Old Enough to Show

[Lucky1]

I have some Show quality Wheaten French Maran chicks and they have feathered legs. I want to put them in a local show and i am wondering if they would be old enough to go into the young birds section, they would be 8 weeks old then. Also i have some older birds, (leghorn, barred rock)they would be 22 weeks old then, would they be in the older birds class or the younger one?
here is a link to the website:
http://colwynshowcase.com/2012/Welcome.html
Thanks in advance

 

[NYREDS]

The 8 week olds definately will not be ready to show. They won't have their adult plumage yet & will be far below standard weight.
If your older birds are bantams they should be ready to show. If large fowl the pullets may be ready to show but the cockerels probably won't be finished out yet.

 

[Lucky1]

The others are large fowl, I only have hens right now, from what I have gathered they just look at the birds for conformation, ect, they don't weigh them, but I could be wrong :/ , I might just take them along anyway to get them used to going to shows, the entry fee isn't that much... But I don't want to look dumb with babies and everyone else has full grown :/
Has anyone ever been to this show before??

 

[aoxa]

The others are large fowl, I only have hens right now, from what I have gathered they just look at the birds for conformation, ect, they don't weigh them, but I could be wrong :/ , I might just take them along anyway to get them used to going to shows, the entry fee isn't that much... But I don't want to look dumb with babies and everyone else has full grown :/
Has anyone ever been to this show before??

I am bringing 12 week old silkies to a show next week (they will be 13 weeks old) I know they are very young, but was told that since it's a free show, I should do it anyway. By the time our fall show is, they will be ready.

I wouldn't have entered them at 8 weeks. They are so small at that age - and I'm thinking of my large fowl birds. I don't think I would take them that early, but you can if you want.

 

[NYREDS]

They don't weigh birds at shows anymore but many think they should. However, we do still pick them up & most judges have a pretty good sense of what a bird should weigh. Your Barred Rock pullet should weigh 6 pounds, that's standard weight. If she weighs less than 4.8 pounds she can & should be disqualified. I often see a bird entered by a person,new to the fancy, that is too young, too small & still in it's juvenile plumage. I disqualify those birds but I always try to get the opportunity to explain why to the exhibitor.
If you do enter them don't be surprised if they're disqualified for size. I know people on this site often encourage people to enter shows with birds that have no chance of placing "for the experience". I don't agree. Showing is a competition & I don't think there's much to be gained by entering a competition you know you have no hope of even placing in. I certainly wouldn't enter 12 week old birds. Why expose birds that young to the stress of a show when they have no chance of competing?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I have on a couple of occasions entered birds that were too young--always project birds. Not because I thought they would do well (as project birds, they cannot place), but because I wanted hands-on and in-person feedback on them from both fellow breeders and judges.

To get a taste of the experience, all you have to do is attend. Watch and see what happens, talk to other poultry folks and look at all the birds.

 

[aoxa]

They don't weigh birds at shows anymore but many think they should. However, we do still pick them up & most judges have a pretty good sense of what a bird should weigh. Your Barred Rock pullet should weigh 6 pounds, that's standard weight. If she weighs less than 4.8 pounds she can & should be disqualified. I often see a bird entered by a person,new to the fancy, that is too young, too small & still in it's juvenile plumage. I disqualify those birds but I always try to get the opportunity to explain why to the exhibitor.
If you do enter them don't be surprised if they're disqualified for size. I know people on this site often encourage people to enter shows with birds that have no chance of placing "for the experience". I don't agree. Showing is a competition & I don't think there's much to be gained by entering a competition you know you have no hope of even placing in. I certainly wouldn't enter 12 week old birds. Why expose birds that young to the stress of a show when they have no chance of competing?

I was told by a judge that is hosting the show that it is good to enter them at least in the fair show. The kids LOVE seeing silkies, and that is why I entered them. Why expose a bird if it is so much stress in any case? Is it really all that stressful for them? If it is, I'll reconsider showing at all. They never look stressed when I've seen them in show.

If you yourself are a judge, it was Jamie Carson who told me to enter them. http://nsac.ca/alumni/profiles/2007/May/Jamie.asp

Do you have anything to show at Fair in Aug.???? Hope that you'll have a few, as this event is as much a Display as it is a Show... we need a good variety there for the Fair to be happy (as they trade this show/display for the use of tyhe buildings for our fall show).

JC

 

[Lucky1]

Oops, i counted wrong

they would be 12 and 13 weeks old the day after the show. Would that age be more reasonable??

 

[NYREDS]

I was told by a judge that is hosting the show that it is good to enter them at least in the fair show. The kids LOVE seeing silkies, and that is why I entered them. Why expose a bird if it is so much stress in any case? Is it really all that stressful for them? If it is, I'll reconsider showing at all. They never look stressed when I've seen them in show.
If you yourself are a judge, it was Jamie Carson who told me to enter them. http://nsac.ca/alumni/profiles/2007/May/Jamie.asp

I kind of resent that "if you are a judge", my name is William Post. Ypou can look it up since you apparently think I'm lying. As to Jamie Carson telling you he thinks you should show them that's his opinion & you have mine as well. I judged a 900 bird fair show today & disqualified probably 30 birds because they were too young & therefore too small-lacking in breed characteristics. I don't see what the owners of those birds learned from the experience except that their birds were too young & small to show. Your birds, your choice but ti's a bit cheeky to ask for advice then argue with it. Acept it or reject it but since you've never shown I don't think you're in a position to argue with someone whohas, extensively.
Also, "show quality French Marans chicks" is kind of a meaningless phrase. No one can look at a chick & determine it's show potential. BTW the breed is Marans not Maran.

 

[Narragansett]

I do not know Bill, but he is right. I love it when people ask for advice and then argue with the answer. Jamie Carson is also very well respected. There are several reasons for entering a show. Most fair shows don't really matter as far as being considered to have a true representative selection of correct exhibition style poultry. The judging is often suspect as well, if not done by APA/ABA licensed judges. Fair shows are basically collections of birds for the public to see. They and many of the exhibitors don't know the difference. Jamie may have been encouraging you to enter simply to get the numbers up and/or for variety, which in itself at least holds people's interest a little better, and benefits the fancy if in no other way than as exposure to the public that these birds exist.