Well, I haven't taken any of my birds to the county fair for a few years, after a near tragedy last time. But I gave in and took 8 down there this morning. Our county is very rural, so just about all the birds are hatchery birds, and half the people don't even know what breeds they have. It's obviously not APA-sanctioned. But it's fun, and if we don't support these little poultry shows, I'm afraid they'll go away.
So I took my partridge silkie pullet and black silkie cockerel, whose eggs came from equus2 in Utah. They're much nicer than the one white silkie that is in the 4-H show, but they're not competing against him since they're in the open show. So far, they're the only 3 silkies there.
I took a welsummer, a buff-laced EE, and a silver-laced polish. I also took two young bantam cochin cockerels who are looking for new homes. They're not filled out properly yet, so I'm sure they won't do anything in the show, but hopefully there will be someone there who will take them home.
I also took my royal palm turkey, and hopefully he'll do well. The other turkeys all look like broad-breasted bronze to me, and King Henry is much prettier than they are.
Anyway, the whole thing makes me a little nervous. Luckily I'm less than a mile from the fairgrounds, so I can be down there a lot watching over them. Last time I took birds, someone came in the middle of the night and opened every cage, and when I got there to feed in the morning there were people with nets and hooks rounding up chickens, ducks, geese, etc., from the dry creek bed, parking lot, and all over the place. They were putting them all together in the biggest cages so the owners could sort them out and put them back where they belong. Miraculously, all birds were recovered. They've since changed the poultry and rabbit barn so it's more secure, and hopefully nothing like that will happen again.
Wish me and my cute little birds luck!
So I took my partridge silkie pullet and black silkie cockerel, whose eggs came from equus2 in Utah. They're much nicer than the one white silkie that is in the 4-H show, but they're not competing against him since they're in the open show. So far, they're the only 3 silkies there.
I took a welsummer, a buff-laced EE, and a silver-laced polish. I also took two young bantam cochin cockerels who are looking for new homes. They're not filled out properly yet, so I'm sure they won't do anything in the show, but hopefully there will be someone there who will take them home.
I also took my royal palm turkey, and hopefully he'll do well. The other turkeys all look like broad-breasted bronze to me, and King Henry is much prettier than they are.
Anyway, the whole thing makes me a little nervous. Luckily I'm less than a mile from the fairgrounds, so I can be down there a lot watching over them. Last time I took birds, someone came in the middle of the night and opened every cage, and when I got there to feed in the morning there were people with nets and hooks rounding up chickens, ducks, geese, etc., from the dry creek bed, parking lot, and all over the place. They were putting them all together in the biggest cages so the owners could sort them out and put them back where they belong. Miraculously, all birds were recovered. They've since changed the poultry and rabbit barn so it's more secure, and hopefully nothing like that will happen again.
Wish me and my cute little birds luck!
