What do you look for in a show bird?

[Peachesbabychick]

Hello! I am thinking of starting chicken 4H, and I was wondering what to look for in "show quality". My flock consists of:4 Buff orps, 2 pearl leghorns, 1 lav orp, 1 rhodie, 1 araucana and 1 blue/lav standard cochin. Also what does thread mean?

Thanks!

 

[Quinn4321]

" Show Quality" is Conforming to the Poultry Standard.

 

[Illia]

Just an FYI note - 4H doesn't show for the same thing a normal poultry show would. It's mainly a fun thing, real poultry shows judge according to the standard of the breed.

Unless your Araucana truly is a real, rare Araucana with no tail and no beard I wouldn't be too hopeful of her going far in the show world

Your Lavender Orpington won't go past winning best of AOV color because the color is unrecognized, also, most Lavender Orpingtons if not all do not meet the standard in type anyway, same with Rhode Island Reds - Most are bred for production so there's a low chance of winning much.


But, it really all depends on how much competition you have and if you're showing in 4H or an APA sanctioned show.

In 4H I wouldn't be worried.



Thread is the topic you posted, and we comment on in response.

 

[juliechick]

If you are really serious about showing, you need an American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection. It's a book that tells all the standards for each breed and variety (of the breeds recognized by the APA). They have a website you can go to. Look at some pictures of show quality birds of the breed you want to show. You'll need to get stock from a breeder, not a hatchery.

Talk to your 4-H leader. Chances are they can help you. If you just want to show the 4-H birds, they are available through 4-H.

Hope this helps.

 

[joe17]

Not all 4-h shows are just for fun. The one down here is apa/aba sanctioned.

 

[Peachesbabychick]

I will visit that site. I am very proud of my girls Illia. They are very pretty with good conformation and I think they will do fine. FYI my Lav orp is a purebred.

 

[karimw]

Quote:
I have a "pure bred" lavender Orp too, but she doesn't look much like my SQ Buff Orps. The issue is they crossed in another breed to introduce that color. It will take many generations to breed out the traits of the other breed to get back to what an orpington should look like.

 

[Illia]

Yep, and consider, most Lavender Orpingtons out there are sadly just bred for the fad of the color, so, most of them look more like Javas than Orpingtons. But, that's okay, there's no harm in entering the bird anyway.

 

[Peachesbabychick]

Well she is stunning to me. That's all that matters.