Went to the OR state faire last week... I'm confused!

[Ridgerunner]

I'm of the opinion that the county fairs should be non-sanctioned fun events, more for 4-H kids to have fun and be gently introduced to showing. I'd like the judging to be as much on what the kid did to raise the chicken as on how close the chicken is the the standards. If someone is serious, committed, fanatic about it (choose your word) then a separate closed sanctioned event would be appropriate, but I'd like to see different kid-friendly rules for the "open" section. Not that I think every kid deserves a blue ribbon, but a red or white for participation may be appropriate. As I said, kid-friendly.

Part of my thinking is that unless you have someone involved that is serious, the standard of judging will really be questionable at a county fair. I think a state fair is a different animal. They should be sanctioned with real judges.

Just my uninformed opinion.

 

[cbbantams]

I can only speak for myself but we dont show at fairs.We make as many ABA/APA shows as possible every year.I would rather show at these and leave the fairs to the kids.I know that all of the 4-H birds that are given to the kids around here are hatchery birds.Most of them are the sexlink layers so there's really not that much difference in them except the way that the individual kid has taken care of them.If you really want to see the top quality show birds find a poultry club putting on a ABA/APA show.You can check out either one of their websites for shows an locations.

 

[Woods_Woman]

I too went to the Oregon state fair and checked out the poultry barn..Although I don't look at the quality of the birds I just enjoy seeing the poultry. If you want a better larger show of birds I suggest the Pacific NW Poultry show, they have a much better selection of show quality poultry that doesn't disappoint, not to mention they also offer lot's of education and sale birds/chicks. http://pacificnorthwestpoultry.org/ShowInformation.html

 

[averytds]

As long as you're willing to pay the cage fee, you can enter anything you want, except the 4-H/FFA areas at our state fair. 4-H/FFA, you have to qualify at a county level first. Still doesn't guarantee any quality though as the judging standards vary a lot.

There was a long time breeder/exhibitor at our last open that was shocked we bathed our birds. I found that personally sad, but hope maybe we were a good influence. I don't know if it was sanctioned or not, but the judge was at least ABA licensed. DS got GR CH LF and one of the awards he got was an APA certificate and an APA pin, so it might have been.

Our fairboard is supposedly going to try and get a licensed judge for our local next year. I told them we won't be back until they get a different judge. Mostly hatchery stock, but I enjoy the kids' efforts and am more interested in the kids learning from it. Can't learn anything from a judge that doesn't know anything about poultry though.


At our state fair, it's not feasible to care for your birds, so they do it. I find a lot of birds go into molt while there. Ours did last year. I blame it on the change of feed, water and the stress. Not anything really for the exhibitor to do except not enter anything at all. We have to take a break after just to get those birds ready to show again.



We're sticking close to home for shows, so we're hoping to improve them. My thinking is to keep bringing better birds and hopefully that will encourage others to improve their stock to compete the following year.

 

[TinyBirds]

We are interested in starting to go check out some of the sanctioned shows. Is there a list of what shows would be in Texas, dates, etc?
Thanks,
Jenny

 

[Koolduck]

I just double checked the Ky State fair book, and while I could not see any APA/ABA sanctions mentioned , they did have out of state judges. One from Ca, and one from Pa. I saw many of the same names(in the open classes) that I had seen at Ohio...and yes that show is HUGE! Of the birds that looked...shall we say sub par....they were found to be "not worthy of judging". Most of those poor things were just grabbed out of their home coops and thrown into that environment with not a care in the world....just ignorance....so lets EDUCATE! The best way I have found to do that is to....See one, do one, teach one! If you want to show, go to a few shows, ask questions of both the exhibitors and the judges....No one minded this crazy woman who was asking soooo many questions in Ohio....and I bugged everyone, from kids to judges....I learned alot! I about died though when my DH asked if Dumplin, our Buff Orpington Roo was considered a bantam....No honey, just hatchery stock! Those show orpingtons are HUGE!....as most show stock chickens are! Im thinking about showing some of my Marans......we will see!

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Our county fair has a distinction between Fancy birds and Production birds. It is for kids with limited budgets, so yes there are a lot of hatchery birds there.

