Went to my first chicken show today!

[Celtic Hill]

So i went to my first chicken show today! It was an APA show in RI. One of the 4H leaders in my county shows chickens (well her son's do) and they are really serious they have some chickens that have won BV and Best Bantam at some big shows. Any ways the kid's mentor is like 80 and used to show all over the US, but sticks to New England now. Any ways i was lucky enough to meet him, unfortunate there weren't any quality birds for sale, and we talked to breeders and they said they wouldn't have anything untill Fall.

So anyways he offered us a Barred rock chicks or Buff Oprington chicks, and he said these chicks are from quality stock and will be show quality. Well any ways i declined because im all set up for bantams. Well were walking around the show and next thing i find out, my brother is getting a Trio of BOs!!! lol, so which is exciting. Any ways i leave the show with nothing, my brother still has to wait for the chicks to hatch but he's deff getting them. So i get to wait for my eggs to hatch

there is a CT show next month that will hopefully have some different birds.

Any ways, one thing i learned today is...... Im def serious about chickens!

~Ian

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Good for you! Lots of fun, isn't it?

 

[Celtic Hill]

YEA! it was a blast and i wasn't even showing!

 

[aveca]

So glad you had a good time. I was about 10 when I went to my first show and was hooked, took a lot of years to settle on a breed of chicken. Tried several different breeds over the years to see which one I liked best.

That first show I went to had a pair of ducks in a cage right inside the door, I couldnt quit laughing wound up with tears of laughter, they were white ducks that looked like they had glued a powder puff to the top of thier head, I asked the lady sitting across from them doing paper work how she could keep a straight face, she said she had been there for 3 days and was getting used to them but laughed like crazy for the first day.

Then there were the jersey giants and on down the line what a blast I never forgot it.

 

[ultasol]

I participated in my first show (PNPA show in Stevenson, WA) this past weekend. I had gone to shows twice before as a visitor, but this was my first time exhibiting my birds. Considering some of the silkie breeders who showed up, and the fact that my stock was young and covered in pinfeathers, I was more than pleased with my placement. I only entered six birds and all placed.

Geese:

Best Medium Goose
Reserve Medium Goose
3rd
with my Buff Americans. I sold them prior to the show and they went home on Sunday with Monica. I still have the parents of the goose that won Best Medium Goose, they are for sale.

Silkies:

Reserve of Variety with white cockerel from Amy Jo Piehl (have had him since early Nov)
2nd place with a black pullet with bloodlines from Calesta Rieth (she was all pinfeathers, picked out as a wee chick in Nov)
3rd place with a black pullet from Amy Jo Piehl

I have many black chicks in growout that will be better than their parents. I can't wait to exhibit them at the fall shows. Another judge took a look at a white cockerel I brought to sell and told me not to sell him. Thanks to the generosity of Sheryl Butler and Calesta Rieth (and the willingness to do some trading) I came home with a couple white girls for my white cockerels.

The show was a wonderful experience, and a great way to learn more about your breed. I was able to get both Jim Sallee and Eric Kutch (judges) to look at my birds and show me where they were strong, and where they needed improvement. The people were very nice, and the other silkie exhibitors were phenomenal!

I wasn't going to show my white cockerel as they are very young and I had a splash I was going to show. Unfortunately the splash hurt his foot and started gimping the day we left for the show, so I took the white to substitute. I washed the white and blowdried him in the bathroom at the fairgrounds- he had *not* been conditioned. Showing was a fantastic experience. Marjorie Best has the sweetest grandchildren- hardworking young men- and they were also very helpful. GREAT experience. If you can make it to a show, go! As an exhibitor or a spectator, it's great.

The PNPA show has a GORGEOUS venue right along the river with gardens and large, airy, bright facilities that make it a pleasure to attend. They will be having another show in Stevenson, WA in the fall.

 

[TK Poultry]

I showed in my first show a couple of weeks ago it was a blast. I've also shown in 4H and had been to a couple of other poultry shows, but it was stressful (kind of) and fun all at the same time. My 11yo sister is HOOKED she can't wait to go back I think that I have made her into a poultry freak like ME!!!! Glad you had fun