe color, eye and beak color , and feather color. he will ask to see the undercolor and skin color. he will want to inspect each wing(top and bottom) he will look at the wingpits searching for bugs, he will want to inspect the vent also for bugs(blue tics, lice, mites)
he will ask to look at the breast bone, your son will need to turn the bird on its back while holding the legs and resting the bird on his arm. your son should run his forefinger and thumb up and down the breast bone just a couple times to show the straitness of the keel on the bird. the judge will want to look at the legs, shanks and feet checking for scaly legs, leg mites, crooked toes, missing toes, correct color of shanks, toes, tonails and the bottoms of the feet for color and cleanliness.
all the while he will be asking why he is doing the inspection and your son should have an answer for each item that he is inspecting. next the jugde if he hasnt already will ask about the breed, variety, sex,and age, weather it is a cock or cockerral. he will ask to set the bird on the table and step back from the bird to see the calmness of the bird (do to your son working with the bird alot) he will ask to pose the bird, have your son lift up the bird from the table just an inch or two and place him back on the table, touching the head under the beak to lift the head a tiny bit and just lift the rear of the bird the same way and put the bird in a proud position and slowly pull the hands away from the bird. the judge will then ask to put the bird back in the cage and again its head first , nice and slow, set him on his feet and slowly close the door and latch it step back from the cage.
the most important things he needs to practic is: smiling and constant eye contact with the judge. once he has done all this with confidence,BAM! his is a ribbon winner!
this should be all you need for him to be a great showman with his beautiful chicken, best of luck!

 

[L&Schickens]

Thank you so much Huppfarm. That is a HUGE help.
Shellie

 

[huppfarm]

your very welcome, glad to help!
my daughter at age 6 beat out all my 4-H senior kids at the county fair. its all about practicing, and knowlege.
get those down and its all a piece of cake.
have a good time!
chet