I was really disappointed at the quality of the birds this year. I took some pics of birds that I think were sick. They all came from the same man, their heads were odd shaped, looked swollen to me. He had birds there for sale too. The thing is, they were judged and some even placed. The ones that placed were "only" in class. Not bad looking birds, just these funny, misshappen heads. Several of the birds were in poor conditon, many were even featherless in lots of spots on many different birds. I seen the judge give 3 and 4 to "only" birds in the class, stating "does not warrent better placing". I was tempted to buy a tiny call duck and a trio of white showgirls, but resisted because I am now so afraid of disease and I have spent a fortune, literally, on shipped eggs. There were not very many good silkies there, and usually they are stunning. I have seen silkies at the fair that looked like they never left a salon. This year, just average and some no better than hatchery birds. If you can make it up before Sunday night, it is worth it just to study them. I was surprised to see so many Muscovy ducks there too, though I would never guess they were all Muscovy. Some looked like regular ducks to me. I also seen the judge place two Barred Rocks that were obviously NOT barred rocks, but some kind of Cuckoo with yellow legs. The first place bird was nicely barred though, the second was a cuckoo. NO third. I drove all the way from Lexington just to see the birds, but was disappointed in some of them. Sorry, I think I just went on one of those rants! HenZ
