Showing chickens

[Bo Garrett]

Showing a bird begins before the chick is hatched and well into the actual show phase of the process. Start your chicks with a good balanced feed at 18 to 20 % protein, most poultry feeds will be balanced in the other areas you mentioned. Once the chicks have matured to the point they are four to five months of age they should have the balance of the adult feathering in place and the feed protein percentage can be lowered to 16% as anything over this is in my opinion, overkill. Keep your birds free of internal and external parasites, your local feed dealer will have wormers and sprays or dust for these pesky parasites. Do your best to keep your birds out of direct sunlight as this will damage the feather color by fading darker breeds and yellowing lighter colored breeds. Pen your birds on a good sized pen with plenty of room and grass or keep them in pens with deep pine shavings to keep them clean. Wash your birds 5 to 7 days before the date of the show and then all you will need to do is touch up on show day. I wash with horse shampoo that contains lanolin which adds oils back to the feathers but cleans them well. I always recommend coop training your birds well before the show, put them in pens that simulate the show conditions and have non-poultry people come and tour your birds to get them used to others and all the traffic they will be subjected to at a show, no one likes wild and crazy birds at the show especially the judge, so handle them often and they will respond in kind. Keep you some treats such as small sized soft dog food and toss them treats as you pass by the cages, this will train the birds to come to the front of the cage and show instead of running to the back for cover.
Just remember, showing poultry is not about the poultry but the lifetime friends you will make in this hobby, time spent with friends is fleeting and we should covet such time more valuable than the most precious of metal or stone.

With peace and blessings,

Bo Garrett

 

[Fred's Hens]

That would be a long long teaching and a forum such as this, just isn't the place.

The way to learn about all your questions, and EVERYONE who starts has loads of questions and many things that they don't even know they should ask.

Find a mentor in your breed. How? Join the breed club of the breed of your choice or find a person who breeds and exhibits in your area. Most mentors are over loaded and they gotten burned so often that they become hesitant to take on new students. It almost like learning Karate or playing a violin. Time and more time and commitment to excellence.

In the meantime, attend a major show in your area and just hang in the aisle of your chosen breed. Be polite and listen, listen. It's more than asking questions, it's more about listening.
poultryshowcentral has all the listings of shows.

For feed, don't get all carried away with protein % alone. A good feed has many ingrediants that make it a top flight feed. Purina makes a show flight feed, for example. One of the best is a feed from Flint River Feed called Show Gold. Balanced nutrition, with animal protein. Next comes putting your bird up in a pen long before the show. Condition the bird to a small area and to daily handling, twice daily handling until it enjoys the process. This takes some time. The better conditioning pens have no chicken wire or rough places to shred feathers.

Mentoring cannot be done on the interweb. Good luck in finding a master who'll work with you.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Let me google that for you.
http://ssgf.uk/exhibitors/beginners-guide-to-showing-poultry/

Good advice above on nutrition. Some manufactures make a show bird feed.
Try to find one with animal protein. That will have more of the limiting amino acids than vegetable based feeds that usually need synthetic lysine and methionine added.
You need all the vitamins and minerals chickens are known to need but don't overdo vitamin supplements. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

 

[hitchyourwagon]

Thanks for the practical advice. I attended the Ohio State Fair once to check out bird showing. Was so loud in there was hard to have much of a conversation. I did notice the stressed birds pulling out their feathers. Makes sense to try to condition them for their time away from home.
Thanks for sharing!