NEw Goals - Poultry Shows

It’s been a minute since I posted but I wanted to end the year on a high note.

The birds should be getting close to full feather, and we are headed to destinations to show our accomplishments to the world. As for me, I’m going all over the Southeast to Poultry Shows. I wanted to give a little insight to yall about gamebirds and what is required of a show bird.

These birds are judged on a higher standard, yes, it’s a beauty contest of sorts, but it is also a chance to meet with other breeders and perhaps obtain the blood you’ve been looking for.

Confirmation is key in judging these competitions. We are quick to subtract points, for pale heads and eyes, broken or lined feathers, bent or crooked toes, a crooked breastbone, or any defect that we may see it this competition. A good judge knows perfection in these birds, but there is so much more to judging.

A good fighting bird is not always a good breeding bird. It’s rare to find both qualities in one bird. In my years, I’ve seen what I would deem as a good brood cock, lose in standard competition. You can’t unsee a bird that is born to breed once you recognize what it looks like.

These birds are judged to a high standard and according to UGBA standards, a gamebird is always gonna win over a hen or bantam bird, if the scores are tied. the standards are written in stone on what we look for in these birds.

The scoring is based on a perfect bird being 100 out of 100 points

Back is worth 10 points - deductions are given on shape, narrow, broad, taper or slope

Head is worth 10 points - deductions for eye loss, permanent injury, eye color mismatch, poor dubbing, high trim, crow head, big head, and sunken eyes

Breast is worth 10 points - deductions for crooked breast, narrow, deep, shallow (this is a disqualification for oriental birds)

Legs are worth 10 points - deductions for crooked toes, missing nails or part of the toe, extra spur, missing spur, thin thighs, and bow legs

Condition: Fat/Thin is worth 10 points - deductions are taken for soft body, how high strung they are, manfighter, lethargic, pale face

Carriage is worth 10 points - deductions are taken if the legs are too far back, the station is too low or too high, and no break at the tail.

Plumage is worth 9 points - deductions are taken for twisted feathers, lack of luster, if the feathers are soft or weak, broken primaries, secondaries, main tail, main sickles and all other feather growth, if the feathers are too long or too short, and in cocks if the tail sickles are not curved,

Tail is worth 9 points - deductions are taken if in American birds the tail is below the horizon, and in Oriental bird if it is above the horizon (yes we use a gage to measure this), and if the tail is not are taken if the neck is thin or weak or too long or too short

Wings are worth 9 points - deductions are taken if the wings sit too high or too low, if when fanned there is no snap back or if the wings are too short or too long

Size is worth 4 points - each 8 oz (standard bird) or each 3 oz (bantam) Note on this - standard weights for a cock is 4.8 - 6.0, for a hen is 3.8 - 4.8 points are deducted for every 8 ozs out of standard. For Bantam weights the cock should weigh between 1.12 - 2.6, hens should weigh between 1.6 - 2.0. Points are deducted for every 3 ozs out of standard.

There are automatic disqualifications for the following

Back - Roach back

Beak - crooked, split or parrot

Blind

Crooked Breast in Orientals

Comb in American Birds must be trimmed and in Orientals must NOT be trimmed

A malformed pupil in the eye

Faking

Foot - webbed or duck toe

Hacked - no sign of courage

Hock - slipped

Parasites

Shanks - feathers or feather stubs

Spurs - if both spurs are missing

Tail - split tail, squirrel tail, or wry tailed

Wings - split winged, slipped wing, or twisted

As you can see, the judges are looking at a lot of things to fairly determine the winners in these competitions. As competitors you have to trust the judge’s determination in these matters and the score cards are given at the end of the competition and oftentimes the judge can show you the flaws in your birds that you may miss.

The prize is in the pride you get in showing these birds, the kids can get involved and are judged on their own scale.

This is the future of our world. It is good to present these magnificent animals as SHOWBIRDS, it proves to the world that we are involved in breeding and confirmation rather than what we may do in the dark of night. Sad that it has come to this but that certificate you receive at a show and the ribbon or trophy you may display may very well save your farm someday. Get involved and meet the people that are working hard to save our rights to breed gamebirds.

Quick story:

I was in Heflin, Alabama judging a show of about 150 birds. There were only 3 judges, so we were hustling hard. The AGBA president gave us a free dinner for doing the task and i went to get my BBQ Chicken plate and overheard a young man (about 15 or 16) telling his momma, “These stupid judges don’t know what they are doing”, I went up to him and said, “Are you talking about me, hon?”

The kid looked embarrassed, and his mom started apologizing, and I stopped her and set my plate down and went to get his coop tag where I had judged his bird and told the young man to collect his bird and I would explain his score to him. I felt the bird again and showed him the flaws that were evident to qualify his score. The boy was so grateful for the one-on-one attention he received. This was the first bird he had ever raised and he loved him (I get it). He was a decent bird, but I explained the real truths about competition in judging a poultry show. Soon as i was finally eating my chicken plate, I had several other competitors come up for me to explain their score as well.

This is what was needed to show how important it is to identify defects in your birds, some are genetic and need to be bred out, some are due to mishaps on the yard, or pen fights. Some are from neglecting to provide the 24/7 care that is necessary on any yard. It shows in the show. I hope that young man takes the advice I gave him and continues to breed and raise gamebirds, because thats what it’s really all about anyways,

Keep ‘em crowing