Aug 28, 2008 issue
Class Teaches the Fine Art of Showing Chickens August 30
Story by Celeste von Mangan
Showing chickens is an art and a time-honored tradition at many county and state fairs. Most people attending a fair are drawn to the livestock competitions and exhibits, and these categories include all breeds of chickens. You are likely to see breeds you did not know existed—those with feathers instead of combs on their heads, feathered feet, or no feathers on the neck—as well as more common everyday birds. Regardless of its breed, each bird is expected to be well turned out, clean and presentable. But how do you go about showing chickens? How can a chicken and a handler become show ready?
At 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 30, at the Avery County Cooperative Extension office, Adam Keener, Avery Extension agent in agriculture, will demonstrate the fine art of showing chickens to anyone who would like to learn, although the class is geared to youth in particular. Keener has extended a special invitation to all the people who adopted chicks after completing his embryology class last spring.
“As a 4-H after-school program, I taught a class in embryology and we hatched chickens,” said Keener. “For those children, we thought it would be a good idea to show them off at the Avery County Fair. The class is for kids or for anybody who has chickens, to show them and to teach them showmanship techniques. It is open to anyone and they would not have had to have gotten a chicken from us to participate.”
One of the important grooming skills Keener will teach is how to bathe a chicken, although preparing the chicken is only one portion of the class. It is essential that people in competition with chickens know how to address the judge and how to dress properly.
“The class is really about teaching the children self-confidence, how to present themselves, to be well spoken and to look the judge in the eye,” he explained. “These are important skills that a child can learn at a young age.”
The Avery County Agricultural and Horticultural Fair has a Junior Livestock Show, and the 4-H chickens will be entered in that category.
“I am teaching a showmanship class, not a breeds standard class,” said Keener.
“The judges at the show will look at the children and how they handle themselves and their bird instead of looking at industry standards for that breed.”
All chicken breeds and cross-breeds are welcome to compete at the show.
In the embryology class, Keener said, they hatched three main types of chickens.
“We had bantams, those are miniature breed chickens; fancy feathered-footed, those have feathers on their feet and legs; and top-hat chickens, those are the kind with big fancy feathers on their heads,” he said. “We tried to stick with those. The embryology program kicked off in February and continued through the end of April. We did programs in at least six schools, although we only had four incubators and they had to share them.
“The sessions were designed to last five weeks, and at the end of the sessions, the chicks hatched. The children learned the process of hatching chickens and we had described the process. They cared for them the first week; then we had an adoption party with the children’s parents and many of the chicks were adopted at that time.”
Participants do not have to be 4-H members to attend the chicken class. To register for this free class or for more information, call 828-733-8270.
Want To Go?
Date: Saturday, August 30
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Avery Cooperative Extension Office
Cost: Free
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