Chicken People is an interesting behind the scenes glimpse into the world of competitive show chickens. This 2016 released documentary follows the lives and chicken-breeding efforts of three individuals hoping to show the winning bird at the Ohio National Poultry Show. Continue reading
Three Bucket Chicken Washing Method – Photo by Jen Pitino
Earlier this month, my sister and I dipped our toes into the pool of competitive chicken shows by entering several birds at our local county fair. When I first started down the backyard chicken trail, I would have never considered getting into showing chickens. So what changed?
New birds.
In fact, I have lots and lots of new chickens in my life which I have been remiss in telling you (the Urban Chicken Podcast family) all about. Late this past spring, I was generously gifted about 2 dozen rare and fancy breed day old chicks. I have been sharing those birds with my sister and niece (a few living at my house and the bulk of birds at hers). Consequently we have decided to try our hands at chicken breeding and hatching with some of the recent additions to our flock.
We are now at a point where between our established flocks and all of the newbie birds, we have more chickens than we know what to do with – and they keep growing and eating more and more. The hard truth is that we need to figure out which of our birds are of breeding quality and which are just pretty duds.
The timing of the local American Poultry Association (A.P.A.) sanctioned poultry show at our county fair was perfect! We could take a bunch of the birds that we really needed some professional feedback on and enter them into the chicken show. The birds would be inspected and judged by an A.P.A. certified poultry expert, and he would be able to give us the insight that we needed to move forward.
Now entering chickens into a show involves more than just scooping your birds out of the backyard and dropping them off at the fairgrounds. There is an important primping process involved in getting your chickens ready to strut their stuff for the judges. Today on the Urban Chicken Podcast, I walk you through how to get your birds ready to show – a process that I just experienced firsthand for the first time recently.
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American Poultry Association’s logo
What do Andre “the Hawk” Dawson, Phil Collins (with his band Genesis), and Tony Albritton all have in common? All three gentlemen were inducted into their respective industry’s Hall of Fame in 2010. Eight-time All-Star Player, Andre “The Hawk” Dawson earned his place in the American Baseball’s Hall of Fame for his excellence in his sport. Phil Collins and his former band Genesis was a natural pick to join the illustrious ranks of the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with three decades worth of hits in the music world. Tony Albritton became the 53rd member of the American Poultry Association’s Hall of Fame after demonstrating for more many years superior skills in chicken breeding, raising and showing. Continue reading
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Lovely Chickens at the PNPA October 2013 Poultry Show – photo by Jen Pitino
Everyone has anticipated something or some event in their life, only to find that reality and their imagination do not match up exactly. The imagination can be a dangerous thing – it can give one expectations that are unreasonable and nearly impossible to fulfill. I recently attended my first poultry show in the Vancouver, Washington area (this is about 15 minutes north of Portland, Oregon) and had all sorts of assumptions in my mind of how a large poultry show should be. Today, on the Urban Chicken Podcast I share my top ten observations of attending a poultry show and discuss where reality and fantasy did not match up. Continue reading
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