Stories and pictures of your show birds! (Cage showing, FFA and Showmanship)

[Amer]

Queeny got reserve youth RCCL

and Praline.

These are mine. I lost to another Buckeye that someone hatched from a pair they bought from me last year.

 

[3KillerBs]

Our Anconas have really improved over the years.

Those birds are really stunning!

I lost to another Buckeye that someone hatched from a pair they bought from me last year.

I expect that could generate mixed feelings of disappointment and pride.

 

[Amer]

Those birds are really stunning!



I expect that could generate mixed feelings of disappointment and pride.

Yes, it did.

 

[Amer]

I got the APA yearbooks and this year they added a breed numbers page. Show secretaries are encouraged (but not required) to fill out what breeds were entered and the quantities when they file their reports to the APA. So it’s very interesting to see what breeds were entered commonly and which were found rarely in APA shows.
From what I gathered, anything under 100 is somewhat rare and anything under 50 is very rare and could use some help.
So, what do you think is the most common poultry breed entered? What about second most common? This meaning LF and bantams are separate breeds, and it also includes ducks, geese, guineas, and turkeys.
What do you think was the most common LF breed entered? Second most common? Duck? What about geese, what was the most common goose breed?

After you guess, I’ll be back with the results.

 

[3KillerBs]

What do you think was the most common LF breed entered? Second most common? Duck? What about geese, what was the most common goose breed?

After you guess, I’ll be back with the results.

With no show experience whatsoever and without even having visited many county and state fairs,

#1 Game bantams
#2 Buff Orpingtons

No clue whatsoever in re: ducks or geese.

 

[Bird is the word]

I am in FFA and I always show all 5 of my chickens but one of my chickens is a silver laced wyandotte that has a inverted comb gets disqualified every year but I always bring her anyway because she is the only one that does good in showmanship

 

[Amer]

Ok, time for the answers! I'll mercifully put them in spoilers in case some late fellow wants to participate.

Spoiler: Results!

Most common poultry breed entered? Old English Game Bantams, at 4799.
Second most common? Call ducks at 3327.
The most common LF breed entered was Cochin at 965 but this was only a third of bantam Cochin numbers which were 2889. Second most common? Ameraucanas at 934. Duck? Calls, but Runners were second with 950. The most common goose breed was Sebastopol at 368.
The third most common breed was Silkies at 3066.
It's pretty sad how few large fowl there are. 7 of the bantams are up there in the thousands but even the most common LF doesn't make it that far.
Also, d'Anvers folks need to work harder. There were 900 d'Uccles but only 691 d'Anvers. They should be at least equal, imo.
Oh, by the way, the Old English numbers are kinda skewed because in the south they hold all game shows so they must be very popular there, but it's not representative of the whole nation, in the same way that the upper midwest CARRIES the waterfowl of the US.

 

[3KillerBs]

Ok, time for the answers! I'll mercifully put them in spoilers in case some late fellow wants to participate.

Spoiler: Results!

Most common poultry breed entered? Old English Game Bantams, at 4799.
Second most common? Call ducks at 3327.
The most common LF breed entered was Cochin at 965 but this was only a third of bantam Cochin numbers which were 2889. Second most common? Ameraucanas at 934. Duck? Calls, but Runners were second with 950. The most common goose breed was Sebastopol at 368.
The third most common breed was Silkies at 3066.
It's pretty sad how few large fowl there are. 7 of the bantams are up there in the thousands but even the most common LF doesn't make it that far.
Also, d'Anvers folks need to work harder. There were 900 d'Uccles but only 691 d'Anvers. They should be at least equal, imo.
Oh, by the way, the Old English numbers are kinda skewed because in the south they hold all game shows so they must be very popular there, but it's not representative of the whole nation, in the same way that the upper midwest CARRIES the waterfowl of the US.

I wonder why so few large fowl chickens?

 

[Amer]

I wonder why so few large fowl chickens?

It’s sad but not really surprising. In general more bantams are raised because of low maintenance but even if you had just as many LF breeders as bantam breeders you’d still bring less to shows because they take up so much cargo space to haul. I might bring like 12 bantams to a show while my mother brings only 3 Ancona LF. She only brings the best while I try to represent the breed by including cocks, hens, cockerels and pullets.
I still wonder the same thing though. I am a bantam girl but I wish there were more LF. Saddest of all is the fewness of turkeys. Only 339 in all. Turkeys are the most difficult species to raise but they are our American species and also the best one.

 

[3KillerBs]

Saddest of all is the fewness of turkeys. Only 339 in all. Turkeys are the most difficult species to raise but they are our American species and also the best one.

I looked into adding a small breeding flock of turkeys to our land and realized that I'd have to build another huge coop for them since their space requirements are so large and they can't be confined by a poultrynet fence given their flying capabilities.