Went to the Colorado State Fair yesterday.

[corancher]

We went to the fair yesterday and was very disappointed in the number of animals overall that was at the fair. The poultry displayed was a sad representation of the breeds with many breeds not even present. I almost fell over when I saw a goose with angel wing with a first place win. There were two roosters with Buckeyes on their tags and they were clearly BLRW. I am still shaking my head over that. No turkeys at all, less than 15 ducks, around 10 geese. My guess would be 25-30 LF chickens and about the same in bantams.

I am very saddened by this and am wondering did anyone else go to the Colorado State Fair or any other State Fair and found the same sort of things. Is it just me or are the fairs dying?

 

[Katy]

I haven't been to our state fair for several years, but the last time I went I felt the same as you...at least on the poultry. I thought I might go again this year, see if anything has changed.

 

[ksacres]

They need better leaders, that actually know something about poultry. Volunteer...

 

[Katy]

The open class doesn't have leaders.

 

[CityChicker]

Ah...the Kansas State Fair. That brings up a lot of memories. Some of the more fun times of my life were showing at that fair! We used to go every year, most often staying in town for the duration. You should go, Katy, and let us know how it is. I went back about ten years ago with my hubby and a girlfriend and it was not as big as it used to be (at least it didn't seem like it).

When I first moved to Colorado (20+ years ago), I was surprised how much smaller the state fair is here. It is probably only maybe 20% the size of the KS fair. We only go every five or so years, but there never seems to be a lot of poultry. It is also just such a long drive down to Pueblo (for us anyway).

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Sounds like there aren't many people interested in putting birds into the show in the first place. Hard to make something nice if there is limited interest in it anyway.

If you wanted to really see some change. Start a poultry club, collect members, get decent judges, and organize it yourself.

I know the local poultry club runs the poultry show for our county fair.

-Kim

 

[tazcat70]

I went to the KS fair last year and I am planning on going again this year. We seem to have a lot of bantams. We do have turkeys and ducks, maybe a few geese. I kept the entry information from last year...and on the large fowl, the only ones that caught my eye were the buff Orps. There is a much better selection of birds on here, and I would hazard a guess that the quality is much better too..in some instances.

I have fun and take pictures, look at all the pretty birds, mentally tally the total it would cost me to have all the breeds I want, and enjoy being around more chicken folks.

 

[Slinkytoys]

Yup, that's pretty much what I saw at the El Paso County Fair. The rabbits were as bad as the poultry. Only three meat trios, one was DQ because it didn't make weight. Sigh. Just a couple of years ago the entries were wonderful. Lots of frizzles. Am hoping it is just the economy, not lack of interest.
Carrie

 

[Mrs MIA]

Our Fairs are very tiny, but I have to say that our little 3 day fair here on the Peninsula had WAY better birds (mine excluded

) than the bigger State Fair in Palmer. We had a couple of black copper Marans labeled as "cu cu marons" (

), misspellings galore at the Palmer fair, with the biggest "oops" being a bird entered as a light brahma cockerel that was clearly a LB hen...

There were birds missing toes (bloody stumps), and a polish pullet that was missing half of her crest (more bloody stumps) and birds that looked like they hadn't been bathed in a year.

Both of our fairs use a point system to rate the birds... they don't compete against the other birds. I long to see one of the larger poultry shows, where there are thousands of birds pared down to the champion row by breed, and overall grand champions, truly worthy of the merit. I was very happy to receive the ribbons I did, but it's not saying much when you're only working on a point system and the judges don't know the difference between a pullet and a cockerel.

 

[fasbendera]

Maybe you were there on the day that Open Class entries where there and not 4-H birds. Do all states have 4-H Chapters? We are going to the MN State Fair tomorrow and I haven't checked to see what livestock will be there yet. Hope the chickens are there.