Our judge is APA certified, though our show is not sanctioned.

We brought all our birds, even the ones we knew we not show quality, because we wanted to expose some different breeds to the public. No one had brought Buckeyes, Speckled Sussex, Welsummers or Delawares but us.

It was great to hear the judges comments on the sub-par birds (not all ours!). The kids learn more when the judge can show examples of
-yellowing in a white bird that comes from too much sun or too much corn
-feather folicles on the feet and legs of birds that should not have feathering there
-body type difference between two Sussexs (one really showed that the hatchery had crossed to Leghorn)
-birds too young to show well (for July show hatch by January)
-birds too old to show well
-birds with crooked toes, over-grown beaks and toenails, damaged feathers, frostbite or other imperfections
-birds that were not as well prepared as others
etc.

Frankly it is hard to learn anything if every bird is perfect!

The Production show is great at our fair because the local commercial broiler conglomerate gives each exhibitor a bunch of chicks from the same hatch and breeding. What is brought to the fair really shows the difference in care, methods and feeding. And it is high stakes because the top two pens are allowed to auction them off at the youth auction.

The production show also allows kids to exhibit their own attempts at creating meat and egg production crosses. We will be experimenting with Buckye Rooster over Delaware hen for a Sex-Link Exhibit.

Our fair is attended by one family that shows at larger shows, and they are very generous with advice, supplies, tips, and sometimes starter birds. They still win every major award in the show (except the meat pen), but we don't hold it against them as they are helping us all learn so much!

 

[MustLoveHens]

While state and county fairs are a fun place to get exposed to different breeds of poultry especially for kids, the best place to really get a look at some great birds is an APA/ABA sanctioned chicken show. These are put on by local chicken clubs. This is also the place to go to ask questions and pick up show quality stock to start off on the right foot. While I have seen a hatchery hen (Gold Laced Wyandotte) take her BOB (Best of Breed) it is not as common as you would think. The best way to go about it is to join your local chicken club. They will be more then happy to help you start your showing career.
Also, you noted that a friend lent you the British standard to research and brush up on breeds. I truely mean this is a very friendly and helpful way, but I want to let you know that when you get ready to show your birds, you will want to make sure you get a copy of the American Stadard of Perfection. It is what the APA and ABA judges judge by so you want to select your show birds to be as close to the American standard as you can get them.
If you want to find APA sanctioned shows to attend check out the event listings on the American Poultry Association website. They will list the shows up comming in your area.

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

While I must agree with MustLoveHens that the best place to see better quality birds is at a sanctioned show. Most people do not know about, live near, or go to a sanctioned show. At the State fair after judging was done 2 of us had our cochins out just sitting on our knees and introduced many families to good birds. I talked to families that were impressed with how calm and beautiful a chicken can be. That is when we talked about the difference between hatchery and show birds. I have 2 families that are wanting to get good birds to start a flock. The advantage of our State fair is that we have over 100,000 people per day attending and can reach a much larger population base with information.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Thanks all for the replies. I suppose I just expected higher quality out of the state fair. I sorta figured the county fair would not be as competitive (thus lower quality birds) but I was hoping to see some really nice examples of the breeds I have. I don't get to travel much, and it seems NOTHING ever happens in this state south of Eugene (which, btw is the MIDDLE of the state for those not familiar with OR) so I have few opportunities to see other people's chickens. Most everyone I know here who has chickens bought them from the feed store and only the most informed even know what breed they own- no one knows where they come from! Many of my chicken-loving friends were skeptical when I said you could order them thru the mail, and most are intrigued when I show pictures of my exotic looking chickens (polish, BLRW) or mention that they can lay blue/green eggs. All folks know around here is RIR, BR, BO, EE, sex links, and the cornish cross. Thats all feed stores carry.
Heck, I only know more than that because I googled chicken breeds to try and pick one that would suit my needs. MPC's quiz opened up a whole world of awesome to me, and this forum has contined to expand that.
I am now considered an animal expert, though I hardly feel I deserve the title.
Maybe I will get lucky and find a show nearby, but I doubt it. If any of you hear of one between Yreka, CA and Grants Pass, OR let me know!