Will my ducks be ready to show??

[halecards]

Hi I have 6 ducks that are 4 weeks old today and they dont have any feathers! I plan on showing them at my state fair, which is august 9th. Will they be fully feathered by then? I have 1 male and 1 female black Swedish, I male and I female welsh harlequins, and 2 male Pekins. Will the welsh harlequin male have his green head and matures feathers? Thanks!!

 

[Oregon Blues]

They don't have an age limit at your fair? I can't show any bird under 6 months at mine.

 

[halecards]

No. As long as they are fully feathered they can be shown.

 

[KansasKid]

By 10 weeks they should be feathered up but i'm not sure if the harlequin male will have adequate plumage by then. My county fair is the second week of july and they will be 10 weeks old but i'm sure by the looks of him that the hen will look ok and both will be feathered but the drake won't have his breeding plumage. so since august 9th is about 6 weeks from now and they are already 4 weeks i'm going to say no. Question are you showing in a county fair first to qualify for state or how do they go about entrys?

 

[halecards]

No I'm not showing at my county fair, because I'll be gone. My state fair does not require you to advance to the state level, you can just show your birds. I just found out that I'm only taking my 2 pekin males, because they don't have categories for black swedish or welsh harliquins

.

 

[KansasKid]

? Are you sure. they should have classes for everything. They should use the american poultry association breed standards to judge and then the welsh harlequin should be in the class: light duck and only the blue swedish is recognized

 

[halecards]

I know! That's what I figured, but that's not how they work. I talked to the guy whose incharge of the whole poultry show and he said that they only have classes for birds that they have request for in past years. I'm going to meet with him at the fair and try to get more breeds in the show. It's for Missouri

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Where in Missouri are you? I have been wanting to show our ducks, but will be bummed if I find out they only accept a few breeds.

 

[halecards]

Northwest. Not to far from Kansas city. The state fair is in Sedalia, which is the central part of Missouri. The list of duck breeds that you can bring are; chocolate Muscovy, black Muscovy, white Muscovy, white pekin, Rouen, buff, black cayuga, khaki Campbell, black and white magpie, blue and white magpie, blue call, gray call, pastel call, snowy call, white call, black east indie, and gray mallard. I still don't see why they don't have more breeds...

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Quote:
We're right outside of KC as well.

What a bummer they don't allow more breeds! I would love to show either my Runners, or my Saxony at some point, and neither of those breeds are allowed.

Maybe I will find a nice local fair or 4-h for them.