What is the best breed to get for showing?

[shelleyd2008]

Probably a silly question

A friend of mine has seramas that he shows, but he is wanting to get another breed for showing as well. The second breed would mostly be for his grand-daughter to show, she is 13 or 14 I think. Anyway, I've been giving him a few suggestions, but I'm not really sure? I've not shown any, but from reading on here it seems there are some to avoid. OEGB are big in this area, one would need to have superior-quality birds to even place in a show. Silkies seem like they are harder than most breeds to perfect, so I'm thinking those are out.

His GD likes polish, how are they for showing?

Any breeds that would be 'easy' for a 13-14 year old to show?

 

[BorderKelpie]

The most important thing (IMO) is, what breed does she like?

Way back when, a long, long time ago when I was showing dogs (and goats) I decided that I was going to get/keep what I liked. Not neccessarily what the judges liked or what the current fad is/was. I'm the one dealing with, caring for and living with my animals. The judge only sees it once and for a very short time. Yes, I had SQ animals, just usually not the favorite colors or breed.

If she likes the Polish, let her raise them. The best winning breed may do well on the show table, but is she isn't happy with them, she will quickly lose interest.
I do wish her all the best in her endeaver!

 

[Bantimna]

I'd let his GD decide on what she likes, and will raise. My Grandpa told me never to raise anything I didn't like or had no interest in, if she enjoys a breed or esp. Polish then she'll show them better IMO b/c she is showing something she has a love for. BorderKelpie has also some important points there. Good Luck!

 

[Rowemblis]

I agree with BorderKelpie and shelleyd2008
My only sugestion might be to pick a bantam breed or an easy to handle large fowl breed. Bantams are defenetly popular with the Juniors in my area. Good luck choosing a breed/variety, it's hard to pick just one

 

[muddyhorse]

my dd6 shows LF polish. she loves them. at her first APA show this spring she won peewee showmanship with her silver laced polish. the judge said he had never seen a calmer polish. but keep in mind she spends about an hour everyday messing with her birds. we have found if you talk to them they are calmer, they recognize your voice they have limited vision which can make them flighty if you grab them without warning. there are banty polish which might make a good match for her

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

not a silly question.
One they are right, a breed you feel passionate about is a must, if you dont like them yourself, it'll be hard to be passionate about them and competitive.
And you are on to something else, stay away from the overly popular breeds. Too many folks with them, equals super high competition, higher expectations from judges, and honestly, alot of judges just get tired of seeing the same ol OEGB's and silkies over and over again.
Get her something rare, judges eye s always pop up when they see something out of the norm at shows.
Personally, I love d'anvers and bantam phoenix. They come in a wide array of uncommon, yet recognized colors, and really do well at shows.
Those are just my favorites.
But rarer the better would be my advise, plus the hatching eggs from them sell very high, so it's easy to help pay for the feed bills and other expenses related to keeping and showing them that way. The more common breeds, even from top lines, often are nearly given away as far as price for eggs goes.

 

[DANNY]

I agree with Aubrey. There are old english under every bush it seems around here. But the main thing is pick out what you like and don't worry about everybody else. That's why I raise silkies, cochins and polish. I have had a lot of conversations with the judges at shows and they are thrilled to see a nice polish or something unusual at the show.
Good Luck
Danny

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

my kids show bantam wyandottes, silkies, and call ducks. they are easy to handle and gentle breeds forthe most part. My kids that show are 5-13.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

the problem we run into with showing a bird that is out of the "norm" is the kids don't have anything to compare their bird to and learn why the judge picked this bird over that bird....etc. Part of the fun of doing the Jr. show is learning about your breed choice and what to look for when raising them at home. most judges don't mind explaining to a child that is interested in learning why their bird didn't win or even why it did. That is just my opinion though.....our kids learn about the birds they are raising and showing and they do the breeding with a little guidance depending on their age. They get to keep the money from selling their birds to buy new breeders and spend a little on a new toy for all the hard work through the year.

and some show just for the fun of it....so it doesnt matter what breed you pick.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Mrs. Turbo :

the problem we run into with showing a bird that is out of the "norm" is the kids don't have anything to compare their bird to and learn why the judge picked this bird over that bird....etc. Part of the fun of doing the Jr. show is learning about your breed choice and what to look for when raising them at home. most judges don't mind explaining to a child that is interested in learning why their bird didn't win or even why it did. That is just my opinion though.....our kids learn about the birds they are raising and showing and they do the breeding with a little guidance depending on their age. They get to keep the money from selling their birds to buy new breeders and spend a little on a new toy for all the hard work through the year.

and some show just for the fun of it....so it doesnt matter what breed you pick.

one solution to that is, join the web clubs of the breed they are interested it. There's virtually one for every type of chicken out there. These sites are loaded with breeding info, pics for comparison, show quality and standard information on the breed and it's various recognised colors, breeders listing etc. Pretty much everything you need to get started. Talking to the judges is great too, but often, they know very little about many of the breeds they are looking at. Silkies, OE's, polish, yes they'll know about them, BUT they are no different than us, they cant know every breed inside and out. That's where those that specialise in a certain breed will be a big help to you.
Common breeds yes are great for youth, but the competition will still be ungodly.....​