Minimum age of chicken to show

[chtwins]

What is typically the minimum age a chicken should be to show.

Mille Fluer d'uccles
Silkies

 

[chickenlady]

I showed a mille fleur d'uccle who was 5 months old and he won champion bantam, I showed him at only 3 months old and he took best of breed. The earliest I showed silkies was at 9 months old. I was told at the last show I went to that youngest you can show is 3 months old. However, it is very difficult for a 3 month old to compete with say a 1 year old. But it is FUN anyway.

 

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

Some Silkies can do well at 6 months OLD but most of the ones I show are at least 7 - 9 Months

This Silkie was six months old she won Best of Breed over 70 Silkies and got Res.Cham featherleg.
BUT You should see her now at 8 months she is a stunner. I think she would really steal the show now.

 

[Pinenot]

Look at that cute little fluffy butt! Silkies are soooo cute!

We showed some 4 month old birds and although they were very nice the judge told me that they usually go with a more mature bird. It is harder to compete with a more mature bird, but it is done all the time.

 

[wclawrence]

is it in the cage behind that pillow?
move the pillow and take another pic.

he he he

 

[DoctorGoose]

Well, according to the shows up here, the chicken must be at least 4 months/ 16 weeks old to show. My girls were EXACTLY 16 weeks old when they went to their first show, but like others have said, the older chickens were much more "mature". My girl did get Best of Variety (Tiberius the silkie!

) and Pharaoh got 2nd out of quite a few Wyandottes, so it is possible. Looking at the pictures from the show, however, I can see that now they've grown up, they will do SO much better next year, though they will be competing against the hens then...

 

[Sharisr32]

My White D'uccles and Favs have been showing and winning since 4 mos
the age is more a what is best- It is the immune system issue which is not as strong until 4 mos- Silkies are like wine they do get better with age -- Mel that is an awesome silkie- Where the age issue really came into play was my Buff silkie Pullet which was considered too slim and given RV where the BV was an older more filled out bird--

 

[Kanchii]

The thing with mille fleurs is that unlike whites or blacks the color can change alot with age. Some have alot of white when they are young, and some don't get their full coloring until after a few molts. For example I have one mille fleur at 7 weeks who already has a nice amount of white, so he'll probably show better as a cockerel but not as a rooster because he'll probably have too much white by then, while at the same time i have two other 7 week old mille fleurs who do not have close to any white/black dotting yet and will probably show as hens better than pullets because they seem to be slower developing birds color-wise.