Showing large fowl vs. Bantams

[greathorse]

I have been keeping and breeding some large fowl and finally think I have some stuff that might be show worthy. I have been to a few show recently and it is apparent that in many of the local shows if one chooses to show large fowl I would often be mostly showing against myself. Seems like that might take some of the fun out of it.

I began to talk to a white Wyandotte breeder and he told me that is specifically why he changed to Bantams.

I am now wondering if I should change my breeding stock to bantams. I enjoy the eggs and egg productioin from the large fowl and am thinking that bantam eggs would be less desirable both for myself and for selling.

Any ideas here?

Also, tell me who has some great SlW bantams. I have taken a real liking to the SLW large fowl and wonder how the bantams compare in terms of type and lacing?

Any information would be much appreciated

Bamtams just have not interested me very much in the past but it sure seems to be where the action is at the shows. Why is that?

 

[Katy]

It seems you and I have similar tastes in birds!! I've got one pair of SLW bantams and would love to find a breeder who is willing to sell me some hatching eggs.....so far no luck tho. If you find anyone let me know!! I'm not planning on showing, I just love my big ones so I decided to get the bantams too!

 

[catwalk]

I know someone who had that problem with horses as well; she was the only one showing saddleseat, so she was always grand champion. So many others would have gotten lazy or discouraged, but she went on to win grand champ at the state level!

My opinion would be to stick with your large fowl, and maybe bring a lot of them to shows to have more of a presence there. When they start beating the banties at best of show and such, you'll get their attention; you may even get to sell a few birds to get others started in their large fowl adventure! good luck

 

[Cuban Longtails]

I agree, stick with your large fowl. If you want more competition you might need to travel to distant shows but it is out there. I've seen a lot of bantam fowl at the shows near where I live and it's rather discouraging. I'd hate to see the large fowl decline into nothingness just because of the abundance of competition at the bantam level.

 

[greathorse]

I think I am going to take some of my RIR and SLW to the show in OK. It is about 600 miles but I hear there is large fowl there. Have you been to that show?

I am such a rookie to the show ciruit that it did not occur to me that in the long run we do compete with the bantams in best of show etc.

Gives me some encouragemnt. Wow there are a lot of bantams compared to LF at all the shows.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

The one in Shawnee? Yes, there is a good selection of large fowl there. You will definitely have some competition. Next year it will host the APA National.

 

[Ryu]

At this time I only rasie large fowl. They do eat more and take up more room. The Cornish are really laid back and very easy to handle. I like the eggs, and if I need to cull I have a nice bird for the freezer.

I think the bantams are cute, but not my thing. I love my sisters bantams especially the MBG, but I like the standards.

At my home shows I show against one other person, and in my other breed--nobody but me. I make an effort to go to a couple bigger shows. I have to ravel farther, and I only take a couple, but I enjoy the company of the other breeders almost more than showing my birds!

I hope you stick with your large fowl. They are suffering a little in numbers right now.

 

[greathorse]

Quote:
Yes I hope to travel to the one in Shawnee. By the way I hope I didn't imply that I have stuff good enough to just blow away competition, I have so much to learn about showing birds that I would imagine I have a good chance of giving my birds less than their best chance.

On the other hand it is nice to be able to compare my stuff with other breeders. I think for a while I will just take a wad of my own birds and see if I can get input from other folks and judges as to what I need to do to improve and what I should change. I think that is the biggest issue is comparison. In the horse world we called it being barn blind. You needed to see your horse in an objective way as it compared to other horses.

Thanks for the commments

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

ugly ducky has show quality bantam stuff. Check with her.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Greathorse, if you do decide to make the trip, let me know.

I'll be at the show, just to see whats there. I think I may start showing next year. My birds will be older then and closer to maturity.